Field Level Media
Sep 19, 2020
The No. 1 Clemson Tigers scored on six straight possessions to open the game and improved to 2-0 with a 49-0 rout of The Citadel on Saturday at Clemson's Memorial Stadium.
Clemson jumped out to a 28-0 lead after one quarter and substituted freely from there in improving to 35-0 all-time against Football Championship Subdivision teams.
Junior quarterback Trevor Lawrence played only 19 snaps before exiting with 9:55 left in the second quarter. He completed 8-of-9 passes for 168 yards and three touchdowns and ran two yards for another score.
The victory was Clemson's 24th consecutive at Memorial Stadium, extending the school record for the longest home winning streak in program history and the nation's longest active home winning streak.
Of the 120 players on Clemson's roster, 111 have never experienced a home defeat in their Clemson careers.
Lawrence, who is 27-1 as starting quarterback at Clemson, had touchdown passes of 17 and 54 yards to sophomore wide receiver Frank Ladson Jr. and 44 yards to senior wide receiver Amari Rodgers.
Senior running back Travis Etienne, the two-time reigning Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year, had 68 yards rushing on eight carries before exiting with Lawrence. Etienne, who already is the ACC's career touchdown leader, failed to score for the first time in 10 games, but did set up the Tigers' fifth touchdown of the game with a 44-yard punt return early in the second quarter.
He also passed former Maryland star Lamont Jordan to move into fifth place on the all-time ACC career rushing leaders list with 4,208 yards.
Clemson's defense was stingy, limiting the Bulldogs to 162 total yards, 126 of which came after halftime. The Citadel option attack, which had gained 200 yards rushing or more in seven of its last eight games against FBS opponents, including 200 yards in last week's season opener at South Florida, was held to 86 yards on the ground.
There were 19,000 fans in attendance, and masks and social distancing was required throughout the stadium.
Clemson will enjoy a bye week before returning to action against ACC opponent Virginia on Oct. 3.
--Field Level Media