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Clemson REACTION | What Everyone Is Missing About Clemson Football (This Is HUGE!) · ACC Football Addiction (Atlantic Coast Conference)

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: What's up, Clemson fans? Thank you for tuning in today
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: to ACC Football Addiction. We're always super happy to have you.
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: We knew what this matchup was, a chance for Clemson
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: to come off the bye week and work some kinks
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: out against a team that was certainly not to be
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: on the same field as you guys. And as we
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: look toward the rest of the upcoming Clemson 2026 football season,
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: we got some answers as to what we might see.
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: I want to talk about that in today's recap. First,
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: I want to give you some love to PrizePix. All
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: of our recaps are brought to you by PrizePix, where
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: all new users who play a $ 5 lineup and win
• 0:37
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• 0:41
  Speaker 1: Get over there on the PrizePix app. We appreciate them
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: for their support. I want to talk about this Clemson
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: game for just a few minutes today, so let's jump
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: into things. 37-0. Clemson fans out. That's what a shutout
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: looks like when your team means it. Charleston Southern came
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: into Memorial Stadium and left with 76 total yards. 76.
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: Your Tigers are 4-2, and for the first time in
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  Speaker 1: a while, you got to spend a Saturday afternoon without
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: your stomach in knots. Start with the word Dabo Sweeney
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: used all week, dominate. He said publicly this was a
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: game Clemson needed to dominate. And after a bye week
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: that followed that loss to Miami, you wanted to see
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: whether this team could take an opponent it should beat
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: and actually bury it. On defense, the answer was emphatic.
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: Charleston Southern ran 45 offensive plays and averaged 1.7 yards
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  Speaker 1: per play. They had six first downs all afternoon. They
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: went zero for 11 on third down and zero for
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: two on fourth down. That's zero for 13 on the
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: money downs. Every single time Charleston Southern needed a play
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: to stay alive, your defense said no. And it didn't
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: let up once the game was out of reach. After halftime,
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: Charleston Southern gained six net yards. Six. They threw for
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: zero yards in the second half. They completed one pass
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: after the break, and it went nowhere. Their official rushing
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: total was 26 yards on 32 carries, less than a
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: yard a carry. Even if you take out the four
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: Clemson sacks, the ground game still managed under two yards
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  Speaker 1: a run. Charleston Southern never really had a chance all afternoon.
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: You've spent a lot of this season wincing at what
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: happened against LSU and Miami. watching opponents move the ball
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: like it was a walkthrough. So watching your defense suffocate
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: somebody for four full quarters feels good, and you're allowed
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: to enjoy it. Caden's story was in the middle of
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: it with a sack and a half. The front kept
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: collapsing the pocket, and the back end kept everything in
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: front of it. And even with a five touchdown lead,
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: nobody took a playoff. That defense wanted the zero, and
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: it got it. The slow starts have driven you crazy
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: all year. Against North Carolina, your team was down 17-6
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: at halftime before rallying. At Cal, it trailed 7-0 after
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: the first quarter. Even in the wins, you were sitting
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: there in the first half wondering what was wrong. Well,
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: not this time. Clemson had five offensive possessions in the
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: first half and scored on all five. Field goal, touchdown, touchdown, touchdown,
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: field goal. 10-0 after one quarter. 34-0 at the half.
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: This team came out of the bye knowing what it
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: wanted to do, and it did it right away. The
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: best example was the drive that made it 17-0. Fourth
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: and one at the Charleston Southern 31, and Jay Haynes
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: picks up five. Later, fourth and two at the seven,
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  Speaker 1: and Gideon Davidson picks up five more. Then an illegal
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: formation flag backs Clemson up, and Davidson just goes and
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: gets it from seven yards out anyway. That drive could
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: have died twice, and twice your team stayed on the
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: field and finished it. Do that early, and an opponent
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: never gets to hang around and get comfortable. Which brings
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: us to the biggest question this week, the offensive lines.
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: The front has been reshuffled again and again, and continuity
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  Speaker 1: has been almost impossible to build. Against Miami, Clemson ran
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: for 55 yards and Tate Reynolds was sacked six times.
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: And Charleston Southern was no pushover on the ground coming in.
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: Its run defense was allowing just 3.2 yards a carry.
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: So this was a real test of whether this line
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: could simply line up and move people. It passed. Clemson
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: ran for 231 yards on 46 carries, five yards a pop,
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  Speaker 1: and scored all three offensive touchdowns on the ground. That's
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: better than a yard and a half per carry above
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  Speaker 1: what this defense had been giving up. Chris Johnson Jr.
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  Speaker 1: punched in two touchdowns on just seven carries. Davidson led
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  Speaker 1: the team with 59 yards and a score. Reynolds added
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: 40 yards with his legs and and the yards were
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  Speaker 1: spread across the whole rotation. Nobody ran for 100, and
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: I love it. Nobody padded the stat line with one
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: long run. The whole run game leaned on people all afternoon.
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  Speaker 1: So what does it mean? To be fair, this was
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  Speaker 1: the best evidence you've had that the run game can
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: carry this offense against a defense that's been good at
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  Speaker 1: stopping the run. What it doesn't tell you is how
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: this line holds up against the kind of size and
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  Speaker 1: speed LSU and Miami threw at it. That question is
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: still waiting for a bigger opponent. But after a month
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: of worrying, you finally got a game where the line
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: was the one dictating terms. The special teams deserve their
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: own moment because they did a lot to make this
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  Speaker 1: a route. Chris Johnson Jr. opened the game with a
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: 43-yard kickoff return out to the Clemson 47, and that
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  Speaker 1: set up the first field goal. A 25-yard punt return
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: later handed the offense the ball at the Charleston Southern 40,
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  Speaker 1: and that turned into a touchdown. Then came the nine
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: seconds that ended any doubt. Johnson scores his second rushing
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  Speaker 1: touchdown to make it 24-0 with 5.30 left in the
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: second quarter. Charleston Southern fumbles the ensuing kickoff, and Kylon
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  Speaker 1: Griffin scoops it and takes it 17 yards to the house.
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  Speaker 1: 14 points in nine seconds, and Charleston Southern never even
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: got an offensive snap in between. When the kickoff team
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: is making plays like that, the whole roster is locked in.
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: And how about Nolan Hauser? Field goals from 41, 44,
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  Speaker 1: and 59 yards, plus all four extra points. That's 13
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  Speaker 1: points from the kicker. The 59-yarder came with 47 seconds
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  Speaker 1: left in the half on a drive that had stalled
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: at the Charleston Southern 41. Most teams punt there or
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: take a deep breath and try something silly. Clemson sent
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  Speaker 1: Hauser out, he drilled it, and it was 34-0 going
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: into the locker room. When your kicker turns a stalled
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: drive into three points from that far out, you have
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: a weapon, and you should feel very good about having
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: him in your back pocket come November. Coming in, the
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: biggest question about Tate Reynolds was whether he can push
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: the ball downfield. He'd been 2-for-18 on throws of 20-plus
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: yards this season, and he said himself he needed to
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: get the ball out quicker and hit his reads earlier. Today,
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: he went 17 for 26 for 127 yards, no touchdowns,
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: no interceptions. That's efficient and clean, and clean matters after
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: the turnovers earlier in the year. But it doesn't answer
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: the downfield question. The biggest passing play of the day
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: was a 32-yard gain to Christian Bentenker, and most of
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: that came after the catch. Benton Kerr was terrific, by
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: the way. Four catches for 74 yards, and he made
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: a defender pay on that one. But that was a
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: tight end doing damage in space. You're still waiting on
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: the deep shot that drops in over a corner's shoulder.
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: 15 different Clemson players caught a pass, which is nice
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  Speaker 1: to see, but the passing attack as a whole averaged 5.2
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  Speaker 1: yards per attempt. Through the air, Clemson was the supporting
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: act today. So my verdict on Reynolds is split. He
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: managed and ran this game well, and he didn't put
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: the ball in harm's way. Whether he can stretch a
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: defense remains the open question as Virginia Tech comes to
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  Speaker 1: town and the schedule gets tougher. The second half deserves
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: an honest look, too. If you were hoping this was
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: the day your team finally played clean football for 60 minutes,
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: it wasn't quite that. Clemson moved the ball after halftime.
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  Speaker 1: It actually gained a bit more yardage in the second
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  Speaker 1: half than in the first. but six second-half possessions produced
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  Speaker 1: one field goal. There was a punt, two turnovers on downs,
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  Speaker 1: including Haynes getting stopped on fourth and goal from the two,
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  Speaker 1: and two interceptions. A holding penalty wiped out what would
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: have been a Naeem Burrows touchdown, and a false start
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: came right after that. Clemson finished with eight penalties for
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: 70 yards. That's better than the 10 for 91 against Miami,
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: but it's not the crisp, mistake-free game you were hoping for.
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: Keep it in proportion, though. Both interceptions were thrown by
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: Trent Pierman with the score already 37-0 after the backups
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: had come in. Brock Bradley got some snaps late, too.
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: Those mistakes cost Clemson extra points. They never put the
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: result in doubt. And the spread was more than 40 points,
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: so if you're the kind of fan who wanted 50-plus,
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: you didn't get it. Even one local writer said before
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: the game he wasn't sure this offense was ready to
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: put up 50. He was right. but your defense allowed
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: six yards after halftime in a 37-point shutout, and if
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: that isn't domination, I don't know what is. Credit to
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: Charleston Southern, too. Its defense also held your offense to
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: three points in the second half, and it kept competing
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: even when the scoreboard got ugly. Its fans can be
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: proud of that effort. So where does this leave you?
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  Speaker 1: This win doesn't erase LSU, and it doesn't erase Miami.
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  Speaker 1: Your team failed both of its big national tests, and
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: no shutout of an OVC opponent changes that. But you
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: did get to see three things you needed, a defense
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  Speaker 1: that can take a game away completely, a run game
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  Speaker 1: that can push around a front that had been stopping people,
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  Speaker 1: and a team that finally started fast instead of digging
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: itself a hole. Dabo said the goal is to be
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: in the mix come November, and with Virginia Tech next,
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: then a trip to Florida State, all three of those
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: are going to matter. If the line keeps opening holes,
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: the defense keeps playing with this edge, and Reynolds finds
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: a way to make defenses respect the deep ball, this
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: team can still make its November count. That's a big if,
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: but you got real evidence today that it's possible. Enjoy
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: the zero, Tigers fans. Your team earned it. If you
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: want more Clemson breakdowns like this one all season long,
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: hit that subscribe button and come ride the rest of
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: this year with us.