No. 17 Clemson scores early, often to rout The Citadel

No. 17 Clemson scored six touchdowns Saturday before The Citadel could respond in the host Tigers' 51-14 victory in Death Valley.

Quarterback Cade Klubnik led Clemson (9-2) with 198 yards and three touchdowns on 12-of-16 pass efficiency, plus 34 rushing yards. Klubnik found five different receivers on the night, with the biggest connection coming in the second quarter when Bryant Wesco Jr. caught a 55-yard touchdown pass to put the Tigers up 21-0 in the second quarter.

Wesco led Clemson with 75 receiving yards, while Antonio Williams had 72 receiving yards, catching two touchdowns for 30 and 9 yards from Klubnik.

Clemson coach Dabo Swinney sat Klubnik in the third quarter, giving freshman Christopher Vizzina reps with the game out of reach for The Citadel (5-7).

Jay Haynes led the Tigers in rushing with 118 yards, the first 100-yard game for the freshman who had 151 total yards on 31 carries in eight previous games this season. He had touchdowns runs of 70 and 9 yards in the second quarter.

A week after Clemson's leading rusher Phil Mafah totaled 17 yards on 17 attempts in a win at Pittsburgh, the senior ran the ball three times against the Bulldogs for 14 yards.

Clemson's defense held The Citadel scoreless until the 5:06 mark of the third quarter on Garrison Johnson's 9-yard touchdown run for a 42-7 deficit.

In the first quarter, Payton Page scored the Tigers' longest touchdown of the day when the defensive tackle intercepted a pass from Jonathan Bennett and ran 57 yards to the end zone with blocking help from teammates late in the run.

While the Citadel defense stumbled against Clemson, the Bulldogs were able to rush for 288 yards on 55 attempts, a 5.2 average. Four players rushed for at least 54 yards, led by Johnny Crawford III with 70 yards on seven carries.

The Bulldogs' second touchdown came from a trick play, with the visitors selling a run before pulling off a successful flea flicker back to Bennett, who threw the longest pass of the day, 66 yards to Javonte Graves-Billips for the score with 10:31 remaining in regulation.

Clemson's All-American linebacker Barrett Carter got a turn on offense and ran for a 4-yard touchdown with 6:25 left in the game. He also had six tackles.

--Field Level Media