Game 4 Preview: Clemson Travels West to Face California on Friday Night

Can the Tigers Build on the End of the UNC Game?

I decided this week to start with a little good, bad, and ugly from the previous week before I jump into the preview for this upcoming game. The UNC game was certainly a roller coaster ride both with the game and with the weather, but the back end of the game offered several glimmers of hope that this team can become something good.

The GOOD: Clemson's secondary continues to shine and if the front can just start making teams have to throw it more, this defense could really make strides. Big if right now though. Tait Reynolds really came on as the game progressed and flashed what makes you excited for what he can become. Gideon Davidson showed why he is RB1 and we started to see what Chad Morris can dial up if he can just get some kind of OL play established. Nolan Hauser continues to nail kicks and CJ Johnson showed he is a dangerous return man.

The BAD: Clemson's offense left a lot to be desired again throughout most of the first half. Even when they dialed up a perfect play, like the under screen to Wesco (same play LSU used on us in the first game), the ball wasn't great and Wesco dropped it. Seeing it on film revealed just how open that was for a huge gain. Some of the pass protection also was problematic with some of the interior guards getting beat 1 on 1 for sacks or pressures. UNC didn't blitz nearly as much as LSU so

The UGLY: Clemson struggled mightily out of the gate and throughout most of the game with UNC's stretch zone runs and some of the play action that came off of it. The Clemson DL got owned a good bit, especially inside, and that certainly has to change if the Tigers hope to make 2026 better than 2025. I will also rank Saturday in the top 3 or 4 hottest days in Death Valley I can remember. It was brutal ahead of the weather delay that sent me and most everyone else back to shade or air conditioning.

Now the Tigers look to get to 2-0 in ACC play. This is extremely important with the Miami Hurricanes due to come to town the week after. Like UNC, California doesn't scare you across the board but they certainly have enough to beat Clemson, especially the version that we saw in the first quarter and a half vs. UNC and the entire game at LSU.

Clemson Offense vs. California Defense: I have to say I got very excited to start seeing some of the things Chad Morris dialed up once the Tigers finally got some adequate OL play and some run game going. Clemson probably should have had at least two more explosive pass plays to Wesco if the throws and catches had been better. Reynolds was very shaky early, but the third down conversion he made on the last drive of the second quarter was big time and he was good from there other than the interception on the missed bomb. Had to love the man child stiff arm on his one run that showed he's not your typical QB in that regard. The tight ends came alive also, which is the byproduct of the run game finding some success. Clemson is going to need the offense to help the defense this year because it is hard to imagine the DL making huge leaps from what we have seen against major D1 OL personnel. Cal's defense has not been terrific to this point against power conference competition. They gave up over 400 yards to both UCLA and Syracuse, but at least they kept Syracuse under 20 points and turned them over 3 times on picks. They got to feast on Wagner last week which I'm sure they hope is a sign they are getting better themselves. I admit I haven't watched a lot of Cal this season, but I seriously doubt they have DL as good as UNC had last week. Clemson needs to carry that OL play over where we definitely saw guys being physical and getting hats on hats way beyond anything we've seen since probably 2023 or 2024. Davidson's TD run was a thing of beauty.

The Riley era often felt like one step forward and two steps back. That stretch in 2024 before Mafah got hurt was the closest to consistency we saw. Now Morris is on the clock to see if the offense can build on the success or revert to some of the same issues that had the wheels spinning in the mud. If the bomb to Wesco against App State was the cathartic moment that got the 24 team going, perhaps that Tyler Brown reverse TD last week will be the one for the Tigers in 26. Clemson used more OL this past week and it had to have helped. O'Connell was one with a key block on Davidson's TD run, and maybe spending some time on the sideline watching Grant Wise take snaps lit a fire under him. It certainly became evident that once Clemson could run the ball, the WR and TE group got a lot more dangerous. Clemson survived the two turnovers last week by getting two of their own, but ball security is going to be huge this week because Syracuse no doubt beats Cal two weeks ago if not for the turnovers. They have better secondary pieces than UNC but are not as good up front as UNC. Clemson needs to punish that with the run game on Friday night the way teams have tried to punish Clemson in the same way.

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Clemson Defense vs. California Offense: As I noted earlier, there is a lot to like about the Clemson secondary. UNC had very little success through the air and what they did get was mostly to tight ends or running backs. Ashton Hampton has the Nate Wiggins #2 this year and is playing a lot like Nate did in 2023. Elliot Washington iced the game with a pick and Corey Myrick played the 4th and 1 play action shot perfectly. However, Clemson's front had all kinds of issues with UNC's power run game and stretch zone. That stretch play has given the Tigers fits for a while now, mainly from Louisville, but both LSU and UNC employed it to great effect this year. Clemson also struggled with middle pressure which allowed Tarheel QB Billy Edwards to scramble for some easy first downs early on. This got better as the game went and Tom Allen got increasingly more aggressive with blitz calls. This reminded me of the Reggie Herring style of run defense, which was to bring numbers early and often. That put a ton of pressure on Herring's secondary which got burned more and more before he departed after the 2001 defense got lit up all year long. This secondary can hold up against most everyone but the front has to contain the QB and, of course, do better at stopping the primary run game. It doesn't help that the DT room will be without another main contributor as Devarrick Woods has been ruled out along with starting nickel Corian Gipson. Clemson now has three of its top 5 DTs out with injuries and will need Vic Burley to come around even more quickly as a result.

California has a great QB in Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, but as good as he is, stopping the Cal run game and primary back Adam Mohammed has to be top priority. Mohammed has rushed for at least 74 yards in all three games this season. They don't have the depth at RB that UNC enjoyed, but Mohammed is a dangerous runner and has to be accounted for to prevent Cal from being able to employ all their play action schemes. California's OL will be the worst Clemson has faced this season outside of maybe Georgia Southern, but their skill at QB and RB helps mask some of that. Will Heldt has come on and is up to 4 sacks and 6.5 TFLs already, but the guy I'm getting excited about is London Merritt who helped put a stop to the UNC run game by setting the edge like it is supposed to be set. Merritt has flashed in all three games and is seeing his snap load increase as a result.

UNC's passing attack was rendered helpless once Clemson finally got a handle on their running game. As Clemson has learned the hard way, slipping the RB or TE out for pass plays isn't nearly as easy if the run game hasn't set it up. Clemson's alpha corners make life difficult for any outside WR and the upgrades at safety have led to seeing QBs have to hold the ball more than they did last year at any point. As long as the rush doesn't allow escapes like Sam Leavitt feasted on, QBs are going to have to be extremely accurate and on time more often than not this season. JKS has got the goods to do that but the Tigers have to force him to be superman and see how it goes.

Special Teams: Clemson certainly experienced the Ray Guy treatment from UNC's punter and Jack Smith is a lot better at punting balls high than far, but otherwise you have to like the contributions from this unit which have been consistently getting it done. Nolan Hauser is an early MVP candidate (which you hope changes, of course, due to others ramping up production). Clemson's go ahead TD drive was boosted by a good kick return by Chris Johnson Jr. Most importantly, there have been no disasters which this current Clemson team is not equipped to overcome at this point. Knock on wood that continues this week on the west coast.

Overall: It is hard to figure how the team will look flying across the country and playing in a new environment. Clemson was simply awful in Baton Rouge from about the second series of the game. However, that trip has to certainly help with this one as this stage won't nearly be as daunting as that one. Clemson has also dealt with all the delays that have pushed games deep into the night on two occasions. But we've seen teams go west and lay eggs like Florida State, Louisville, and SMU last year. Both the Cards and especially the Mustangs cost themselves trips to Charlotte mostly from those failures. Clemson is a long way from thinking about Charlotte, but getting to 2-0 before that daunting Miami game seems essential to any type of successful season. I'm anxious to see if the Tigers (especially offensively) truly turned a corner last week.