Instant Analysis: No. 5 Clemson wins 5th straight division, makes quick work of NC State
RALEIGH, N.C. — When Dabo Swinney met with reporters after a Wednesday evening practice, he was more cheerful than usual.
The Clemson head coach was grinning ear to ear as he fielded questions from the media, most of them being about the initial College Football Playoff rankings that dropped Clemson to No. 5. He knew he didn’t have to approach his players about it. They knew.
And potentially feeling disrespected, Maybe Swinney knew what was coming on Saturday night in Carter-Finley stadium.
It was another Saturday night, another game in which No. 5 Clemson could’ve named the final score. Unfortunately for the North Carolina State Wolfpack, that score was 55-10.
The win marked Clemson’s 20th straight ACC win, 25th win outright, and fifth consecutive Atlantic Division title. The 45-point margin was the largest margin of victory in series history.
The Tigers had to hear for a week about a rough first half on the road at Louisville, but in turn took its anger out on Boston College the very next week. The wrath of Clemson’s anger was felt again, in primetime, against the Wolfpack as they put up 42 points in the first half, 28 in the first quarter.
Clemson’s offense sent Wolfpack fans packing early. The first four offensive drives for the Tigers all ended in touchdowns. By the half, Clemson scored touchdowns on six of its seven possessions and racked up 403 yards of total offense to NC State’s 88.
This game felt a lot like Clemson’s 63-3 win against Wake Forest a year ago. A hobble Wolfpack team ran out of bodies and right into a buzzsaw.
Due to injury, Wolfpack quarterback Devin Leary made only his second career start. It was the third different quarterback to start for NC State this season alone. And yeah, going up against Brent Venables’ defense is a tough enough task in itself.
A pair of Leary fumbles, three first-half turnovers overall, set Clemson up pretty to put the game away with two two-play scoring drives.
Trevor Lawrence continued his impressive play from the past few weeks, finishing completing 20 of 27 passes for 276 yards and 3 TD. All of which came in two quarters and one drive in the second half. The key number-- ZERO interceptions.
After the first quarter, Clemson basically took its foot off the pedal of the ole ROY bus. But making quick work of the Wolfpack provided another statement win for a team that won’t be No. 5 much longer.
But this team has plenty left to play for, and Swinney knows that. That same coach who was smiling ear to ear on Wednesday seemed pretty even-keeled immediately after a postgame Gatorade bath.
A division championship checks off another goal for Clemson’s 2019 campaign. But Swinney knows this team still has plenty more goals left to go.
Sure, these rankings don’t matter as Swinney would say... until you want to use them for motivation.
The game was over when…
On Tuesday, when the College Football Playoff committee dropped Clemson to No. 5.
Kidding (kind of).
The Tigers rolled during their first two drives with such ease and precision. The first drive was nine plays for 84 yards and the second was ten plays for 92 yards. Each drive lasted just over four minutes.
But the Wolfpack really handed the game to the Tigers after two fumbles on consecutive possessions. Running back Jordan Houston coughed it up and Chad Smith recovered the ball at the three-yard line.
Next, Leary fumbled on his throwing release after two holding calls negated the first sign of any NC State offense. Travis Etienne, who finished with 14 carries for 112 yards and two touchdowns, scored from 19 yards out two plays later.
It was the first time this observer could remember a time where fans began to file out before the end of the first quarter. A game that was determined a red-out for supporters of the home team quickly became a bloodbath.
They stole the show...
It’s hard to ignore the performance from Clemson’s wide receivers. Eleven different receivers caught passes for the Tigers for 303 yards. Tee Higgins went down with an early injury, but came back with a wide-open touchdown to put the Tigers up 14-0. He finished with four catches for 73 yards and that score from 33 yards out.
His counterpart, Justyn Ross, had almost an identical line. He finished with four catches, 73 yards, and 33-yard touchdown with 45 seconds left in the first half to make the score 42-0.
Even Etienne continues to look so much more improved in his pass-catching. The junior running back had three catches, one for 27 yards, and scored on a shovel pass from two yards out.
And of course, we have to highlight John Simpson’s first career touchdown. The lineman lined up at running back on second-and-goal from the one and ran straight through to the end zone.
Somewhere, Christian Wilkins is smiling.
Matchup of the game…
It has been far too long since we really just tipped our cap to Trevor Lawrence for his performance in a game. So many times, we watch these matchups and end up focusing on the skill players that he has at hand, but it’s time to pause and relish in how good Lawrence really is.
The sophomore threw for three touchdowns while rushing for another while leading Clemson to their 25th consecutive win. The Tigers were up 42-0 at the half, and it was clear early on that seeing Lawrence be a bigger weapon on the ground carrying the football eight times for 59 yards with a 28-yard keeper that would force anytime to play Clemson’s ground attack more honestly.
Lawrence has now thrown for three touchdowns in five consecutive games and continues to look much sharper than he did to open the season.