The big concern going in was how the defense would hold up while missing some key contributors.
That part was just fine.
On this night, Clemson's obstacle was an offense that seemed to be missing a cylinder.
The Tigers are 6-0 halfway through Dabo Swinney's 14th season, and that's the important part. They extended their nation's-long winning streak to 12 games while beating Boston College for the 12th consecutive time.
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But an offense that was the toast of Tigertown going to Boston College now has some work to do after some chokes and sputters during Saturday's 31-3 victory over the Eagles.
That fact was underscored by Dabo Swinney's decision to put his foot on the gas when the Tigers, up three touchdowns with 6:34 left in the game, took over at their own 12-yard line following an Eagles punt.
To that point the offense just hadn't done a whole lot. Swinney's explanation to Jeff Hafley might or might not have made sense to the BC coach, but Swinney's chief concern heading into next week's trip to Florida State is getting his quarterback and his offense back into a rhythm.
The decision to go up-tempo and be aggressive that late did achieve its desired result: DJ Uiagalelei threw for 44 yards and ran for 40 on a drive that was capped by a pretty 13-yard touchdown ball to Brannon Spector.
That six-play, 88-yard garbage-time march made the final stats a bit more palatable; without it, the Tigers would've finished with less than 300 total yards and fewer than 200 passing yards (they had 364, and Uiagalelei threw for 220 on an 18-of-32 clip).
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The defense controlled the day after some early leakiness, harassing quarterback Phil Jurkovec with regular pressure brought by first-year defensive coordinator Wes Goodwin.
With R.J. Mickens, Tyler Venables, Sheridan Jones and Malcolm Greene missing from the secondary, one thought going in was that Goodwin should sit back in a soft zone and keep from getting beaten over the top.
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Goodwin did play some zone, but far more often he gambled that his pressure would get to Jurkovec before he could get the ball off.
That tactic worked, and the back end did an effective job of keeping track of stud Zay Flowers. He finished with eight catches for 75 yards with a long of 35 on 13 targets, but the story of the game was Jurkovec getting rattled by Clemson's withering pass rush.
The Tigers had four sacks and 11 tackles for loss totaling 45 yards. Xavier Thomas even got into the act in his 2022 debut by collecting two sacks off speed rushes from the left side.
The Eagles mustered 34 rushing yards behind a patchwork offensive line. Jurkovec threw for 188 yards, completing 19 of 40 passes.
Clemson's special teams was a bit of a mess at times, with two muffed punts and a missed field goal. But a blocked field goal and some nice punts by Aidan Swanson were positives.
Boston College moved the ball on four of its first five possessions but was only able to get three points out of it. Hafley walked away from the stadium wondering what might have been different had he been able to get more out of possessions that ended in a missed field goal, a made field goal and a turnover on downs.
After that, Clemson's defense locked everything down and forced a procession of punts.
On the other side, a dropped touchdown pass by Beaux Collins and an early interception from Uiagalelei on a poor decision seemed to throw things off kilter for Clemson's offense. The Tigers punted four straight times before finally reaching the end zone late in the first half after an Antonio Williams punt return gave them a short field.
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When Clemson took its first possession of the second half right down the field on a spectacular third-down catch by Collins, followed by a 38-yard scoring strike from Uiagaelelei to Joseph Ngata, it felt like the offense was finally in its groove.
Swinney pulled the group together on the sideline and implored it to finish the job.
That would take a while, as the next two drives were three-and-outs.
Clemson was 5-of-14 on third down and rushed for 144 yards on 32 carries for an average of 4.5 yards an attempt.
That 40-yard run by Uiagalelei late made him the team's leading rusher. Phil Mafah had 36 yards on seven carries, and Will Shipley had 10 attempts for 33 yards and a touchdown.
This offense won't go to Tallahassee feeling like a finished product.
That was the idea behind Swinney's decision to keep his foot on the gas late when the game was already decided.
This offense has made a lot of progress this season, but there's still some work within that progress.
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