Clemson was about to cross the goal line and take a 23-21 lead in the second quarter when a fumble returned for a West Virginia touchdown opened the floodgates to a record-setting 70-33 Mountaineers romp over the ACC champions.
The honest truth is that Clemson embarrassed itself and the ACC on this night. The Tigers had no fight in overcoming that adversity, and ended up giving the nation more reason to dismiss the ACC as a second-rate conference.
Try as one might, there simply isn’t any other way to look at this. West Virginia’s point total is an all-time bowl record. Here is a look at how Clemson graded out in the demolition:
Clemson offense: The Tigers were doing fine until Andre Ellington had the ball stripped from him inches from the goal line. A score by Clemson and this may have been a totally different game. Instead, it leads to a 99-yard TD run and Clemson was done. The offense could have tried to maintain, but just lost its bite. Too bad, because this could have been a fun game. Grade: D.
Clemson defense: Lets see, the Tigers gave up nearly 600 total yards and allowed Tavon Austin 4 carries for 41 yards and 9 receptions for 96 yards and four touchdowns. Geno Smith passed for five TDs. The Tigers weren’t very good on this end of the ball very often this season, and certainly could never duplicate its effort at Virginia Tech on Oct. 1. This marked perhaps one lousy performance too many. Changes should be considered. Grade: F.
Clemson intangibles: Pride is an intangible, and Clemson displayed precious little. Maturity in handling adversity is also one, and the Tigers displayed precious little. The coaching staff failed the players in working through these areas, and should take most of the blame. Grade: F.
Clemson impact: A win and Clemson could have started next season ranked in the top-10. But now it will likely start in the late teens, which will make pushing for a national title much more difficult. That said, if ACC teams thought generating respect has been difficult in recent years, this game just added to that problem exponentially. The ACC title was nice, but how this team closed the season is a reason for concern. Grade: F.
