Flying colors

CLEMSON -- “We’ve all been in school. We’ve all taken a test,” Dabo Swinney told us after Clemson’s Wednesday evening practice.

There was a calm demeanor from Clemson’s head coach as his team continued preparations for its next test: undefeated, sixteenth-ranked North Carolina State.

“But you know those days when you walked in there, you’re like ‘hey, gimme that test!’” Swinney continued. “You haven’t seen the test, but you know you were prepared, you were committed to preparing for it, and you enjoy the moment because you know you’ve put the work in.”

Saturday afternoon was one of those days. Consider this week’s test not only passed - but aced, with flying colors.

In what was the final matchup between two undefeated teams this regular season, No. 3 Clemson picked up right where it left off before the bye week with a 41-7 stomping of the Wolfpack.

Clemson made it look elementary from the opening kickoff.

“Just a complete performance,” Swinney said after the win. “I thought it was a dominant game. Second-largest margin of victory for us against a ranked opponent in our history. That’s what we were out to do. We wanted to play our best game today and I think we did just that.”

Coming off what seemed like a much-needed bye week for this Clemson team that has been through so much already, Swinney admitted it didn’t take much to get his team in the right mindset for the pivotal division matchup. The hardest part of the week was to keep his players loose and dialed back as they were ready to play the game on Monday.

They were ready to build on what they just accomplished at Wake Forest. They were done waiting around to play. They were more than eager to get back to work.

The Tigers put up 471 yards of total offense to North Carolina State’s 297. At Wake Forest, Clemson ran for miles. Saturday afternoon, Clemson cruised its way to victory through the air flying first class.

The Wolfpack were well aware of what Clemson was capable of doing running the football. So they wanted to put pressure on true freshman Trevor Lawrence - rattle him a little bit - and force him to throw.

That strategy backfired as Lawrence played his best game as a Tiger yet, throwing for a career-high 308 yards and one touchdown on a 26-of-39 clip. It was another week where we saw Lawrence mature and gain more confidence through his execution.

Swinney and co-offensive coordinator Jeff Scott noted that there were about ten plays that were called runs, but Lawrence took what the defense gave him and turned those plays into passing opportunities.

But one of Clemson’s biggest questions on offense when it went into the bye week was the slow starts on offense that would sometimes occur. Today, all the momentum rode with Clemson from the first series on as the offense marched right down the field for a touchdown drive.

The 9-play, 57-yard touchdown drive highlighted by a 3-yard touchdown Travis Etienne touchdown run was the first time Clemson scored on its opening drive since the 2017 ACC championship game.

And that’s what this game felt like - the dominant ACC championship performance against Miami where Clemson got off to such a fast start that once you blinked it felt like the opposition was already buried.

After Clemson’s first three drives, the Tigers were already up 14-0 after a 46-yard touchdown reception from Tee Higgins. Of the Wolfpack’s first three drives, two of them were three-and-outs.

But this test was no perfect score for the Tigers. There were a few minor lapses and mental mishaps like the 13-play drive in the second quarter that ended with no points after a botched fake field goal. Or getting to the one-yard line just before half and coming away with only three points after two consecutive penalties.

Those moments ended up being mere footnotes after the carnage Clemson created.

We wrote on Friday that the biggest key to the game was going to be Clemson’s defense getting off the field on third down. The Wolfpack came into the game first in the country in terms of converting on third downs at a 61-percent success rate.

N.C. State only converted one of six third-down conversions in the first half and finished the game 2-of-12 overall.

Wolfpack quarterback and future pro Ryan Finley never got comfortable. He finished with only 156 passing yards and two interceptions on an underwhelming 21-of-34 performance.

After last year’s game where N.C. State had its way on offense, Clemson’s defense came back with something to prove as a part of their competitive nature.

Wolfpack receiver Kelvin Harmon had a career-high game against Clemson in 2017 with 155 yards and a touchdown on eight catches. This year, only two catches for 13 yards. Clemson's defense had more yards on its two timely interception returns than the Wolfpack's best offensive weapons.

“We’ve felt the last couple of years that it didn’t have to be close,” defensive coordinator Brent Venables said after the win. “Those games didn’t have to go down to the wire… From a redemption standpoint, there's something to be said for that.”

This was not one of those knock-down, drag-out games that this revived rivalry has produced the past two years. It was as unsided as it looked, especially once halftime arrived and Clemson was sitting on a 24-0 lead.

As the second half carried on, Clemson emptied its bench. Both the Swinney and Venables family tree got to play as Clemson played 85 of its players. Swinney said after the game he has never been more confident in his second and third-string players as a head coach as he is today.

Twelve different receivers caught a pass for the Tigers. Higgins led the way with a career-high of his own: Eight catches, 119 yards, and one touchdown. Freshman Justyn Ross added five catches for 75 yards. The best quarterback on the field on Saturday was wearing orange. It wasn't close.

Clemson took a 31-0 lead after Etienne’s third touchdown run of the game, the first time a Clemson player has ever scored three touchdowns in three consecutive games. Clemson’s hidden Heisman candidate finished the day with 39 yards on 15 carries and added a 24-yard reception.

But what happened before that touchdown was the eye-opener - or head-scratcher - moment of the contest. In an act of almost desperation, Wolfpack head coach Dave Doeren called a fake punt deep inside his own territory. Clemson was not fooled and shut the play down immediately.

The Tigers went on to score points on their next three drives, including an 84-yard, 8-play drive led by Chase Brice to push Clemson's lead to 34 points with a little over eight minutes to play. The 34-point margin of victory was Clemson’s second-largest win against an opponent ranked in the AP Top 16.

If Doeren had any extra towels laying around, he might have used one as a white flag to call off the Tigers.

Doeren’s Wolfpack, who are now 5-1 (2-1), have now lost 13 of their last fifteen games against ranked opponents in the last five years.

Swinney, on the other hand, has now won 15 of his last 17 games against AP top-25 opponents since 2015 alone.

That’s what it came down to. Clemson is built for these games, these tests - these moments. When the lights are on at home, and the matchup is hyped, the Tigers deliver more often than not. Whereas Doeren was sent back to the drawing board after Clemson’s 14th win against N.C. State in the last 15 tries.

“We didn’t win the division, but we control our own destiny,” Swinney added after going 7-0 for the third time in the last four season. “We knew the winner of this one was going to be able to say that.”

There were no excuses. No laptops, towels, or any other crazy shenanigans. This year, Clemson was the dominant team we’ve grown so accustomed to seeing.

This year, class was back in session. And Clemson passed its latest test with flying colors.