Clemson Opponents Review: Week 2

(6) Georgia Bulldogs (1-0)

Todd Gurley ran for 210 yards and two TD against Georgia's bye week, which managed to do better defensively than I DON'T WANNA TALK ABOUT IT.

(1) Florida State Seminoles (2-0)

Won 37-12 over The Citadel, but before you dismiss this as a game that existed solely to transfer money from a big school to a small school, let me show you a stat. The Citadel managed 250 rushing yards on Florida State - due to the Seminoles not caring very much or something else I can't say. Jameis Winston threw for 256 yards and two scores, so that all seems to be working fine. Otherwise this was an oddly crisp game despite the clear disparity in talent, with no turnovers from either team.

North Carolina Tar Heels (2-0)

Defeated San Diego State 31-27, in a... seriously, does anyone in this conference know how to defend a pass? 341 yards! Tim Scott picked off a throw in the end zone with 14 seconds left, and that's how North Carolina really got this victory. And due to their wish to stop the pass carnage (which mostly failed) they allowed 168 rushing yards too. Marquise Williams did well again (20/29, 255 yards 2 TD), but that defense, like every other defense apparently, needs some work.

N.C. State Wolfpack (2-0)

Won 46-34 in a game that violated at least four sections of the Geneva Conventions On the Protection of Football Secondaries. Old Dominion QB Taylor Heinicke threw for 308 on 49 attempts, while Jacoby Brissett, fresh off his escape from a second whack at Georgia Southern, managed 256 yards on 29 attempts. The Monarchs rushed for 196 yards in total; the Wolfpack 242. The only reason I can come up with for NC State winning is that they got tired slower.

(21) Louisville Cardinals (2-0)

Beat Murray State 66-21. I don't want to take anything away from Murray State here - and even if I did, I can't because Louisville stole everything before I arrived - but this was never a game. Louisville used it as a chance to get something-just-above-practice-level reps for Gardner and Reggie Bonnafon, both of which threw for 100+ yards and at least one score. The birdies had 278 passing and 325 rushing yards; note here that Murray State also threw for 251, but only ran for 45. That passing number is interesting.

Boston College Eagles (1-1)

Lost 30-20, partially due to Tyler Murphy's pedestrian performance and - I can't even believe I'm going to type this - unstoppable Pitt running game. James Conner rushed for 409 yards last week against Delaware; this time he managed 213 on 35 carries, relentlessly wearing down the Eagles. Even more oddly, Pitt stunted Boston College's ability to run and pass, which leads me to believe they have a defense. I can't believe I typed that, either. If this keeps up, Pitt might actually be... good?

Syracuse Orange (1-0)

Syracuse defeated their bye week 34-31 in seven overtimes. Just kidding! You can't play (and therefore lose to) bye weeks. Please put down your axes, Orange fans.

Wake Forest Demon Deacons (1-1)

Defeated Gardner-Webb 23-7 with, and I swear someone used this term, "stifling defense". Gardner-Webb is obviously the Oregon of FCS, you see, so this is a great victory! Never mind that Wake is averaging 46.5 rushing yards a game or that their freshman QB John Wolford threw three picks. Wake won. Wolford also threw for 298 yards, so that's nice. But all this was against Gardner-Webb. Coincidentally, the school said Thursday they'd start selling beer and wine at games. You might need to be drunk to watch this team in ACC play.

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (2-0)

Defeated Tulane 38-21, although not before suffering the same 'oh wait are we playing a game' problem they had against Wofford. Two rushing touchdowns each from Tony Zenon and Tim Byerly, one of the many, many quarterbacks Paul Johnson is using in his evil bee wizard offense, helped Tech eventually rise to victory. Tanner Lee, Tulane's redshirt freshman QB, did his part with three interceptions. I'll note here that GT was great at stopping the run, allowing only 96 total yards. And also I think this is the first time insects have played against a wave of water.

Georgia State Panthers (1-1)

Lost 34-31 to New Mexico State, in a game where defense was myth. Tyler Rogers threw a touchdown pass with 15 seconds left which turned out to be the winning score. Remember last week, when I said games like this were the most fun? Well, the Panthers had 456 total yards, and the Aggies (there are too many teams named this) had 435. Both teams combined for seven turnovers. So, a hilariously good time! If you were one of the 14 people that saw it.

(24) South Carolina Gamecocks (1-1)

Beat East Carolina 33-23. Had Mike Davis not allowed them to play the possession game with his rushing, this could have turned out quite differently. Shane Carden passed for 321 yards against the Gamecocks, though his two interceptions hurt. While that's an improvement from last week, they weren't playing Texas A&M either. If there's no one to double team on the defensive line, it seems South Carolina's back-end suffers. Dylan Thompson passed for 266 yards, a score, and a pick, so it's not like the Pirates were terrific in the secondary either.