Where to begin?
No. 9 Clemson lost its 2023 season opener and became the first top-10 team to lose to the Duke Blue Devils since 1989. It's also Clemson's first loss to Duke since 2004.
Finding enough "ups" in a 28-7 loss on Monday night in Durham, N.C., isn't easy, especially any that balance out the other side. Since the downs were more evident, let's start there:
Downs
- Up 7-6 at halftime, Clemson’s six second-half possessions ended like this: blocked field goal, fumble, fumble, turnover on downs, interception, turnover on downs.
- To make it worse, the Tigers got inside the 10-yard line three times in the half and came away with zero points.
- Quarterback Cade Klubnik pulled a ball out of the hands of running back Will Shipley, causing a fumble at the Duke 10-yard line to stop a drive that would’ve given Clemson the lead in the third quarter.
- Running back Phil Mafah had a fumble inside the 5 trying to score that Duke scooped up for a big return to keep another TD off the board.
- Klubnik slid too early on a fourth-down scramble that turned the ball over on downs in the fourth quarter. Even though he was hit on a dead-ball targeting penalty, the Tigers lost possession.
- The passing game rarely looked fluid as receivers struggled to create separation.
- In the first game under new offensive coordinator Garrett Riley, Clemson’s offense didn’t attack the deep part of the field in this game. Klubnik’s longest completion was 21 yards.
- The defense allowed Duke QB Riley Leonard to rush for 12.3 yards per carry, giving him 98 yards and a rushing touchdown in the game.
- The Tigers gave up 5.8 yards per play and fell asleep defending the running backs on wheel routes in the passing game.
- Robert Gunn III had two field goals blocked in his first game since taking over for B.T. Potter as the starting placekicker.
- Barrett Carter couldn’t bring Riley down in the backfield after having him wrapped up. The Duke QB broke free and ran in a 44-yard TD in the third quarter that put the Blue Devils up for good.
Ups
- Clemson rushed for 213 yards and passed for 209, the kind of balance the Tigers wanted. They just couldn’t turn that into points.
- The Tigers' offense picked up 29 first downs and ran 83 plays, despite the new clock-stoppage rules that are aimed at shortening games.
- Shipley scored his first receiving touchdown of his career when the junior caught a short pass and ran it in for Clemson’s only points. He also rushed for 114 yards on 17 carries.
- Clemson linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Jr. had nine tackles, 1.5 tackles for a loss, one fumble forced and two QB hurries.
- Punter Aidan Swanson averaged a solid 44.5 yards per boot on four attempts.
- Freshman defensive end T.J. Parker made several plays and produced two QB hurries in his first collegiate game.
Want to join in on the discussion? 100% FREE! Interact with fellow Tiger fans and hear directly from publisher Zach Lentz, deputy editor Brad Senkiw, and recruiting analyst Jason Priester on any subject. Click here to become a member of the ALL CLEMSON message board community today!
Do us a HUGE favor and like, subscribe and follow us on social media:
►LIKE us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/allclemson
►SUBSCRIBE: https://www.youtube.com/c/AllClemson
►FOLLOW All Clemson on Twitter:https://twitter.com/All_Clemson
