Photo by © Joshua S. Kelly-USA TODAY Sports
Clemson Football
The Notes: Clemson 41, NC State 7
- Clemson reached 450 yards of offense (481) in a fifth straight game for the first time since a 12-game streak spanning the final 11 games of 2015 and the opener in 2016.
- Running back Travis Etienne rushed for 39 yards on three carries, punching into the end zone three times during the game
- Including three-touchdown performances in Clemson’s two most recent games against Syracuse and Wake Forest, Etienne became the first player in school history to rush for three touchdowns in three consecutive games.
- Etienne’s third rushing touchdown was the 27th of his career, tying him with Cliff Austin (1978-82) and Woodrow Dantzler (1998-2001) for ninth-most in Clemson history.
- Etienne pushed his season total in rushing touchdowns to 14, tying him with Fred Cone (1950), Cliff Austin (1982) and Emory Smith (1995) for fifth-most in a season in school history.
- Etienne now has 14 total touchdowns this season, tied with Cliff Austin (1982) and Wayne Gallman (2015) for 10th-most in a season in school history.
- Etienne added to his career-long streak of games with a rushing touchdown by rushing for a touchdown in a seventh consecutive game.
- Etienne became the first Clemson player to rush for a touchdown in seven straight games since Wayne Gallman's eight-game streak to end the 2016 season.
- During the contest, Etienne (800) surpassed his single-season career high in rushing yards from a season ago (766 in 13 games).
- Clemson opened the scoring on a three-yard touchdown run by Etienne on the game’s opening drive. Clemson improved to 33-0 when scoring first since 2015.
- Etienne’s opening-drive touchdown marked Clemson’s first opening-drive points of the season and the team’s first since the 2017 ACC Championship against Miami.
- Etienne also added a career-long 24-yard reception in the fourth quarter.
- Quarterback Trevor Lawrence threw for a career-high 308 yards on 26-39 passing with one touchdown. It was Lawrence’s first career 200-yard passing day and the first 300-yard passing game of the year by Clemson.
- Lawrence’s 308 passing yards were the most by a Clemson passer since Kelly Bryant’s 316-yard day at Louisville in 2016.
- After passing for 308 yards against the Wolfpack, Lawrence (1,176) is just 290 yards shy of breaking Watson's school record for passing yards by a first-year freshman (1,466).
- Wide receiver Tee Higgins finished the night with a career-high eight catches for 119 yards, averaging almost 15 yards per catch.
- The 100-yard receiving game was Higgins’ second of the season and third of his career. It was his first 100-yard game since a 123-yard effort in the second game of the season at Texas A&M.
- Higgins added to his single-season career high in receiving touchdowns with his fourth touchdown catch of the year, scoring on a 46-yard pass from Lawrence in the first quarter. It was the sixth receiving touchdown of his career.
- Wide receiver Hunter Renfrow extended his streak of consecutive games played with a reception to 35.
- Renfrow finished the contest with a season-high five receptions for 41 yards.
- Wide receiver Trevion Thompson gained 45 yards on a career-high four receptions.
- Running back Lyn-J Dixon added his third rushing touchdown of the season in the fourth quarter and has now scored touchdowns in consecutive games for the first time in his career.
- Clemson rushed for four touchdowns and has now scored at least four rushing touchdowns in back-to-back games for the first time since the Louisville and Boston College games in September 2016.
- Defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence recorded his first fumble recovery of the season — the third of his career — in the second quarter.
- WIth Lawrence’s fumble recovery, Clemson forced a takeaway in its 15th consecutive contest, the program's longest streak since a 15-game stretch across the 2012-13 seasons.
- Clemson won the turnover margin, 3-1, and is now 42-3 when winning the turnover margin since 2011.
- With 11 points on the afternoon, kicker Greg Huegel (327) is just two points shy of Aaron Hunt (329 from 2000-03) for second on the program's all-time career scoring list.
- Safety Tanner Muse recorded the first sack of his career in the first quarter, helping force a three-and-out on NC State’s opening drive. NC State entered the game having only allowed 2.0 total sacks in its first five games of the season.
- Safety K’Von Wallace recorded his first interception of the season — the third of his career — in the second quarter. All three of his career interceptions have come against NC State, including one of each of Clemson’s three meetings with NC State from 2016-18.
- Linebacker Jalen Williams notched the second interception of his career, his first of the season, in the third quarter. It was his first since Sept. 10, 2016, vs. Troy.
- The multi-interception game was the first by the Clemson defense since the 2017 ACC Championship Game.
- Linebacker Isaiah Simmons recorded a career-high 11 tackles to lead all tacklers in the contest.
- Wide receiver Derion Kendrick recorded a career-long 40-yard return on the game’s opening kickoff.
- With his second field goal of the game, the 50th of his career, kicker Greg Huegel joined Nelson Welch, Chandler Catanzaro, Obed Ariri, Chris Gardocki, Aaron Hunt and Jad Dean as the only players to connect on at least 50 career field goals with Clemson.
- The game marked Clemson’s first time facing a ranked opponent since last year's Sugar Bowl against No. 4 Alabama.
- Clemson and NC State met one another while both ranked in the AP Top 25 for only the sixth time in series’ 87-game history (1986, 1988, 1991, 1992 and 2017).
- Clemson has now won 61 straight games when holding opponents under 23 points, dating back to 2010.
- The game marked the fourth time Clemson faced an undefeated opponent at home this season, as each of the Clemson’s first four home opponents entered the contest without a loss (Furman 0-0, Georgia Southern 2-0, Syracuse 4-0, NC State 5-0).
- Memorial Stadium hosted a battle of undefeated teams four or more games into a season for the second time this season and the fifth time in the venue's history.
- Clemson shut out an opponent in the first half for the second straight game and the fourth time this season. Dating back to last year, Clemson has shut out its opponents in the first half of eight of its last 12 games (24-0 vs. NC State, 28-0 vs. Wake Forest, 21-0 vs. Georgia Southern and 27-0 vs. Furman in 2018; 21-0 vs. Miami, 20-0 vs. South Carolina, 38-0 vs. The Citadel and 17-0 vs. Florida State in 2017).
- Clemson once again held an opponent without a first-half touchdown at Memorial Stadium. The Tigers have not allowed a touchdown in the first half in Death Valley in 11 of their last 12 home contests, surrendering only one first-half touchdown in that span.
- Tackle Mitch Hyatt made his 49th career start to tie Landon Walker's school record for career starts by an offensive tackle (49). Walker also shared the mark for most starts by an offensive lineman with center Dalton Freeman.
- Hyatt tied Walker and Freeman (49 each) for second-most career starts at any position in Clemson history.
- Clemson’s captains for the contest were tackle Tremayne Anchrum, linebacker J.D. Davis, center Justin Falcinelli and defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence.
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