CLEMSON FOOTBALL

Xavier Thomas tallied a career-best 2.5 TFL Saturday.
Xavier Thomas tallied a career-best 2.5 TFL Saturday.

Playing time breakdown: Tigers continue to build depth in ACC play


by - Staff Writer -

Clemson continued the trend of the season (and recent years) by emptying the bench with 84 Tigers seeing action Saturday versus NC State.

That number included a career-high in snaps for true freshman starting quarterback Trevor Lawrence (65), maintaining his spot in the top-10 nationally in pass efficiency with 14 more pass attempts than his previous career-best (26-of-39 for 308 yards, TD).

Speaking of freshmen, linebackers Mike Jones Jr. and Jake Venables and defensive end Justin Mascoll each made their season debuts. Jones got in on three tackles and Venables tallied a stop as well.

An interesting test case in the new redshirt rule, Clemson will try to redshirt former 5-star defensive end K.J. Henry despite his 39 snaps in four of Clemson’s seven games so far (9 tackles, 2 TFL). On the other side of the redshirt line, former five-star offensive tackle Jackson Carman saw action in his fifth game on Saturday.

In terms of productivity, Isaiah Simmons led all defenders with 56 snaps and totaled a game-high 12 tackles. In 24 snaps, Xavier Thomas posted multiple tackles for loss (2.5) in a second-straight game.

Rotating in the entire DB depth chart, the group totaled its season-high of seven pass breakups - K’Von Wallace and A.J. Terrell each knocking away multiple and Wallace adding an interception.

Clemson’s front-line on the offensive line all saw significant snaps with Lawrence in the game more but the group did match a season-high with 13 linemen playing total.

Freshman receiver Justyn Ross continues to shine as a backup with five receptions in seven targets for 75 yards. He is by-far Clemson’s leader in yards per target (14.4).

Taking a look at the game and season totals for the Tigers’ two-deep:

Clemson snaps breakdown: NC State

(Players assigned positionally by place on the depth chart; the initial participation report is provided by Clemson and represents all non-special teams snaps; season totals in parentheses; this breakdown notes all depth chart contributors and select scholarship players)

Offense (32)

Quarterback (2): Trevor Lawrence 65 (274), Chase Brice 15 (101).

Running Back (4): Travis Etienne 40 (228), Adam Choice 15 (118), Tavien Feaster 11 (92), Lyn-J Dixon 6 (51).

Wide Receiver (8): Hunter Renfrow 39 (273), Tee Higgins 36 (271), Amari Rodgers 32 (275), Justyn Ross 32 (139), Derion Kendrick 23 (107), T.J. Chase 21 (76), Trevion Thompson 21 (142), Diondre Overton 10 (102).

Tight end (5): Garrett Williams 30 (196), Milan Richard 18 (161), Braden Galloway 8 (56), J.C. Chalk 8 (49), Cannon Smith 7 (44).

Offensive Line (13): Justin Falcinelli 63 (362), Tremayne Anchrum 63 (340), Mitch Hyatt 55 (402), John Simpson 55 (392), Sean Pollard 43 (300), Matt Bockhorst 24 (105), Gage Cervenka 27 (183), Jackson Carman 18 (95), Cade Stewart 12 (162), Chandler Reeves 8 (46), Zach Giella 6 (54), Blake Vinson 6 (35), Jordan McFadden 3 (9).

Defense (33)

Defensive End (6): Austin Bryant 41 (291), Clelin Ferrell 40 (298), Xavier Thomas 24 (121), Logan Rudolph 13 (72), Justin Foster 12 (89), Justin Mascoll 8 (8).

Defensive Tackle (6): Christian Wilkins 36 (253), Dexter Lawrence 30 (228), Albert Huggins 22 (170), Nyles Pinckney 16 (154), Jordan Williams 16 (67), Xavier Kelly 11 (65).

Linebacker (11): Isaiah Simmons 56 (335), Kendall Joseph 47 (296), Jalen Williams 29 (129), Tre Lamar 23 (246), Mike Jones Jr. 13 (13), J.D. Davis 9 (167), Judah Davis 8 (39), Baylon Spector 8 (37), Chad Smith 5 (45), Jake Venables 5 (5), Shaq Smith 3 (70).

DB (CB/S/NB - 10): Trayvon Mullen 49 (248), A.J. Terrell 43 (352), K’Von Wallace 39 (312), Tanner Muse 38 (282), Mark Fields 29 (187), Nolan Turner 28 (163), Denzel Johnson 22 (162), LeAnthony Williams 8 (53), Mario Goodrich 8 (44), Kyler McMichael 5 (66).

Did not play (non-true freshmen): WR Cornell Powell (65)*, Chris Register (34), James Skalski* (23).

True freshmen participation (15): Xavier Thomas 7 games, Trevor Lawrence 7, Justyn Ross 7, Derion Kendrick 7, Kyler McMichael 7, B.T. Potter 7, Braden Galloway 6, Lyn-J Dixon 6, Mario Goodrich 6, Jackson Carman 5, K.J. Henry* 4, Jordan McFadden 2, Jake Venables 1, Mike Jones Jr. 1, Justin Mascoll 1, Ben Batson DNP (1), Darnell Jefferies DNP (0).

* Slated for redshirt (not limited to this group but these are players who have been tabbed as redshirt candidates by coaches in media sessions)

** Missed significant time or was out due to injury.

Snaps by week

Game one

Game two

Game three

Game four

Game five

Game six

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Tags: Clemson Football, Trevor Lawrence, Jake Venables, Justin Mascoll, Jackson Carman, Isaiah Simmons, AJ Terrell, Justyn Ross, Chase Brice, Travis Etienne, Adam Choice, Tavien Feaster, Lyn-J Dixon, Hunter Renfrow, Tee Higgins, Amari Rodgers, Derion Kendrick, TJ Chase, Trevion Thompson, Diondre Overton, Garrett Williams, Milan Richard, Braden Galloway, JC Chalk, Cannon Smith, Justin Falcinelli, Tremayne Anchrum, Mitch Hyatt, John Simpson, Sean Pollard, Matt Bockhorst, Gage Cervenka, Cade Stewart, Chandler Reeves, Zach Giella, Blake Vinson, Jordan McFadden, Austin Bryant, Clelin Ferrell, Xavier Thomas, Logan Rudolph, Justin Foster, Christian Wilkins, Dexter Lawrence, Albert Huggins, Nyles Pinckney, Jordan Williams, Xavier Kelly, Kendall Joseph, Jalen Williams, Tre Lamar, J.D. Davis, Judah Davis, Baylon Spector, Chad Smith, Shaq Smith, Trayvon Mullen, Tanner Muse, Mark Fields, Nolan Turner, Denzel Johnson, LeAnthony Williams, Mario Goodrich, Kyler McMichael, Cornell Powell, Chris Register, Ben Batson, Darnell Jefferies
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