For a while, it appeared as if Clemson wasn’t going to shake Boston College and fight to avoid another stumble against a team it should normally handle.
But the Tigers rode a strong third quarter and built enough of a cushion to finish off the Eagles before a fired up BC crowd. This was a particularly impressive victory considering Clemson was coming off a loss at Florida State last weekend and how the Seminoles responded with their flat performance at South Florida.
Here are the grades for Clemson’s fourth victory in five games and BC’s third loss in four contests:
Clemson offense: The Tigers piled up 576 yards on 84 plays on an afternoon where Tajh Boyd completed 28 of 38 pass attempts for 367 yards and three scores. Wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins caught 11 passes for a school-record 195 yards as well as a score and Andre Ellington ran for 132 yards and a score for the high-flying visitors. Grade: A.
BC offense: At times, BC was very impressive. Chase Rettig was 25-43 for 341 yards and three touchdowns. But he was also picked off twice and BC did little in the running game. The offense was also only 5-17 on 3rd downs, and had nine fewer first downs than Clemson despite possessing the ball for three more minutes. Grade: B.
Clemson defense: Not what it needs to be. The Tigers are too talented to regularly give up big plays and make the number of wrong reads and just not wrap up guys like they should. That said, they made some very big stops especially against a team that came into the game ranked No. 1 in the ACC in passing offense. Grade: C.
BC defense: The Eagles just don’t match up well with Clemson’s speed and unreal talent. Aside from the full load of stats Clemson racked up, the Tigers were also 10-16 on 3rd downs. BC just couldn’t get enough stops. Grade: D.
Clemson intangibles: So often in the last decade-plus, Clemson would go into a game such as this and find a way to lose. It’s happened too often. And for a while, this game was beginning to take on that look. But the Tigers made some halftime adjustments and executed much better and pulled away. This was a growth victory. Grade: A.
BC intangibles: BC needed to show its home fans it could hang around a top-level team and fight them until the end, and that’s exactly what Frank Spaziani’s Eagles did. Chae Rettig and the passing game proved they will give BC a chance to win some games in the ACC. Grade: B.
