The Last Run Before a Championship Run: No. 2 Clemson takes care of The Citadel 61-3
Saturday afternoon, Clemson fans could breathe easy for once.
After recent weeks where offensive inconsistency made Clemson fans’ blood pressure rise, the Tigers got into a much-needed groove before their championship run.
No. 2 Clemson took care of an under-matched Citadel team 61-3 on its Military Appreciation Day and final home game of the 2017 regular season.
This was the 27th victory at home for Clemson’s senior class making them 27-1 at Death Valley, the winning-est in Clemson history over a four-year period.
“Our goal today was really to create some momentum. We talked a lot about finishing and finishing strong,” Dabo Swinney said after he secured his 7th consecutive 10-win season.
Let’s be honest. This game was about two things: staying healthy and getting Kelly Bryant going throwing the football.
Both missions were accomplished.
Bryant put Clemson fans at ease showing early that he could connect on the deep ball and it started on his first possession. On third-and-20, Deon Cain was left open and Bryant found him for a 53-yard touchdown.
He later found Hunter Renfrow on a 12-yard touchdown catch, his first of the season and only his second in Death Valley during his career so far.
Bryant came out of the game towards the end of the second quarter after a 26-yard Spence field goal put Clemson up 31-0. He threw the ball well and finished 17-of-22 for 230 yards and three touchdowns.
“It just gets our confidence back, especially some of the throws we’ve been missing early in the season,” Bryant said. “It’s good to see it all come together. Now, we are going to keep our foot on the pedal.”
On a day that was intended to honor Clemson’s smallest senior class on scholarship since World War II, emerging stars shined as Clemson’s offense cruised.
Travis Etienne scored twice on eight carries to tie, and then pass C.J. Spiller’s record set in 2006 for most touchdowns by a freshman. He now has 11 this season on 88 carries.
Redshirt freshman T.J. Chase caught the first touchdown pass of his career from Bryant 13 yards out to extend the lead to 28-0 early in the second quarter.
Fifteen receivers caught passes on Saturday, but no one had a day like true freshman Tee Higgins.
With five seconds remaining in the second quarter, Higgins ended a nearly perfect first half performance for the Tigers with a 32-yard touchdown catch from Zerrick Cooper that you’ll see highlights of for the rest of the year. The ball was tipped and juggled in the end zone amidst two defenders until Higgins dove for it to bring it in.
“My mentality is to come out and be focused,” Higgins said. “When my number is called, just to go make plays.”
But he wasn’t done there. What’s better than one top-10 play on SportsCenter? Two.
Higgins made an incredible one-handed grab from Hunter Johnson, kept his balance, and then sprinted down the sideline for 79 yards scoring his second career touchdown.
“It was just a matter of time,” Swinney said on Higgins’ performance.
The freshman from Tennessee finished with six catches for 178 and two touchdowns. It was just another sign of things to come down the road for Clemson fans.
A defense that held out players like Dexter Lawrence, Tre Lamar, and Kendall Joseph to get healthy didn’t miss a beat. The Tigers defense held The Citadel option-attack to 0 passing yards until late in the fourth quarter where the Bulldogs, ironically, completed their only pass for 61 yards.
James Skalski led the defense in tackles with nine total. Trayvon Mullen and Shaq Smith both secured interceptions on two of The Citadel’s eight passing attempts.
The story of the game was Clemson’s offense putting together a complete performance before the Palmetto Bowl in Columbia and the ACC Championship.
The Tigers put up 662 yards of total offense, 479 of them passing. Bryant, Cooper, and Johnson were all impressive and each threw for over 100 yards, a first in Clemson history.
Clemson’s offense had 27 first downs, averaged 9.9 yards per play, and most importantly put points on the board on 10 of its 12 possessions.
“The biggest thing we challenged our guys going into this game was to play four complete quarters,” co-offensive coordinator Jeff Scott said. “Looking at where we were after ten games, we felt like we had done a lot of good things but really as an offense overall, being able to play a complete game. I felt like we did that today.”
At least 94 players played today for Clemson in the final home game of the season. 76 players got to play in the first half.
It was a stress-free Saturday for Clemson fans that got to sit back and relax while watching players like Jack and Will Swinney catch passes and fifth-year senior Drew Costa kickoff for the first time ever.
Clemson fans got to enjoy one last run down the Hill in Death Valley for the 2017 season and the Military Day festivities that came with it.
It’s been a tremendous run for these seniors and the rest of this Clemson team that deems themselves not defending national champions, but “attacking national champions.”
But the real work is only beginning.
Now, the championship run begins.