Snap Count Review: Clemson vs NC State

It’s been an exciting few weeks of Clemson football, with the latest top-ten showdown in Death Valley delivering on the hype in a 30-20 victory for the Tigers. The win puts them firmly in the lead for the Atlantic title and grants Clemson some hard-earned revenge for last year’s overtime defeat in Raleigh.

It was another week of backups playing a significant amount of snaps for this injury-ridden team, particularly on the defensive side of the ball. Bouncing back from the Wake game, the young contributors largely handled business against State and held them to 13 points before a garbage-time touchdown narrowed the lead.

All snap counts come from the official Clemson report found here; numbers do not necessarily denote official plays, but rather non-special-team snaps.

For the second week in a row, the offensive starters handled most of the snaps. Uiagalelei, Shipley, and the tight ends followed the typical pecking order. At receiver, Collins, Williams, and Ngata have firmly established themselves as the starting trio (for now). Randall came in fourth with WR snaps, ahead of EJ Williams and Spector.

The offensive line has been the most consistent of any position group, a huge contrast to how last year played out for the big fellas. Freshman Blake Miller still currently has the most offensive snaps of any player on the team.

Ken Ruinard / USA TODAY NETWORK

Pace saw very limited action, but will hopefully get more reps against Boston College. I’m still worried he may elect to transfer after a slow junior year so far.

On defense, things were less consistent.

Bryan Bresee was absent for the second game this year with health issues, while Xavier Thomas has yet to see the field. Tre Williams returned to action for the first time in three games, while Etinosa Reuben got 10 more snaps after not playing last week at Wake Forest.

At linebacker, an injured Trotter opened the door for Keith Maguire, who hauled in an impressive (but ultimately negated) interception late in the fourth quarter, to continue filling in. Bentley also logged 16 reps after only receiving 2 last week.

In the secondary is where things really got interesting. Only two true corners, Wiggins and Pride, played all game. With Jones and Greene still out, the coaches elected to try Mukuba at corner to open the game. Midway through the second quarter, he was ejected for targeting, and that plan went out the window along with him.

Ken Ruinard / USA TODAY NETWORK

Fred Davis and Jaedyn Lukus did not play, but Phillips (39), Venables (38), Mickens (37) and freshman Sherrod Covil (33) helped hold things together back there for the Clemson defense. I don’t know enough about defensive schemes to be able to properly assess what Goodwin was running with his safeties and corners, but it certainly was effective in limiting the Wolfpack offense.

It was a resounding answer to the questions raised at Wake Forest a week ago and restores some much-needed confidence to this team. Now they look ahead to a chilly night at Boston College on the 8th.