Players of the Game: NC State at Clemson

Offense: Mike Williams, WR, #7, RS Jr: Outside of the big fumble that was nearly returned for a touchdown, Mike Williams had a good game for a sputtering Clemson offense. Williams had 12 catches for 146 yards and a touchdown right before half time that put Clemson up 10-3. Yes, he did have that fumble, but it’s not like he was the only one to turn it over Saturday.

Defense: Marcus Edmond, CB, #29, RS Jr: Some of you may be freaking out that I didn’t give Christian Wilkins the nod here, but don’t worry, I got him covered. Edmond once again proved to be Mr. Clutch making the incredible interception in overtime to seal the 24-17 win for the Tigers. His other stats aren’t that eye popping, but, once again, he made the big play that needed to be made. And hopefully, this time he won’t have to split credit with the sideline crew.

Special Teams: Christian Wilkins, DT, #42, So: Slash had two huge plays for the Clemson special teams. The first one was a second quarter fake punt where he took the direct snap on 4th & 1 and rumbled for 10 yards. After that play, with Wayne Gallman injured, I would’ve been very happy to see him get a few reps at running back to try and spark the offense. He also had a big blocked kick in the third quarter to keep NC State from taking the lead. It was a great display of strength and athleticism seeing him bull rush through the line and jump up to swat that kick.

Moment of the Game: No, I didn’t give Kyle Bambard any player of the game honors, but he will get credit for starting our moment of the game. The moment of the game begins with his missed 33-yard kick with 0:02 left that would’ve won the game for NC State. As someone who has watched Clemson lose enough games on missed field goals (oh, the Tommy Bowden years), seeing us win off of someone else’s special teams misfortune was oddly satisfying. After that missed kick sent the game into overtime and Death Valley into a frenzy, Clemson went right down and Artavis Scott scored on a 10 yard pass. Sure, Clemson had the ball on the 1-yard line and an errant snap over Deshaun’s head almost caused me to have a heart attack, but the next play was beautiful. Then with NC State taking over, the Wolfpack let Ryan Finley throw one up to the endzone, and that’s when Mr. Clutch Marcus Edmond was there to pick it off and give the Tigers the win. The team dog piled him, the fans didn’t wait 30 seconds to run on the field, and it made the previous 3 and a half hours of stress and frustration worth it.