CLEMSON, S.C. — Clemson avoided back-to-back losses and kept its home-field winning streak alive with a 19-13 win over Boston College on Saturday night at Memorial Stadium.
After the Eagles had tied the game at 13 thanks to a 3-yard touchdown run from Pat Garwo to start the second half, the Tigers answered with two field goals from B.T. Potter and a shutdown defense. Clemson improves to 3-2 on the year and 2-1 in ACC action, while Boston College drops to 4-1 (0-1).
Here are five takeaways from the victory with Clemson heading into the bye week:
Inconsistent offense
Clemson’s offense was able to move the ball more than it has all season, reaching over 438 yards of total offense, but still struggled to be consistent. Overthrows and dropped passes prevented the Tigers from getting in the end zone. They did have big catches from Joseph Ngata, however, and a strong running game that got the team in position for Potter to nail field goals of 19, 40, 35 and 42 yards.
Kobe Pace had the team’s lone touchdown on a 59-yard run during Clemson’s first drive of the game.
Running back potential
With Will Shipley out, Kobe Pace got the start at running back, rotating in and out with Phil Mafah (seven carries, 58 yards). The freshman Mafah made his debut in a big way, which included a 28-yard run during the first half of the contest. Pace also contributed with a 125-yard rushing game and a touchdown.
Quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei also got in on the rushing attack with 50 yards on the ground.
Back luck Tigers
Clemson was already coming into the game down three starters in defensive tackles Tyler Davis and Bryan Bresee, as well as Shipley. Things got worse before the first quarter of Saturday night’s game was over. The Tigers lost Justyn Ross, Braden Galloway and Will Taylor to undisclosed injuries, while Davis Allen was ejected for targeting on a punt. Will Brown served as the team’s return specialist and Beaux Collins came in for Ross in the slot.
Ross was seen back on the field after halftime in sweats. The status of all three and nature of their injuries is unknown, though it appeared Taylor had an ankle injury.
Return of XT
Xavier Thomas came to Clemson as a highly-touted five-star recruit. Some bumps along the way prevented the Tigers from seeing his full potential. Everything came together for him on homecoming with the defensive lineman being one of the highlights for the defense. He rebounded from a roughing-the-passer penalty during the second quarter a few plays later to make a tackle-for-loss that caused the Eagles to punt.
Defensive dependency
For now, the days of a high-powered Clemson offense just aren’t there. The Tigers are working through growing pains and need time to work all the kinks out and get consistent. In the meantime, the defense has been the key. In addition to Thomas’ performance, the group had two turnovers with R.J. Mickens and Nolan Turner each picking off Eagles quarterback Dennis Grosel once.
K.J. Henry had the final turnover with 49 seconds left on the clock by recovering a fumble in the red zone to deal the Eagles their first loss of the season.
