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After forcing a three and out to begin the game, the Tigers scored on their second offensive play of the night as Trevor Lawrence and Tee Higgins hooked up for a 58 yard TD. Clemson never looked back as they scored on all five first half possessions, four of those being touchdowns, en route to the 52-10 win. In other words, they did exactly what the top ranked team in the country should have done against a C-USA opponent. Not a whole lot to glean from a game like this, but we will do our best.
- Lots of talk about Trevor Lawrence not being as sharp as last season. While there may be some merit to that, at the same time there is to much being made of it. On this night he looked as sharp as ever. He was out of the game early in the 2nd qtr but was effective while he was in there. He was 7-9 for 94 yards with 2 TDs in just 3 series. Oh, and no picks. He already has as many TD passes of 50 yards or more as Deshaun Watson did his entire career.
- Lots of playing time for backup Chase Brice in this one. He was pretty sharp himself, going 5-7 for 85 yards including a beautiful 37 yard TD throw to Joseph Ngata in the 3rd.
- Ngata is the real deal. #WRU
- Charlotte came into this one with a terrible run defense. Many assumed the Clemson offense would put up big rushing numbers against that 49er D but that isn’t how it played out. They ended up rushing for 235 yards and 6 yards per carry, which is not a bad night at the office by any stretch, but the thinking was there might be a lot more.
- Charlotte had a lot of success running the ball tonight, particularly in the first half, averaging more than 5 yards per carry before halftime. Yards on the ground were tougher to come by in the second half though. Still getting used to the fact that this is a different Clemson defense. That doesn’t mean it is not as good, just different. They’re just defending teams differently, and depending on the gameplan each week, that might lead to teams having some success running against that 3 man front.
- The staff played 5 QBs in this one. It looked like just about everyone played and it turned out almost everyone did. 111 players got into the game, a new school record. Everyone that was healthy played. Impressive. That is what it’s all about and a big part of what makes the culture so special at Clemson.
- Great crowd for an OOC game vs a C-USA team. Disney filmed some scenes for a movie at halftime and the home crowd didn’t disappoint in its effort to recreate the atmosphere from an actual game.
