Attack mode
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CLEMSON -- Clemson had 15 days to stew over an unsightly showing at Syracuse.
Its fans had more than two weeks to wonder about Kelly Bryant's ankle, and to wonder what the heck was wrong with the defense.
The Tigers needed about 15 minutes Saturday night to put much of those concerns and questions to rest while taking out some pent-up frustration on Georgia Tech in a 24-10 victory.
Bryant is healthy, and so is Clemson's status as a College Football Playoff contender. The 7-1 Tigers are back on the winning track, and right back in the thick of things with the tumult taking place elsewhere on this day.
"We just wanted to get our swagger back, on both sides of the ball," Bryant said.
Clemson was in attack mode offensively and defensively, and it resulted in a familiar dismantling of the Yellow Jackets in front of a drenched but quite pleased crowd at Death Valley.
The main narrative during game week was the status of Bryant's left ankle, which was sprained against Wake Forest and then tweaked in the 27-24 loss at Syracuse.
Would Bryant even play? If he did, how long would he last? If and when he got a quick hook, would it be Zerrick Cooper or Hunter Johnson? If it wasn't Johnson, why?
And so on ...
These were questions being asked plenty on the outside, but not so much on the inside. The week of rest during the open date allowed Bryant to get his ankle better, to the point that he looked like his old self when practice resumed Monday.
"I didn't want to hold anything back," Bryant said. "I told the coaches I was ready to go."
Even amid pounding rain and soggy turf, Bryant was masterful from the start as he showed how much more lethal this offense can be when it has a dynamic dual threat at the controls.
Bryant threw for 207 yards and two touchdowns on a 22-of-33 clip while rushing for a team-high 67 yards on 12 carries. Twelve different receivers caught passes.
On both sides of the ball, Clemson sent a resounding message that what it showed against Syracuse was an aberration. The Tigers were aggressive with their tempo and diverse with their schemes on offense.
And on defense, they simply punished an offense that had the misfortune of being the next offense after the Syracuse debacle.
Brent Venables added another notch in his belt at Paul Johnson's expense, stifling the Yellow Jackets repeatedly and living in their backfield. Clemson was simply too powerful between the tackles and too fast elsewhere for Tech to hope to get outside with any regularity.
Clemson piled up 11 tackles for loss (from eight different players) against the Yellow Jackets, which had 198 yards rushing for the game and produced just three first downs in the first half. Over the past three meetings with Tech, Clemson has amassed 29 tackles for loss. Tech was 3-of-15 on third down Saturday. The Jackets entered the game ranked fifth nationally in third-down conversions with a 51.4-percent clip.
Dabo Swinney has experienced plenty of heartache against Johnson, but those bad memories are pretty far back in his rear-view mirror now. Once upon a time, Swinney was 1-4 against Johnson. Now he's 6-5, having won five of the last six against his old nemesis.
Swinney says this offense is at its best when it's balanced, and the Tigers rushed for 221 yards while passing for 207. Clemson converted on 7 of 17 third downs.
Clemson's defense provided a very necessary lift to the offense at the start, with Kendall Joseph forcing a KirVonte Benson fumble that Van Smith recovered at the Tech 45.
On the second play from scrimmage, the offense showed you don't need to throw a deep ball to produce an explosive play. Bryant threw underneath to Deon Cain, and he quickly spun away from Step Durham for a 38-yard jaunt to the end zone.
The only major blemish for the offense in the first half was a fumble by Travis Etienne that ended a promising drive deep into Tech territory. Tech made the Tigers pay with a 65-yard burst by Benson, but the defense made sure the cost was merely a field goal after Tech reached the 4-yard line.
Bryant was masterful on the Tigers' third possession, converting third downs on rollout passes to Trevion Thompson and Hunter Renfrow. He found Milan Richard down the middle for a 20-yard touchdown throw to make it 14-3 late in the first.
Where he was zero threat to run at Syracuse before leaving with a concussion late in the first half, the Bryant we saw against Georgia Tech was the same Bryant we saw at Louisville and Virginia Tech.
He showcased that on the second-to-last drive of the first half, weaving for chunk plays off designed runs to convert two third downs and hitting Diondre Overton for 17 on a crisp pass. Etienne closed that drive by barreling in from 2 yards out to put the Tigers up 21-3.
At this point, Bryant had rushed 10 times for 58 yards while completing 13 of 16 passes for 139 yards and two touchdowns.
Not bad for a quarterback who looked so immobile and ineffective at Syracuse. Not bad for a quarterback who was playing under awful conditions.
Not bad for a team that looked so bad 15 days before.
When it rained, the Tigers poured.
"We got our momentum and our swagger back," Swinney said.
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