Saturday, Clemson was able to get the taste of defeat out of their mouth with a 73-7 drudging of in state foe, South Carolina State. For the second year in a row, the Tigers have faced the Bulldogs from Orangeburg after the week after playing the University of Georgia Bulldogs. In front of a crowd of 78,000 in a very hot Death Valley, the Tigers racked up score after score against their MEAC foe. Clemson took it’s first drive right down the field where Adam Humphries ran in a 2 yard touchdown off of an option pitch from Cole Stoudt. John’s Creek’s own Ammon Lakip later added a field goal to give Clemson a 10-0 lead at the end of the first quarter. That was as close as it would get for SC State, as Clemson went on to add 3 more touchdowns and a field goal before halftime, giving the Tigers a 34-0 lead. The explosiveness continued as running back DJ Howard and tight end JJ McCullough both found the end zone for the Tiger O in the third. Defensively, Clemson sophomore safety Jadar Johnson took an interception 60 yards to the house to make it 58-0. Artavis Scott would catch his second touchdown of the game in the fourth, while freshman Adam Choice capped off an impressive game with a touchdown, putting Clemson at 73 points with a missed PAT. Prior to Choice’s touchdown, Clemson received 2 points off of a safety when an errant snap went over SC State punter Jerome Pettiway’s head and rolled through the back of the end zone. SC State’s only score would come off of a fumble recovery by Dominique Mitchell, who ran it 35 yards to the end zone in the fourth quarter. The game also continued the on going debate about whether Freshman Deshaun Watson should take over for 5th year Senior Cole Stoudt as the starting QB for the Tigers. Watson, a Gainesville, GA native, went 8/9 with 154 yards and 3 touchdowns passing on the day. He ran for an additional 20 yards on 5 carries. Stoudt went 22/31 with 302 yards passing and a touchdown throw in the second quarter to Artavis Scott. Dabo Swinney stated that there is “no controversy” with his starting quarterback, and was frustrated that reporters would ask about such an issue. The Tigers will get an off weekend this Saturday before heading to Tallahassee to face #1 ranked Florida State and Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston. Both teams will have a bye week to prepare for the game that has decided the winner of the ACC Atlantic division for the past 5 seasons, and the ACC Champion for the past 3.
