A week after a hard-fought road victory over a feisty Texas A&M squad, Clemson football returns home to battle Georgia Southern.
The Eagles might be 2-0, but they do not present the same test the Tigers faced on the road in College Station last week against Texas A&M. On that night, Clemson was forced to hold on for a 28-26 victory after surrendering over 500 yards of total offense.
A defense loaded with future NFL players should have a much easier time this week against Georgia Southern.
Shai Werts, a native of South Carolina who was recruited by Clemson out of high school, is the starting quarterback and leader on offense. He is 11-for-16 passing for 183 yards with two touchdowns, giving him a 206.1 quarterback rating. Werts also leads the team with 246 yards rushing and four scores, averaging almost seven per carry. Wesley Fields has 173 yards and Monteo Garrett another 117.
Clemson’s offense was moving the ball well against the Aggies last week until the fourth. Kelly Bryant appears to have the quarterback job all to himself, though, after leading several key drives late. He is 22 of 33 passing for 332 yards with two touchdowns, while prized freshman Trevor Lawrence has 230 yards and four scores.
Bryant, like Werts, leads the team in rushing with 112 yards. Travis Etienne, who broke on the scene last year as a freshman, has just 108 yards in two games, with another newcomer, Lyn-J Dixon, adding 89 on six carries.
Here’s how you can watch Saturday’s Clemson-Georgia Southern contest, which has been bumped up due to the expected weather this weekend:
Date: Saturday, Sept. 15
Time: Noon ET
Location: Clemson, S.C.
Venue: Death Valley Stadium
TV: ESPN2
Live Stream: WatchESPN | Fubo TV
Keys to Victory
The Tigers were absolutely shredded by Kellen Mond a week ago, but they’ll face a different offense in Georgia Southern. Behind Werts, the Eagles are an option-based team that averages 330 yards on the ground and just 91.5 in the air.
As long as Clemson’s defense can limit the big plays by Werts, they should have little trouble zoning in on taking the run away and forcing Georgia Southern to do what they don’t like to – pass the ball.
Betting Odds
Odds courtesy of OddsShark
Point Spread: Clemson -33.5
Over/Under: 44.5
Prediction
As long as they avoided looking ahead to the ACC opener with Georgia Tech next week, Clemson’s quick and fast defense should have little trouble with Georgia Southern. After a rough fourth quarter last week vs. Texas A&M, look for the offense to be clicking on all cylinders throughout for Swinney.
Final Score: Clemson 40, Georgia Southern 10