Long night in Clemson
CLEMSON | You cannot stop stoppages. You can only hope to contain them.
The real winner Saturday?
Delays.
Lightning.
Replays.
Injuries.
Cramps.
Timeouts.
Endless commercials.
The time was 8:52 PM when Georgia Tech's final prayer ended on, you guessed it, a penalty.
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This was more than five hours after the game began with no one in the stadium thinking there'd be any suspense at the end.
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Oh, this team's got your suspense right here. Clemson won 14-8, and when the clock finally hit zero everyone wondered what the hell they'd just watched.
Many fans stayed inside the stadium during the lengthy lightning delay, skeptical that any lightning was in the vicinity.
Most of them walked away skeptical that a legitimate Top 5 team was in the vicinity.
Yeah, this team has a lot to work on.
We knew there'd be growing pains on offense, but no one expected them to be this ... painful.
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The offense can't even close the deal after a great defensive stand by snapping the ball one time and running out the clock.
Fifteen seconds were on that clock when James Skalski sniffed out a shovel pass on fourth-and-goal.
The deep exhale was quickly followed by a horrified gasp after Clemson's offense, set up at the 1-yard line after a delay-of-game penalty and in the shotgun, turned it over for a safety after Will Shipley fumbled into the end zone.
And it could have been worse. Way worse.
Three Georgia Tech defenders were near the ball that Shipley managed to get back to make it 14-8 instead of 14-12 with the Jackets needing just a two-point conversion to force overtime.
It's been one of those seasons three games in, and Saturday was one of those days. Though when can you remember a day like this?
Clemson found itself winning by the skin of its teeth against a team it hung 73 on last year in Atlanta.
Instead of being able to name its score, now it's more like the Tigers can name every which way to cast doubt on whether they'll win a seventh consecutive ACC title and get back to the playoff for the same number of years in a row.
The Tigers found themselves out-gained 309-284 to a team that lost at home to Northern Illinois two weeks ago.
The offense finally seemed to find its groove and its soul in the fourth quarter when DJ Uiagalelei, Shipley and Justyn Ross showed fire that seemed missing over the previous 11 quarters.
Uiagalelei finished with 126 yards passing on an 18-of-25 clip while rushing for 46 powerful yards on eight carries.
Shipley rushed for 88 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries.
But both players walked away lamenting lost fourth-quarter fumbles -- Uiagalelei's in the red zone on third-and-1 as he stretched for a first down that he already had, and Shipley's on the Tigers' final offensive play as he took the shotgun handoff from Uiagalelei out of the end zone.
Clemson's defense looked wobbly late against Jordan Yates' freelancing, schoolyard style, but Brent Venables' group still hasn't allowed a touchdown in 180 minutes of football.
Yates finished 20-of-33 passing for 203 yards and led the Jackets in rushing with 32 yards on 16 carries.
The teams combined for 18 penalties totaling 129 yards. The Tigers and Jackets averaged an identical 4.3 yards a play.
Clemson did manage to convert third downs (9-of-15) while Tech was 3-of-15.
The Tigers' longest pass completion was 17 yards, and that was a check-down to running back Kobe Pace.
That was before lightning was detected in the area.
For so long over the years it felt like this team scoring just 14 points against a team of Georgia Tech's stature would be akin to lightning striking twice.
Not anymore.
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