Snap Count Review: Clemson vs LA Tech

Saturday night’s stint against the LA Tech Bulldogs gave lots of eager Clemson players a chance to play some football in Death Valley. With six starters missing from the lineup, several backups received a higher snap count than usual — if there’s a chance to build depth because of injured starters, a game against LA Tech is one of the safer opportunities to do so.

All snap counts come from the official Clemson report found here; numbers do not necessarily denote official plays, but rather non-special-team snaps.

DJ handled the bulk of the first-team snaps, as expected, while Cade was given a couple of series to work with the 2’s and 3’s. The prodigal QB Hunter Johnson even made an appearance late in the fourth quarter, which everyone enjoyed seeing.

We’re already beginning to see the transition of young talent in the receiver numbers. EJ Williams had a mere 14 snaps; starter Brannon Spector only saw 19 snaps. Meanwhile, Antonio Williams logged a whopping 33 reps, behind only Beaux Collins and Joseph Ngata. I expect Antonio and Adam Randall (18 snaps) to overtake Ngata for starting duties if he doesn’t play with some more consistency.

I believe we’ll see more of Shipley being utilized as we hit the meat of the schedule with the next few games. He is the best weapon Clemson has and I assume the coaches will give him more touches going forward.

Ken Ruinard-USA TODAY Sports

Two-tight end sets! Davis Allen and Jake Briningstool make a great duo — let’s use them more too.

3 offensive linemen debuted this season and Will Putnam earned ACC Week 3 Honors (as did Shipley). It took a bit to get some consistent push going, but once the second half arrived the OL was able to bully the LA Tech line more consistently.

This is where we look back and appreciate the snaps some of these guys are getting now, as they should pay dividends in future matchups to come. Losing multiple defensive starters is never a good thing, but at least depth is being built.

Getting Xavier Thomas back will be a nice shot in the arm, although Henry and Murphy have been playing decently so far. Still, returning that third starter for the DE’s should help them generate some extra pressure as the Tigers begin to encounter more talented quarterbacks.

We knew defensive tackle was going to be one of the deepest position units on this team, and that was clearly proven to be the case on Saturday. Even without Bresee and Davis (and then Page because of an injury), the defense held Tech to 14 rushing yards. That is an incredible effort, and it’s exciting to see dudes like Capehart filling in excellently for the starters.

Linebackers are doing their thing. The starting lineup is nasty, but to avoid repeating platitudes already bestowed, I’ll leave it at that.

As previously highlighted, the secondary was without Mukuba, Wiggins, and Jones (after an injury removed him from the game). That meant we got an extended look at the freshman talents of Toriano Pride, Jaedyn Lukas, and Sherrod Covil. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the most assuring performance from the youngsters, but there was nothing that can’t be corrected with more experience/time.

Everyone will be hoping the starters are ready to go when Sam Hartman takes the field in a few days – the Tigers can lick their wounds for a few more days and then get ready to pounce for Game 4.