In the Clemson Tigers’ 19-13 Week 1 road win over the Auburn Tigers, here are the three biggest takeaways from this ACC/SEC showdown.
For a game that had great hype going into it, the Battle of the Tigers between Clemson and Auburn largely underwhelmed until late in the fourth quarter. No. 2 ranked Clemson would beat Auburn 19-13 on two breakups of Sean White passes in the end zone.
While many expected a shootout with Clemson’s high-octane offense lead by Heisman hopeful quarterback Deshaun Watson and Auburn’s ‘hurry-up-and-run’ attack behind head coach Gus Malzahn, this ACC/SEC showdown was surprisingly a defensive struggle.
Both schools can take away positive things from this tight primetime ball game, but need to improve significantly in the coming weeks should they want to achieve their lofty goals for 2016. Clemson isn’t going to win a National Championship with that kind of offensive inconsistency. Auburn has to find continuity under center if the Tigers want to go bowling this holiday season.
Here are the three big takeaways from Week 1’s Clemson at Auburn game:
1. Gus Malzahn has no clue who his guy is at quarterback.
Malzahn went with three different quarterbacks throughout the game. He started Sean White and probably ended up using him the most. White couldn’t get into rhythm early, so Malzahn took turns placing Jeremy Johnson and John Franklin, III under center.
Johnson remains a pick machine and Franklin is still very much a third-string quarterback. White isn’t great, but if Malzahn wants to win games this fall he needs to give White every opportunity to succeed. He had Auburn on the brink of upsetting Clemson late in the fourth quarter.
2. Deshaun Watson needs help to win big.
Watson wasn’t as dynamic as he had been in 2015. Though he did a fair job of quarterbacking Clemson in a hostile road environment, he didn’t exactly elevate his teammates in this one. His two biggest weapons in running back Wayne Gallman and wide receiver Mike Williams carried him for most of the game.
Though he did have 248 yards passing and one touchdown, Watson didn’t take charge of the Heisman Trophy race in Week 1. Both Gallman and Williams out played him. Gallman had 123 rushing yards and a touchdown on 30 carries. Williams had nine catches for 174 of Watson’s 248 passing yards.
Watson is still easily the best player on Clemson, but he’ll need his teammates to play at a high level to have a realistic shot at winning the third annual College Football Playoff.
3. Kevin Steele might be the answer to Auburn’s defensive woes.
Auburn ended up losing to Clemson, but the Tigers have to feel very proud of how their defense played under new defensive coordinator Kevin Steele. Steele was last at LSU, but has been all over the Power 5 in his coaching career.
For a team that had been a leaky faucet defensive for the entire Malzahn era (2013-present), Auburn might have a chance to upset some better SEC teams thanks to Steele’s defensive schematics.
Next: 50 Greatest College Football Programs Of All-Time
Auburn played well in the secondary and contained Watson with solid play from the front seven. The Tigers still have a long way to go on that side of the ball, but Steele might have been the best thing to happen to Auburn this offseason. That didn’t look like an Auburn defense and that is a great thing.