Clemson Tigers vs Auburn Tigers Match Player Stats On Sep 03, 2016

The Sports Xchange
Sep 4, 2016

AUBURN, Ala. -- Junior running back Wayne Gallman rushed for 123 yards and a touchdown as No. 2 Clemson held off a late surge from Auburn to defeat the Tigers 19-13 Saturday night at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

Junior quarterback Deshaun Watson completed 19 of 34 passes for 248 yards with one touchdown and an interception while wide receiver Mike Williams, who missed all but 12 plays last season after breaking a bone in his neck in Clemson's opening game, staged a big-time comeback, catching nine passes for a career-high 174 yards.

It was the third consecutive victory for Clemson (1-0) against Auburn (0-1) and came in front of a raucous crowd of 87,451 -- the 17th consecutive sellout at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

On what was largely an inconsistent night for Clemson's high-powered offense, the Tigers still found a way to win thanks in large part to a stingy defense and some late-game heroics.

Clemson allowed Auburn only 38 total yards in the first half, including one yard rushing, but still led just 10-3.

Clemson opened the second half with a 40-yard field goal by Greg Huegel for a 13-3 advantage, but Auburn's Daniel Carlson responded with a 32-yarder to cut Clemson's lead to 13-6 with 13:46 remaining.

Clemson then drove 75 yards in 10 plays to push its lead to 19-6 when Watson connected with Hunter Renfrow for a 16-yard touchdown and a 19-6 lead, but Auburn got a nine-yard scoring run from Kerryon Johnson with 3:22 left to cut the Tigers' lead to 19-13 and set up a wild final few minutes.

Clemson drove to the Auburn 15 before stalling and turning the ball over on downs and Auburn drove to Clemson's 40 before two passes into the end zone came up empty.

Johnson had 94 yards rushing on 23 carries for Auburn.

Clemson fell behind Auburn 3-0 early in the second quarter, then dominated the remainder of the half to take a 10-3 lead into the locker room.

Carlson's 53-yard field goal -- the sixth of his career from 50 yards or more -- with 12:58 left in the first half appeared to wake up Clemson's offense, which had struggled to muster any consistency to that point.

But Watson responded by leading Clemson on a 13-play, 84-yard drive capped by a 1-yard run by Gallman to take the lead 7-3. Gallman ran behind a pair of big blockers -- defensive linemen Christian Wilkins and Dexter Lawrence -- to score on the fourth-and-one play with 7:45 left in the half.

Clemson then ended the half by driving 64 yards in eight plays to set up Huegel's 30-yard field goal with seven seconds left in the half.

Gallman, who set Clemson's single-season rushing record with 1,527 yards last season, had 59 yards on 16 rushes in the first half while Williams had six receptions for 105 yards.

NOTES: Clemson junior QB Deshaun Watson is 19-2 as a starter to rank first in school history with a .900 percentage. ... Clemson coach Dabo Swinney, a former player at Alabama, is 9-6 as a player and coach against Auburn. ... Eight members of Clemson's team are sons of former Clemson players. ... Auburn has produced eight 1,000-yard rushers since 2010, most among FBS teams. ... Auburn FS Johnathan "Rudy" Ford is the only Auburn player to enter this season with more than 200 career tackles (216). ... Auburn PK Daniel Carlson has made 97 consecutive PATs, the fourth-longest streak in program history.