Despite Struggling Offense, Tigers Stifle Georgia Southern for 22-7 Win

Photo credit: Post & Courier

Clemson, S.C. – The Tigers’ home opener against Georgia Southern was all but glamorous as they held on to beat the Eagles 22-7 behind a stellar performance from kicker Nolan Hauser.

Clemson found themselves on a three-and-out on their first drive which was capped-off by a

38-yard punt by Jack Smith to end it. The Tigers recovered, however, after punt receiver

Antavious Murphy fumbled the ball deep in Georgia Southern’s own territory. Their ensuing drive saw Christopher Vizzina finding TJ Moore for a 10-yard touchdown connection to give the Tigers their first – and only – touchdown of the evening.

The Eagles finally got their offense on the field for their first drive but after a Will Heldt sack on Max Johnson, Georgia Southern was forced to punt. Whatever momentum the Tigers carried from their stop died when Vizzina threw a deep ball into double coverage that was intercepted by Jakyri Jones at the Georgia Southern 18. Clemson benched Vizzina after this drive in favor of Tait Reynolds.

After forcing a second straight three-and-out, Tait Reynolds started gaining momentum with the Tigers’ offense, finding Tyler Brown down the left side for a ten yard reception. Chris Johnson Jr. got things going on the ground, following up with a 15-yard gain to the Georgia Southern 44. All was well until Jakyri Jones once again recovered a turnover after Reynolds fumbled the ball in the redzone.

The last drive of the half for the Eagles saw Max Johnson connect with wideout Ashton Hollins for a 42-yard touchdown strike after miscommunication led to blown coverage from the Tigers’ secondary.

The Tigers ended the half with yet another field goal, capping an eleven play, 15-yard drive that drained the remaining 3:03 in the half.

Not much can be said about the rest of the game scoring-wise as the Tigers’ defense held the Eagles in check, leading to yet two more field goals to seal the deal.

Offensive Line Woes

Clemson, for a second straight game, failed to convert on 85.2% of third-downs, compared to Georgia Southern’s 23.5% conversion rate, which all points back to the weak offensive line Matt Luke put together in the offseason. The line has given up 21.5 TFLs and six sacks over the last two games against LSU and GSU. Absolutely abysmal stuff coming from the front five. Rushing, which was made a focal point for Chad Morris and the Clemson offense, has averaged 95.0 yards the last two games, and averaged 2.9 yards per carry over that span. If the Tigers are going to win anymore games this year, running has to improve but most importantly the line has to be more disciplined, especially with UNC, California, and Miami coming up in the next three games.

The Dawn of Tait

After Dabo benched Christopher Vizzina following an early interception and possible elbow

injury, all eyes fell on freshman signal-caller Tait Reynolds. Despite heavy pressure and non-existent blocking from his linemen, Reynolds delivered a relatively decent performance, completing 16-of-27 passes for 178 yards and adding 38 yards on the ground.

The growing pains will be there but for what it is, Tait delivered on what we expected and will provide some sort of hope going into the home-stretch of the season, just as Cade Klubnik did during the DJU era and TLaw during the KB2 era. He might have had a “poor” performance against Georgia Southern but his accuracy and rushing ability is something that the Tigers have desperately craved since the 2020 season and I, along with many other journalists, believe Tait will be the future quarterback we need. He showed poise in the pocket that Cade and DJ didn’t show and has a surprising ratio of arm strength to accuracy. In Clemson’s final drive of the first half, Tait showed grit and urgency as he threw for 10+ yards three times leading up to a last-second Hauser field goal.

The freshman will get his first-ever collegiate start this Saturday versus UNC after Vizzina has

been ruled out with an apparent elbow injury. We will see if Saturday was just the beginning or another fluke performance from a mediocre quarterback. I’d much rather take the former than the latter.

Nolan Hauser: Lou Groza Candidate?

Almost three weeks ago, on A Sports Show Podcast, I explained who the best player/MIP on

this team will be and I didn’t hold back when naming Nolan Hauser my most improved player and a possible Lou Groza award winner.

Hauser delivered on the praise given to him earlier in the season as he finished 5/5 on field

goals, with the longest coming from 50-yards. Going into the UNC game, Hauser is 6/6 on FGs, 2/2 on XPs, tied for second in FGM only behind UAB’s Jonah Delange. Simply put, Nolan has been one of the only bright spots on the team so far this year and I don’t even think it is close.

Looking Ahead

Clemson hosts North Carolina for a high-noon gunfight as the Tigers look to capitalize on their win over Georgia Southern. The Tar Heels have won both of their games this season, defeating TCU 15-10 in Ireland in Week 0 and ETSU 35-3 last week.

The Tigers are a 3.5-point favorite against the Heels but honestly, I think the game is going to be closer than the spread even says. Think the Tigers get the job done and win nail-biter 26-21 behind yet another big game from Nolan Hauser.