Written by Ernie Casanova
CLEMSON, SC— It was Senior Night at Memorial Stadium along with Military Appreciation Day Saturday, and the atmosphere couldn’t have been much more special. It was a packed house as fans came in to watch their Clemson Tigers (10-0) take on the Duke Blue Devils (7-3), but what stole the show was the fans support of the military and their loud appreciative cheers of a Senior class that was responsible for a 50-4 record the last four years. But after all of the excitement and noise, there was a matchup left to be played and Clemson dominated. The Tigers convincingly defeated the Blue Devils to keep their playoff hopes alive by a score of 35-6 to improve to 11-0 (8-0 ACC) while the Blue Devils fall to 7-4 (3-4 ACC).
It was a very slow start for both teams, as each defense was putting pressure on the opposing quarterbacks early. Duke got the early push first as they made it upfield on a 37-yard completion by TE Daniel Helm from QB Daniel Jones. To finish out the drive, Duke scored the first points of the game on a 34-yard field goal by K Collin Wareham to go up 11 minutes in. Duke again converted on a 32-yard field to take a 6-0 lead and close out the first quarter.
The Tigers began to wake up and make some noise as they finally got the ball past half-field after a 41-yard completion from QB Trevor Lawrence to WR Justyn Ross set them up at the goal line. On the ensuing play, RB Tavien Feaster pounded the ball in the end-zone for a two-yard score to give Clemson their first points and the lead. It was 7-6 for most of the 2nd quarter, but Lawrence again found Ross, this time for a 19-yard touchdown to extend their lead. After the extra point conversion, Clemson went into the locker room with a 14-6 lead and didn’t look back.
In the second half, the Tigers came out with the same momentum and began to pull away. The Tigers’ defense outperformed the Blue Devils all night, although Duke was giving the Tigers a bit of a headache early on moving the ball upfield. The Tigers adjusted to Duke QB Daniel Jones’ ability to use his legs to bail the Blue Devils out and kept him under control the rest of the night. The Tigers also struck first on the scoreboard in the second half as RB Travis Etienne ran a 27-yard touchdown three minutes into the half to extend their lead to 21-6.
As the Tigers’ defense began to pick up the pace and pressure Jones, even more, they kept building on their lead as Etienne ran for another score, this time being for 29 yards with four minutes left in the third quarter. With the Tigers up 28-6 at the start of the fourth, Lawrence threw a 10-yard pass to WR T.J. Chase with 11 minutes left to give them a huge 35-6 lead and put the game to rest. It was all clock control from there as the Tigers held on for the victory.
“I’m really proud of our team for how they responded in the second half,” says head coach Dabo Swinney after the game. “Obviously, we did not get off to a great start. We missed a couple third-and-twos and dropped more balls in the game tonight than we have all year. I was really disappointed in how we started, but it’s a four-quarter game. I challenged them at halftime to see how they could respond. To win 35-6 against a good football team…I’m really proud of our guys and how they responded. We had no turnovers and no sacks [allowed], so that is a positive to take away from the game.”
Clemson’s defense was all over Jones, totaling four sacks and coming up with nine tackles for a loss. It was a great Senior Night for Tigers’ DE Clelin Ferrell, as he finished with 2.5 sacks and 2.5 tackles for a loss. His late father was given a tribute pregame as part of Military Appreciation game, and after a tremendous performance on his end he leaves tonight totaling 11 sacks on the season, he isn’t finished.
“I just wanted to go out there and play well. Obviously, my family is watching, and everybody’s family is watching, so I wanted to go out there and play well for my mom…and my dad is looking down on me right now, so I definitely wanted to put on a good performance for him.”
Duke’s offense did do a good job staying afloat for the first 20 minutes, but they just couldn’t convert on the big plays to extend their drive or their point total. Jones finished 24-43 for 158 yards and no touchdowns, but he as well distributed the ball as he completed a pass to nine different receivers as well. Tight end Daniel Helm led the Blue Devils with three catches for 56 yards, while T.J. Rahming came in second with nine catches and 38 yards.
It was a superb game for Clemson on both sides of the ball. Lawrence proved why he is the freshman phenom, and the supporting cast couldn’t have been any better. Lawrence completed a pass to nine different receivers and had a passer rating of 128.1. Lawrence finished the night going 21-38 with 251 yards and two touchdown passes. He broke Kyle Parker’s school record for touchdown passes by a freshman which was 20 and now has 21 on the year.
Etienne led the running back group with 81 yards on nine attempts and two scores, while Feaster had a score of his own but only totaling 17 yards. Along with the big 41-yard catch, Ross finished with 76 yards, four catches, and a touchdown. Behind him was Tee Higgins with four catches for 47 yards while T.J. Chase had the second TD from Lawrence. Senior WR Hunter Renfrow left early with an injury and didn’t return. What could’ve been a huge blow for the Tigers wasn’t much of a big deal at all, although Renfrow would’ve most likely wanted to finish the game on Senior Night. It was still a success, as the Senior Class now has a total record of 51-8 in the last four years.
“Our seniors have won 51 games, and I am so proud of them,” mentions Swinney after the game. “They are an enjoyable group of young men that I get to be around every day. Every week, they lead our team in a tremendous way. It’s pretty impressive when you look on paper at what this group of seniors has been able to accomplish in their careers.”
Clemson will now take on South Carolina on November 24th at 8:00PM ET, while the Duke Blue Devils will face the Wake Forest Demon Deacons on the same afternoon at 12:30PM ET.
