Control, Alt, Delete: Clemson much further ahead of N.C. State off the field than on it
For the third time in the last two years, Clemson’s defense gave up a touchdown the first possession they were on the field.
The previous two games? Pittsburgh at home in 2016 and Syracuse on the road this season.
Two losses.
That’s how eerily similar Saturday’s game against N.C. State felt. Clemson got down early, and the Wolfpack’s offense was rolling.
Meanwhile, Kelly Bryant came out sluggish throwing an interception on the opening possession. He started the game 3-of-10, but those three completions all came on third downs on a drive late in the first quarter where Clemson needed points.
Bryant’s deep ball was off, throw after throw. On the other side, Ryan Finley completed throw after throw.
Finley completed his first 15 passes and played one of the best halves of football against Brent Venables’ defense. Finley scrambled and made plays looking like Superman, while Bryant looked like Clark Kent: pedestrian.
But the differences in this game compared to the Syracuse loss were three things:
A healthy Kelly Bryant, third-down conversions, and the ability to make one more play than the other.
Bryant may have played his worst game of the season, but grew up tremendously in the second half according to Dabo Swinney in his Sunday teleconference.
"Another positive is that it was probably Kelly's worst game he's played all year, but yet he was still able to lead his team to a win," Swinney said. "I think that's a sign of growth and maturity in Kelly."
He was instrumental in Clemson’s scoring drives in the second half and made plays when it counted while Finley came back to earth a little bit and missed some throws that could have been daggers to Clemson’s comeback.
The third-down conversions and critical plays go hand-in-hand. Every conversion was a critical one in a game that felt like it was teetering like at Syracuse a few weeks before.
At Syracuse, Clemson was 2-of-11 on third downs and couldn’t keep their offense on the field. In Raleigh, the Tigers were 7-of-16 and N.C. State was 3-of-13.
This battle to stand atop the Atlantic division is just what we expected it to be: a back-and-forth bloodbath that came all the way down to the game’s final play.
The Tigers were just able to make one more play than N.C State. Finley had Jaylen Samuels open to tie the game with less than one minute remaining.
Samuels made the catch, but K'Von Wallace jarred the ball loose and the pass fell incomplete.
One play, one step, that’s how close it was on the field between these two programs.
Sadly, the fireworks for N.C. State on the field was overshadowed by the dumpster fire that took place off it once the final whistle blew.
Pack fans are not going to forget the illegal shift penalty that negated a goal-to-go situation for a chance to tie the game in the final seconds, but the rest of the nation watching won’t forget the embarrassing behavior shown by the Pack faithful once the game was over.
The word “Statement” is painted along the sidelines of Carter-Finely Stadium, but when fans hurled bottles at referees as they ran off the field, the statement was made loud and clear:
N.C. State’s program still has a long way to go.
It starts with N.C. State head coach Dave Doeren, who could have helped elevate his program even after the loss.
Instead, Doeren wanted to launch an investigation regarding a laptop on Clemson’s sideline within the first 10 seconds of his press conference.
He didn’t praise his players for their tremendous effort or Clemson for its performance. He tried to cope with the loss by shifting the attention elsewhere.
The laptop in question belonged to a student on Clemson’s social media team who was getting his work done on the sidelines. Information Doeren could have found out on his own instead of trying to incite that Clemson was gaining an unfair advantage to the media.
Doeren, like N.C. State’s fans, didn’t show class in defeat and that’s what people are going to take away from this game.
People can criticize Swinney for congratulating Syracuse in their locker room all they want, but how you conduct yourself after a loss can go much further than the actual results on the field.
What Doeren could have done was criticize his own fans’ actions during the press conference. “That’s not how our program works. I’m embarrassed,” would have gone a long way.
Instead, the focus was on a laptop.
Instead, he backed Wolfpack Nation:
Sheesh.
Swinney had the chance to react to Doeren’s comments on the laptop but took the high road.
“A laptop? No, I have no idea,” Swinney laughed. “It wasn’t anybody on the football side.”
It’s easier now to believe how the Tigers have won 13 of their last 14 against N.C. State.
Clemson now controls its destiny for the ACC Championship and the College Football Playoff after exercising its demons from the road loss at Syracuse.
N.C. State’s hopes of clinching the Atlantic division in front of its home fans were altered by the Tigers, then deleted.
Control, alt, delete.