Instant Analysis: Travis Etienne, Clemson offense marches along in 59-14 win over Wofford
CLEMSON -- On Clemson’s Military Appreciation Day, a Clemson offense that had all the momentum in the world went marching along.
They marched up and down the field like generals for touchdowns on eight of their 13 total drives to defeat in-state FCS opponent Wofford 59-14.
The biggest question probably coming into the game was how long would Trevor Lawrence and the first-stringers stay in the game. Well, they may have stayed on the field a little longer than Clemson fans would’ve liked, but when they finally came off the field in the middle of the third quarter you could’ve asked if they broke much of a sweat.
Lawrence finished 12-of-16 with 218 yards passing and four total touchdowns accounted for. Clemson totaled 702 yards of offense, continuing to stay ahead of the pace the 2018 offense set. All but one of Clemson’s touchdown drives took 2:30 or less.
Even though it was against an inferior FCS opponent, Clemson continued to look like an armoured tank that can roll over its competition until December.
They stole the show…
The game wasn’t even halfway through the second quarter when Travis Etienne accomplished a new career-high.
On only eight carries, Etienne eclipsed his previous career-high 205 yards, which came during Clemson’s season opener against Georgia Tech. The reigning ACC Player of the Year finished the afternoon with 212 yards on nine carries, an average of 23.6 yards per attempt.
It was also a record-setting day for Clemson’s junior running back. On his second touchdown of the game, a run of 83 yards, Etienne broke Clemson’s running back record for all-time rushing touchdowns with his 48th. The previous record was held by James Davis.
Etienne accomplished this feat by only playing 36 games, and there’s still plenty of time left in the season for that record to widen.
While we may not have learned all too much from Clemson’s win over an overmatched FCS opponent, maybe Saturday could’ve served as a reminder for Clemson fans to soak in watching the best running back in school history.
And on the defensive side of the ball, it was hard not to notice the Jake Venables’ effort. The redshirt freshman had his best game as a Tiger yet, making seven total tackles, five of them solo. Coming into the contest, Venables had 15 tackles and 4.5 tackles for loss in his Clemson career.
On Saturday’s win against Wofford, he led the team in tackles for loss with 3.5.
The game was over when…
On a day where Clemson didn’t break much of a sweat against Wofford, we could say the game was over at kickoff. But that would be a tad harsh.
A usual judgement of being able to tell when a game is over is when Dabo Swinney finally throws in Chase Brice and the rest of the backups. But Brice didn’t come in until the middle of the third quarter when the Tigers were up 49-0 and decided to take their foot off the gas.
The game was in hand well before halftime.
The Tigers had two drive for two plays in the first half, both of which ended with Etienne touchdowns. The first drive consisted of two Etienne rushes, one for 34 yards and the second for a 47-yard touchdown.
On the first play of the second quarter, Etienne took an 86-yard run to the house to make the score 28-0. The game was Etienne’s third 200-yard game of his career, which had never been done before in Clemson’s program history.
Matchup of the game…
Wofford was overmatched from the get-go and there were probably more yawns from spectators in attendance than there were points scored.
The Tigers’ defense held Wofford’s option attack to 139 rushing yards and a total of 256. Through nine games, Clemson’s defense as a whole still has not allowed an opponent to gain over 300 yards.
Clemson’s offense continued its momentum from the previous week, outgaining the Wofford 438 to 75. The Tigers ran 31 plays in the half, which was only one more Wofford.
Seven different Clemson receivers caught passes on Saturday afternoon. Tee Higgins led the corps with five catches for 74 yards and a touchdown. Amari Rodgers also scored a touchdown on one of his two receptions and finished with 71 total yards.
The Tigers seem to be humming along on both sides of the ball as they enter “Championship Phase” and look to keep their steamroll moving as this train runs full speed ahead to Raleigh next week.