Surrency Becomes TD Leader For Receivers And Brown Continues His Sack Attack

The Noles had to come from behind once again as they defeated the Clemson Tigers and are still in the race for the Atlantic Division. They also became bowl eligible with the win:

Offensive Line: The offensive line rebounded against Clemson as they allowed only two sacks and opened up running lanes that allowed FSU to rush for 266 yards.
Grade: A-

Running Game: Another good day by the backs as Antone Smith rushed for 57 yards and 2 TDs. Jermaine Thomas had another great day rushing for 94 yards.
Grade: A-

QB: Ponder had an adequate day as he threw for 153 yards and 1 TD. He did have one interception in the end zone on a throw to Greg Carr. He does show his inexperience with some questionable throws from time to time.
Grade: B

Offensive Coaching: Game plan was good as FSU mixed the run and pass to score an impressive 41 points in the game. The run game was good as both Smith and Thomas shared the load.

Six different receivers had catches in the game. The notable exception was Greg Carr who surprisingly had no catches in the game. The run and pass plays were almost even with running plays outnumbering pass plays by 34 to 29.
Grade: A-

Receivers: A decent day for receivers overall. Preston Parker led the receivers with 6 catches and Taiwan Easterling with 4 catches continues to impress.

Corey Surrency had a good day as he had two catches for 52 yards and 1 TD. Greg Carr was silent and looked as if he should have caught a ball in the end zone for a TD which may have been tipped.
Grade: B

Defense and Defensive Coaching: The defense was a definite improvement from the Tech game although there are still questions most notably in the secondary.

The defense gave up 316 totals yards to the Clemson Tigers. They however allowed Clemson with their talented backs only 79 yards rushing. The defense allowed the Tigers 237 yards through the air but the Noles were able to get one interception by defensive lineman Neefy Moffett.

The defensive front four for the Noles was outstanding as they hurried and sacked Clemson QB Cullen Harper throughout the game. On the day, the Noles had six sacks with defensive end Everette Brown getting three sacks on the day and being in the Clemson back field a lot. Moffett had an interception for a TD that was a momentum changer in the game. Linebackers were pretty silent with the exception of Dekoda Watson who had 9 tackles in the game.

For the secondary, they allowed the Tigers 237 yards through the air and 2 TDs. Coverage at times is awful and leads to TDs. Patrick Robinson was the lone exception with 7 tackles in the game. There seems to be a lack of playmakers as Rolle and Carter have been underwhelming. Rolle had 3 tackles while Carter had only 1.
Grade: B+

Penalties: Penalties continue to be a problem as the Noles had 9 for 96 yards. Is this area a lost cause?
Grade: F

Special Teams: Graham Gano was once again a perfect two for two in field goals as he nailed one for 52-yards. The two field goals made against Clemson put him at 17 consecutive field goals made. He also had a good day punting as well on kickoffs and had 3 touchbacks for the game.

The not so good points were that Tony Carter on special teams muffed a catch on a punt and fumbled the ball that led to a Clemson score. A special teams penalty called for roughing the kicker also kept a Clemson drive alive that also had Mickey fuming on the sidelines.

Kick coverage by special teams was improved from the previous game as Clemson only averaged 15.4 yards on kickoffs.
Grade: B-