Lights, Camera, Action
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CLEMSON -- Saturday night in Death Valley was a night that most of the 81,000 fans in attendance won’t soon forget.
No, not because of what happened during No. 1 Clemson’s 52-10 sleepwalk of a win over UNC-Charlotte, but what fans got to be a part of if they stuck around their seats once the first half ended.
The moment halftime began, a Disney film crew took the field to film a few scenes for the upcoming movie “Safety” which features the story of Ray Ray McElrathbey, a former Clemson defensive back who took custody of his 11-year-old brother Fahmarr when he was on scholarship at 19 years old.
The seven minutes of filming was arguably more exciting than any action that took place on the field during the actual game. In fact, the fake Clemson team full of actors may be the second-best team in the ACC and has opened up as a 14-point favorite over Tennessee.
As for the game itself, everything for the 4-0 Tigers worked as if it were scripted-- right from the very beginning.
Clemson got off to the quick, efficient start it was looking for this week as Trevor Lawrence found Tee Higgins on a beautiful 58-yard touchdown on the second play of the game. And that was pretty much all we saw from Lawrence for the evening.
Lawrence, who finished with 94 yards and two touchdowns on a 7-of-9 clip, was only on the field for three series on offense. The results of those drives: touchdown pass to Higgins, a 22-yard field goal from B.T. Potter, and another touchdown pass to Cornell Powell from two yards out.
Lawrence was only on the field for less than four minutes of game time (3:47 to be exact). After the quarter of screen time for Lawrence, his stunt double Chase Brice checked in and took over the reins from there.
Brice was able to come in with a 24-point cushion thanks in part to the offense making quick work of the 49ers and a K’Von Wallace interception that was returned for a touchdown. The 66-yard pick-6 was Wallace’s first career touchdown.
That was a major theme of the night as three different members of the Tigers’ supporting cast scored for the first time in their careers. Wallace had his interception, freshman running back Mikey Dukes scored from 24 yards out, and Joseph Ngata caught a 37-yard touchdown from Chase Brice.
Speaking of Brice, he finished the game 5-of-7 passing for 85 yards and a touchdown. Freshman Taisun Phommachanh completed the same amount of passes for 52 yards.
Saturday night was about the development and growth of Clemson’s young team. Dabo Swinney threw a cast of a school-record 111 characters total into live-action, which shattered the previous record of 94.
To get the second and third-string players, or supporting cast in this case, into the game early and often was the plan, especially once the Tigers got out to a quick 24-0 lead.
“We are recruiting guys that understand that It’s about the team more than any individual,” co-offensive coordinator Jeff Scott said. “We’re here to win games and develop our roster… the season gets long, and we want to be at our best if we are going to earn that opportunity and part of that is developing your roster and rolling a lot of guys.”
Even though Swinney played just about everyone but the first row of the student section, Clemson still looked impressive on offense scoring five touchdowns on its six first-half drives. The Tigers finished with 466 total yards, 231 passing, and 236 rushing, while holding the 49ers to 216 yards total.
Clemson is now 44-0 when rushing and passing for at least 200 yards under Swinney. The Tigers also have now won 14 straight games by 14-plus points and 19 consecutive games overall.
Saturday night wasn’t about running up the score or padding stats for the starters. Instead, the starters got out of the spotlight early and were able to grab some popcorn as the rest of the team got to shine in primetime.
“A lot of guys got the opportunity to play, but the biggest thing for us was we got better,” Swinney said. “It was very enjoyable. I’m proud of them.”
The way Clemson’s schedule is set up right now for the rest of the way, we may be seeing this type of movie and the sequel over and over again. Because Swinney does his best to get everyone’s name in the ending credits and not focus solely on the spotlight of his lead roles.
And just like the Tigers’ starters on Saturday night, you may want to grab your popcorn and enjoy the show. Because there’s a chance an Emmy could be headed Clemson’s way.