HIGHLIGHTS
C.J. Spiller
C.J. Spiller
Lightning struck in Jacksonville, FL on New Year's Day and as always, it was an awesome sight to behold. How about C.J.'s 33 yard return on the game's opening kickoff? Even better was Spiller's punt return later in the first quarter, also for 33 yards. After catching the punt near the left sideline on the 19, he worked his way all the way over to the right sideline, making six different Nebraska defenders miss him in the process and ended up finally getting tackled on the Cornhuskers' 48 yard line. He had a 10 yard rush on the first play of the 2nd quarter, breaking two tackles along the way.
James Davis
James Davis
With 1:35 remaining in the 1st quarter, James had a gain of nine yards. On the last play of the 1st quarter, Davis broke two tackles and had a nice gain of gain of 11 yards.
Jacoby Ford
On Clemson's third series of the game, they were on their own 3 yard line and facing 3rd down and 17. Ford caught a short pass from Harper and made the most of it, racing for 46 yards to give the Tigers plenty of breathing room at midfield. Jacoby caught 3 passes for 55 yards in the first half and also returned a Nebraksa punt for 20 yards.
Aaron Kelly/Cullen Harper
Certainly one of the biggest plays of the first half was the 25 yard Cullen Harper pass and the TD catch by Aaron Kelly just before halftime to put the Tigers up 14-3. Harper did a great job of throwing the ball where only Kelly could catch it and Kelly did a great job of positioning himself for the catch. Aaron finished the first half with 3 catches for 39 yards and set the Clemson career reception yards record.
Da'Quan Bowers
Jacoby Ford
On Clemson's third series of the game, they were on their own 3 yard line and facing 3rd down and 17. Ford caught a short pass from Harper and made the most of it, racing for 46 yards to give the Tigers plenty of breathing room at midfield. Jacoby caught 3 passes for 55 yards in the first half and also returned a Nebraksa punt for 20 yards.
Aaron Kelly/Cullen Harper
Certainly one of the biggest plays of the first half was the 25 yard Cullen Harper pass and the TD catch by Aaron Kelly just before halftime to put the Tigers up 14-3. Harper did a great job of throwing the ball where only Kelly could catch it and Kelly did a great job of positioning himself for the catch. Aaron finished the first half with 3 catches for 39 yards and set the Clemson career reception yards record.
Da'Quan Bowers
Bowers had a great first half and was getting off his blocks and getting in the backfield regularly. He had two tackles for loss on the first downs of Nebraska's first and second offensive series. He also had 3 QB pressures of Nebraska QB Joe Ganz. It is good to see #93 making some plays and I look forward to watching him over the next two (hopefully three) years.
Chris Chancellor
The best hit of the first half goes to Chris Chancellor, hands down. On Nebraska's second offensive series in the first quarter, Nebraksa QB Joe Ganz threw a pass to RB Helu Jr. and Chancellor saw it coming all the way. It was reminiscent of the hit Byron Maxwell put on the UVA WR earlier in the season in that respect. As soon as the ball touched the fingers of Helu Jr., Chancellor arrived instantly and just crushed him. He rang his bell so hard that the whole Gator Bowl crowd let out a big "ooooohhhh".
Andre' McDaniel
Where would Clemson be if not for the big plays of Andre' McDaniel this season? The guy is a play-maker. Nebrasaka QB Ganz rushed to his left on an option play and pitched it out to RB Castille. McDaniel read it all the way and got between the two of them, tipped the pitch, picked it up and took it to the house for a 28 yard TD. What is interesting to note is that McDaniel was red-hot on this defensive series. On the previous play to the TD, McDaniel was right in Ganz's face when he threw the ball that Michael Hamlin nearly intercepted. On the previous play to that one, McDaniel tackled Ganz on a QB keeper and Ganz got up limping. In the first half, McDaniel accounted for a special teams tackle, the tackle on Ganz, the fumble recovery, a TD and a QB pressure.
Crezdon Butler
Butler tackled Nebraska RB Helu Jr. early in the 2nd quarter. Late in the 2nd quarter, after Harper's tipped pass was intercepted by Nebraska deep in Clemson territory, Crezdon returned the favor and intercepted Nebraska QB Ganz on Clemson' s 28 yard line. He returned it 59 yards to the Nebraska 13 to set up Clemson's next TD before halftime.
LOWLIGHTS
First play from scrimmage
On Clemson's first offensive play of the game, they lined up and then shifted into a different formation but had to burn a timeout to avoid a 5 yard penalty for delay of game. This is hard to accept after all the prep. time but it didn't end up hurting us, per se'. It just didn't help. It is questionable if they should have run the exact same play after the timeout as it seems Nebraska was well prepared and had James Davis double covered, so the pass from Harper fell incomplete for no gain.
James Davis fumble
On Clemson's 2nd offensive series, facing 2nd and 8, Davis took the handoff but fumbled the ball. Thankfully, Mason Cloy was alert and recovered it but it resulted in a 3 yard loss and put the Tigers in a 3rd and long which they did not convert.
Offensive line
A lot of fans complained bitterly about Cullen Harper's play and perhaps some complaining is justified. However, Harper was pressured, hit and sacked in the first half due to some mistakes that were not his- breakdowns in protection by the line. I am not naming names to make these guys look bad. Mistakes are going to happen. I appreciate all of the times they make the blocks and protect well but here is what I observed:
Prior to the huge 3rd down conversion where Jacoby was off to the races for 46 yards, Harper was sacked on Clemson's own 1 yard line when Thomas Austin gave up the inside to Nebraska's Steinkuhler. It almost went for a safety.
On 4th and 1, when Clemson elected to go for it on Nebraska's 32 yard line in the 1st quarter, James Davis was tackled by the defender that Bobby Hutchinson was supposed to block and didn't.
On 3rd and 8 with Clemson on Nebraksa's 39 yard line, Landon Walker and Antoine McClain double teamed Nebraska's #93 (Suh) and still let him plow right through both of them to get pressure on Harper. Granted, Harper held on to the ball for a while and Suh's a beast but two on one should be enough to keep this guy out of the backfield.
Late in the 2nd half, after Butler's interception and Clemson on the Nebraska 13 yard line, Mason Cloy just got manhandled by Suh and ended up sacking Harper and throwing him to the turf for a 17 yard loss.
Davis had 8 carries in the first half for 22 yards, an average of 2.75. Spiller had 4 carries for 13 yards, an average of 3.25. Of the 12 carries, only three were for more than 2 yards.
Failure to take advantage of excellent field position and opportunities on offense
Chris Chancellor
The best hit of the first half goes to Chris Chancellor, hands down. On Nebraska's second offensive series in the first quarter, Nebraksa QB Joe Ganz threw a pass to RB Helu Jr. and Chancellor saw it coming all the way. It was reminiscent of the hit Byron Maxwell put on the UVA WR earlier in the season in that respect. As soon as the ball touched the fingers of Helu Jr., Chancellor arrived instantly and just crushed him. He rang his bell so hard that the whole Gator Bowl crowd let out a big "ooooohhhh".
Andre' McDaniel
Where would Clemson be if not for the big plays of Andre' McDaniel this season? The guy is a play-maker. Nebrasaka QB Ganz rushed to his left on an option play and pitched it out to RB Castille. McDaniel read it all the way and got between the two of them, tipped the pitch, picked it up and took it to the house for a 28 yard TD. What is interesting to note is that McDaniel was red-hot on this defensive series. On the previous play to the TD, McDaniel was right in Ganz's face when he threw the ball that Michael Hamlin nearly intercepted. On the previous play to that one, McDaniel tackled Ganz on a QB keeper and Ganz got up limping. In the first half, McDaniel accounted for a special teams tackle, the tackle on Ganz, the fumble recovery, a TD and a QB pressure.
Crezdon Butler
Butler tackled Nebraska RB Helu Jr. early in the 2nd quarter. Late in the 2nd quarter, after Harper's tipped pass was intercepted by Nebraska deep in Clemson territory, Crezdon returned the favor and intercepted Nebraska QB Ganz on Clemson' s 28 yard line. He returned it 59 yards to the Nebraska 13 to set up Clemson's next TD before halftime.
LOWLIGHTS
First play from scrimmage
On Clemson's first offensive play of the game, they lined up and then shifted into a different formation but had to burn a timeout to avoid a 5 yard penalty for delay of game. This is hard to accept after all the prep. time but it didn't end up hurting us, per se'. It just didn't help. It is questionable if they should have run the exact same play after the timeout as it seems Nebraska was well prepared and had James Davis double covered, so the pass from Harper fell incomplete for no gain.
James Davis fumble
On Clemson's 2nd offensive series, facing 2nd and 8, Davis took the handoff but fumbled the ball. Thankfully, Mason Cloy was alert and recovered it but it resulted in a 3 yard loss and put the Tigers in a 3rd and long which they did not convert.
Offensive line
A lot of fans complained bitterly about Cullen Harper's play and perhaps some complaining is justified. However, Harper was pressured, hit and sacked in the first half due to some mistakes that were not his- breakdowns in protection by the line. I am not naming names to make these guys look bad. Mistakes are going to happen. I appreciate all of the times they make the blocks and protect well but here is what I observed:
Prior to the huge 3rd down conversion where Jacoby was off to the races for 46 yards, Harper was sacked on Clemson's own 1 yard line when Thomas Austin gave up the inside to Nebraska's Steinkuhler. It almost went for a safety.
On 4th and 1, when Clemson elected to go for it on Nebraska's 32 yard line in the 1st quarter, James Davis was tackled by the defender that Bobby Hutchinson was supposed to block and didn't.
On 3rd and 8 with Clemson on Nebraksa's 39 yard line, Landon Walker and Antoine McClain double teamed Nebraska's #93 (Suh) and still let him plow right through both of them to get pressure on Harper. Granted, Harper held on to the ball for a while and Suh's a beast but two on one should be enough to keep this guy out of the backfield.
Late in the 2nd half, after Butler's interception and Clemson on the Nebraska 13 yard line, Mason Cloy just got manhandled by Suh and ended up sacking Harper and throwing him to the turf for a 17 yard loss.
Davis had 8 carries in the first half for 22 yards, an average of 2.75. Spiller had 4 carries for 13 yards, an average of 3.25. Of the 12 carries, only three were for more than 2 yards.
Failure to take advantage of excellent field position and opportunities on offense
It's a shame that the Tigers could do nothing with the excellent field position they had on nearly every offensive series in the first half. On the first series, Clemson started on their own 43 and went 3 and out. On the second series, they started on their own 41 and again went 3 and out. On the third series, they drove from their own 10 to the Nebraska 32, chose to go for it on 4th and 1 and had a timeout to discuss and prepare and still didn't convert. On the fourth series, the Tigers started on Nebraska's 48, had 1st and goal from the 5 and ended up with a 3rd and goal from the 9. Buccholz then had the FG blocked. On the fifth series, Clemson started on the Nebraska 41 and went 3 and out. This makes me sick just to think about all of these missed opportunities.
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