K’Von Wallace electrified the home crowd with a 66-yard interception return for a touchdown (Photo by Susan Lloyd)

Trevor Lawrence, Travis Etienne and Tee Higgins got Clemson out of the blocks quickly and earned most of the night off before their teammates took the baton and finished off the 52-10 victory over Charlotte, Saturday. Lawrence and Higgins opened the scoring with a 58-yard connection less than 90 seconds into the game. K’Von Wallace followed up with a 66-yard interception return and the route was on at Death Valley, Clemson’s 19th consecutive victory. Head coach Dabo Swinney used the opportunity to get the reserves, including quarterback Chase Brice, involved early. Quarterback Taisun Phommachanh also saw extensive playing time in the second half. In all, 111 players saw snaps, a new school mark.

Here’s my POSTGAME RECAP from Clemson

Key takeaways from Clemson’s victory

  • Wide receiver Justyn Ross was held out of the game with a hip flexor, according to co-offensive coordinator Jeff Scott. Ross is expected to be available next week at North Carolina.
  • Freshman wide receiver Joseph Ngata recorded his first career touchdown on a 37-yard pass from Chase Brice in the 3rd quarter. Running back Michael Dukes also notched first career touchdown with a 24-yard 4th-quarter run.
  • The home crowd remained in their seats during halftime to provide atmosphere for filming of the Disney movie “Safety.” The film will focus on former Clemson DB Ray Ray McElrathbey balancing his life as a student-athlete while caring for his younger brother, Fahmarr. A “Clemson football team” made up of actors played out a series against “Florida Atlantic.” Former Clemson DE Corey Crawford was one of the stunt players. The film is due out in 2020.
  • The Clemson defense limited Charlotte to 20 yards passing in the first half and 63 for the game.
  • Eight different Tigers’ receivers, including Will Swinney, caught a pass in the first half. 14 different receivers caught passes before the game was over.
  • Charlotte quarterback Chris Reynold’s 8-yard touchdown run in the 3rd quarter was only the fourth touchdown allowed by Brent Venables’ defense through four games.
  • Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne did not see any playing time in the second half. Lawrence finished 7 of 9 for 94 yards and a touchdown. Etienne also accounted for a score and rushed for 61 yards on 11 carries.
  • With much of the first-team offense seeing limited snaps, the key players should be healthy and rested as the Tigers return to conference play next week at North Carolina.
  • Final Stats


Quarterback Chase Brice played much of the game, completing 5 of 9 passes for 52 yards (Photo by Susan Lloyd)

Dabo Swinney postgame press conference

Defensive coordinator Brent Venables

Co-offensive coordinator Tony Elliott

Co-offensive coordinator Jeff Scott

Running back Michael Dukes