Clemson hosted SMU today in a rematch of last year’s ACC Championship game. The Tigers came in favored but had to rely on Christopher Vizzina at QB since Cade Klubnik couldn’t play because of an ankle
injury suffered last week. Poor offensive line play made things difficult for the Tigers and the defense gave up big plays as the Mustangs picked apart the linebackers and secondary in the passing game. I thought Vizzina played pretty well, going 29 of 42 for 317 yards. The offensive line looked amateurish at times. SMU came away with a 35-24 win.
Clemson got the ball first and got off to a good start, moving out to the 43 but came up short on a 3rd & 3. The coverage on the punt was excellent and SMU started at their 9. The Mustangs moved out to the 27 but the Tiger defense forced the punt after that. Clemson took over at their 33.
The Tiger drive started with a false start but they got back on track and moved out to the 48. Then disaster struck as Vizzina was hit on a blitz and the ball was knocked out of his hand as he was throwing. It was ruled a fumble recovered by the Mustangs at the Clemson 48. The Clemson defense came through with a 3 & out, though, so no damage was done. The punt went into the end zone.
After a good run by Adam Randall on 1st down, he was stuffed on 3rd & 1. After a timeout, they decided to punt. SMU took over at their 30. On the 1st play they struck with a 70-yard TD pass to take the lead 7-0 with just under 4 minutes left in the quarter.
Randall had a nice catch for 7 yards but that was it for the drive. On the previous play, Randall was wide open on a wheel route but Vizzina threw the pass into the flat. The punt put SMU at their 19 and the Clemson defense forced a 3rd & 7. Ashton Hampton de-cleated the Mustang receiver and the defense had another 3 & out.
The Tiger offense responded by stumbling and bumbling through 3 plays as Vizzina fumbled a snap and Randall dropped a pass. SMU got the ball at their 33. SMU drove into Tiger territory but the defense stiffened and got them to a 3rd & 7 that they couldn’t convert. Settling for a FG, the Mustangs increased their lead to 10-0 at 11:26 left in the half.
The Tigers came out throwing in their next possession, with chain-moving completions to T.J. Moore and Antonio Williams. On 3rd down at midfield, Vizzina hit Williams on a quick screen and he picked up 18 yards. Vizzina then hit Moore down the middle for a 32-yard TD. At the 8:51 mark, Clemson cut the Mustang lead to 10-7. Vizzina clearly has arm talent and on that drive he seemed to be settling down a bit. The Mustangs moved into Tiger territory at the 48 but their QB Kevin Jennings was clearly limited by an injured ankle. They converted a 3rd & 12 when the runner should have been stopped near the line of scrimmage. The Tigers show a shocking lack of fundamental tackling skills way too often. SMU settled for another FG to extend their lead to 13-7 with 4:29 left in the half.
The Tigers were moving reasonably well but couldn’t convert on 3rd & 1 at their 39. They went for it on 4th down but Peter Woods couldn’t get it as he was moving laterally rather than plowing straight ahead. It didn’t help that the offensive line got no push on the SMU defense. The Mustangs moved to the Tiger 28 but the defense held and forced another FG attempt. It was good and with 1:09 left, they had a 16-7 lead. Clemson did little on their possession and halftime came soon after.
SMU started the 2nd half with a 3 & out. The punt was returned to the Tiger 15 and a personal foul for taunting on the Mustangs put the ball at the 30. The Tiger offense sputtered to another 3 & out and punted.
SMU got the ball at their 37. The Clemson defense held the Mustangs to a single yard gained and they punted, giving the offense the ball at the 26. The Tiger offense started slow again but on 3rd down, Vizzina hit Moore for a 62-yard TD to make the score 16-14 with 8:48 to go in the quarter.
SMU destroyed the Tiger defense on the edge on their next drive, with the Tigers showing very poor contain discipline. A 30-yard run to the outside was followed 2 plays later by a 35-yard speed option to the right for a TD. SMU led 23-14 halfway through the 3rd quarter. Clemson moved out near midfield and stumbled a bit, but Williams converted a 3rd & 10 with a 13-yard catch and run. They continued to move down the field and got to 1st & goal at the 10. Then they returned to their ineffective ways and had to settle for a FG. With 7 seconds left in the quarter, SMU led 23-17.
SMU continued to attack the Tiger defense successfully and moved down to the Tiger 20. After a 2-yard loss, they scored on a 22-yard pass and led 29-17 after missing the extra point. Clemson had 12:30 left to make something happen. They answered with a 3 & out.
The SMU offense gave the Tigers some hope as Ricardo Jones intercepted a pass at the SMU 49. With the help of a personal foul on the Mustangs, Clemson moved into the red zone. On 4th & 20 Vizzina found Tristan Smith in the end zone. With the extra point, Clemson was 5 points down, 29-24. The clock read 6:44 to go.
SMU was able to gain some yardage on the Tigers and moved into Clemson territory. They got the Mustangs to 4th & 3 but committed pass interference. The Mustangs later completed a 26-yard pass to the Tiger 9. They punched it in and that was it. SMU came away with a 35-24 win.
For me it was a frustrating game to watch. The Tigers were able to string together some good plays on offense, but there were way too many drives that ended after 3 plays because of bad offensive line play or questionable play calling. The defense also had some good moments but they also got beat bad in others that led to SMU scores. After two consecutive wins against lesser competition there was hope, with appropriate reservation, that the Tigers had figured things out. After today, it’s clear that there is still a lot of figuring out to do. I’ll repeat what I’ve said before, this team just doesn’t appear to play with any fire in their bellies. They seem to think that they can scheme and athlete their way to victory. Clearly they cannot unless they are playing athletically inferior teams. They don’t impose their will on other teams and that makes them mediocre at best. That is a coaching problem. What do you think?
