Clemson Salutes The Military and Dominates The Citadel

CLEMSON, SC – On a cool and cloudy Saturday in Clemson, a week prior to heading to Columbia to face off with South Carolina, Coach Dabo Swinney and the Clemson Tigers welcomed The Citadel Bulldogs (5-5). Saturday was also a day where Clemson recognized and remembered all of the members of the Armed Forces for Military Appreciation Day to coincide with a 61-3 victory over the Bulldogs.

The Citadel got the ball first and drove down the field and into Clemson territory only for their drive to end after a failed fourth down conversion. Clemson would begin their first of many drives from their own 40 yard line. Just 5 plays and 1:49 later, Kelly Bryant drove the offense down the field 60 yards for a drive that would be capped off with a 53 yard touchdown catch by Deon Cain. After his catch, Cain ran through the end-zone to celebrate with a group of men and women in uniform.

On the ensuing drive by The Citadel, it took 3 plays for Trayvon Mullen to intercept a pass from The Citadel Quarterback Dominique Allen. Clemson’s offense would once again take the ball 49 yards down field on a drive that would conclude with a 6 yard touchdown run by Travis Etienne. With that touchdown run, Etienne tied Clemson great CJ Spiller’s rookie rushing touchdown record at Clemson with 10.

To close out the first quarter, Kelly Bryant connected with Hunter Renfrow for a 12 yard touchdown. The catch was Renfrow’s first touchdown of the season, with his last coming with 1 second remaining in the National Championship game. At the end of the first quarter, Clemson led 21-0.

With 11:59 left in the first half, Kelly Bryant found TJ Chase in the end-zone for his second passing touchdown of the game. The touchdown catch was the first of TJ Chase’s career. Kelly Bryant’s day was come to an end after this touchdown throw with the large Clemson lead. Bryant finished throwing 17-22 for 230 yards and 3 touchdowns.

The offensive onslaught by Clemson continued from there. Alex Spence would knock through a 26 yard field goal to extend Clemson lead over The Citadel to 31-0 with 6:32 remaining in the first half.

With just under a minute left before halftime, in relief of Kelly Bryant, Quarterback Zerrick Cooper led the offense 81 yards downfield on 6 plays for a drive that notched the the first of two touchdown catches for Tee Higgins. After the 32 yard touchdown catch, Clemson took a 38-0 lead into the locker rooms.

Clemson’s first drive of the second half took just 1 play as Tavien Feaster went off to the races for a  61 yard touchdown run. Freshman Travis Etienne then made history. With his touchdown run in the first quarter, Etienne tied CJ Spiller’s record for most rushing touchdowns in a season by a freshman with 10. Etienne punched it in from 7 yards out to break Spiller’s record and to make Clemson history.

Tee Higgins made himself a very viable candidate for catch of the year later in the third quarter. Freshman Hunter Johnson in at Quarterback, Higgins lined up along Clemson’s sideline and hauled in a throw with just his left hand and kept his balance for a 78 yard touchdown, his second of the game.

The specialists of each team would wrap up the game for the remaining minutes. Christian Groomes put Clemson up 61-0 with a 38 yard field goal. The Citadel avoided the shutout courtesy of a Jacob Godek 30 yard field goal.

All three quarterback that played for Clemson finished with 100+ yards through the air and at least 1 touchdown. Zerrick Cooper completed 7-11 for 105 yards and a score and Hunter Johnson was nearly perfect going 7-8 for 144 yards to complement the touchdown pass to Higgins.

Clemson players, coaches, and fans now turn their attention to what some may see as the biggest game of the year. The Palmetto Bowl. The #2 Clemson Tigers travel to Columbia, SC to take on the South Carolina Gamecocks next week in one of the biggest rivalries in college football. The game will be broadcast on ESPN with a kickoff time at 7:30 PM.

 

 

Image Credit: Clemson Football