But Clemson would have an absolute field day against a Big 12 defense.
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The Clemson Tigers take on the NC State WolfPack in one of the college football games on Saturday, start time at 3:30 PM ET, at Carter-Finley Stadium, Raleigh, NC. But it was still an impressive showing from the ACC’s favorite.
That leaves Clemson carrying the conference banner after its 58-0 dismantling of Miami. The Tigers are not self-labeled as “Wide Receiver University” for nothing, and while losing Williams was a significant demoralizer, Clemson is quite deep at that position.
The Wolfpack’s best offensive efforts were unable to keep up with the production of Watson and the Tigers, as they overwhelmed North Carolina State in the second half to pull away for a comfortable victory. On the ground, Matthew Dayes rushed for 205 yards and two touchdowns in 16 attempts.
And Watson could be the biggest difference maker.
4 North Carolina (6-1, 3-0 ACC): The first game of the round robin between Duke, UNC and Pitt that should decide the Coastal champ is Thursday when the Heels travel to Pitt. And according to nERD, Clemson (32.41) is significantly better than Florida State (15.71) in a vacuum.
It helped that the Tigers withstood the loss of eight defensive starters from a unit that led the nation in total defense last season.
Those numbers will take a hit after Clemson surrendered more than 24 points for the first time all year.
“Last year’s game is definitely a short of motivation for us”, cornerback Jack Tocho said. That’s all our focus is and our next goal. I don’t think that’s going to be an issue anymore, as the Tigers are rolling at 8-0 and Watson absolutely set NC State on fire en route to a 56-41 win in Raleigh. This week brought a 27-21 triumph at California and a continued place in the Pac-12 South race. “They understand the importance of getting off to a fast start”. But if familiarity with the program has a lot of sway, Helton (an assistant at Southern Cal since 2010) might have something of a candidacy if his team continues to play well. That will silence a few of the angst in College Station. And even then, there’s no guarantee the victor will be able to reach the magic number of six wins necessary for bowl eligibility.
Duke’s defense actually played well in the first and third quarters on Saturday, but it got no support from the offense. With teams having to regularly devote extra blockers to Lawson, whether tight ends or running backs chipping him at the line of scrimmage, other Tigers get the opportunity to make plays.
Georgia: Injuries (Nick Chubb) or not, mediocre quarterback play or not, the Bulldogs (5-3, 3-3 SEC) should have been better this year. Through six games, he’d been picked off seven times.
Texas: After back-to-back victories over Oklahoma and Kansas State, things were looking up for the Longhorns. This is a great spot on Clemson’s schedule with Florida State coming up next week.
Florida State: The Seminoles played Syracuse without tailback Dalvin Cook (ankle) and quarterback Everett Golson (concussion).
Watson is not only an “even-keel”- but he is also a phenomenal quarterback.
The problem, of course, is that Swinney’s team resides here in the ACC, land of bad officiating and somber narratives, where the need for approval is high and the margin for error is exceedingly low.
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Each team scored two TDs before five minutes elapsed, and both squads had one of the ensuing extra-point kicks blocked. It doesn’t matter which receiving group is out there, if a call looks to fit the situation, they go with it. The Cowboys rolled up 662 yards and tacked on punt and interceptions returns for scores. “He got caught up in the moment”.
