Field Level Media
Nov 30, 2019
Quarterback Trevor Lawrence passed for three touchdowns Saturday as No. 3 Clemson capped its second straight 12-0 regular season with a 38-3 victory at South Carolina.
Lawrence, who completed 26 of 36 passes for 295 yards, threw for at least three touchdowns for a school-record seventh consecutive game. The sophomore has 30 touchdown passes this season, matching his total from last season, and has attempted 147 consecutive passes without an interception, dating to the first quarter of the Tigers' win at Louisville on Oct. 19.
Lawrence also was Clemson's leading rusher with 66 yards on eight carries.
Junior running back Travis Etienne was held to a season-low 51 yards, but scored on two short runs to break the Atlantic Coast Conference records for career rushing touchdowns (53) as well as total touchdowns (57) previously held by Pitt's James Conner.
Clemson defeated its in-state rival, a member of the Southeastern Conference, for a sixth straight year and has outscored the Gamecocks 256-104 during that span.
It was Clemson's 27th consecutive victory - the longest active winning streak among Football Bowl Subdivision teams and the second-longest winning streak in ACC history.
The Tigers will play ACC Coastal Division champion Virginia (9-3) in the ACC championship game in Charlotte, N.C., on Dec. 7.
South Carolina made a goal-line stand on Clemson's opening drive of the game, thwarting the Tigers on four attempts after a first-and-goal at the 3-yard line. But the Tigers' Derion Kendrick intercepted a Ryan Hilinski pass four plays later and returned it 14 yards to set up Clemson's first score on a 10-yard pass from Lawrence to wide receiver Tee Higgins.
Higgins and Lawrence hooked up again on Clemson's next possession, this time on a 65-yard play, for a 14-0 lead and the rout was on.
After South Carolina got a 39-yard field goal from Parker White, Lawrence tossed a 16-yard scoring pass to Justyn Ross, then B.T. Potter kicked a 46-yard field goal to push Clemson's lead to 24-3 at the half.
Ross had nine receptions for 111 yards while Higgins had three for 101. Higgins' two scores gave him 10 for the season, making him the first player in school history to post consecutive seasons with double-digit touchdown receptions.
Etienne scored on runs of 2 and 3 yards in the third and fourth quarters as Clemson moved the ball at will, amassing 527 yards and 30 first downs. It was the Tigers' seventh consecutive victory by 30 or more points.
Clemson's defense, meanwhile, flexed its muscle again. The Gamecocks managed 174 yards as the Tigers held a 12th straight opponent to 300 yards or less this season.
Hilinski, South Carolina's freshman quarterback, was 16 of 27 for 105 yards with an interception. Former Clemson running back Tavien Feaster, a graduate transfer who played at South Carolina this season, was the Gamecocks' leading rusher with 47 yards on 12 carries.
--Field Level Media