The No. 2 Clemson Tigers will be a huge challenge for Duke Football on Saturday night as they have elite attacks on both sides of the ball.
When you’re the No. 2 team in the College Football Playoff Rankings this late into the season, you must be doing something right, and to be very clear, the Clemson Tigers have done everything right this season.
The first right move was making Trevor Lawrence the full time starting quarterback over Kelly Bryant who has since left the program.
More from Ball Durham
- Duke basketball: The architect behind digital dominance
- Duke basketball prioritizing frontcourt prospects in 2025
- Duke basketball: Unmasking the hate for the Blue Devils
- Duke basketball: Countdown to Craziness lands another huge visitor
- Duke basketball fills final open scholarship
Lawrence has been sensational for the Tigers this season, completing 66.7% of his passes for a total of 1,844 yards, 19 touchdowns and four interceptions. Unlike many other quarterbacks the Blue Devils have played, Lawrence is not a threat to run the ball only having 37 attempts for 57 yards and a touchdown.
The Clemson rushing attack doesn’t need Lawrence to run with the ball when they have Travis Etienne who has eclipsed the 1,000 yard rushing mark already this season. Etienne has 15 touchdowns and 1,076 yard in just 127 carries and he is one of many dynamic players in the Clemson offense.
The weapons on the outside for Clemson are ridiculous with four players having over 25 catches on the season. The group is led by Tee Higgins who has 39 receptions for 577 yards and seven touchdowns.
Justyn Ross has reeled in 25 passes for 495 yards and five touchdowns, while Amari Rodgers has caught 38 passes for 468 yards and four touchdowns and the constant and most consistent force in this Clemson offense, Hunter Renfrow, has 35 receptions for 385 yards and a touchdown.
That is only the Clemson offense, and the Tigers defense might be the strength of this team.
The defense line will all be NFL players in the very near future, in fact, they could probably contribute to some NFL defensive line right now, but for the moment they are causing havoc of opposing offensive lines, something that has not been a strength for the Duke Blue Devils this season.
Duke and Clemson will kickoff at 7:00 pm ET on Saturday evening from Death Valley on the Tigers senior night. It should be an awesome atmosphere but there are some clear matchup concerns for a shorthanded Duke team in this one.
Stay tuned to Ball Durham at our Twitter, @Ball_Durham, and here at our website, balldurham.com, for complete coverage of the Duke Blue Devils vs. the Clemson Tigers.