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Former Clemson Star Finding His Stride With New QB

With Joe Flacco under center, Tee Higgins has rediscovered the rhythm and confidence that once made him a star at Clemson.
Angelo Feliberty|
Former Clemson standout Tee Higgins has found new life half-way through the 2025 season, thriving with veteran QB Joe Flacco under center.
Former Clemson standout Tee Higgins has found new life half-way through the 2025 season, thriving with veteran QB Joe Flacco under center. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

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Former Clemson Tiger Tee Higgins looks like a new man with veteran signal caller Joe Flacco under center for the Cincinnati Bengals.

After managing just 158 yards through the first five weeks of the season, the former Clemson star has already topped 200 receiving yards in the past three games on 20 targets.

This past Sunday, in a gut-wrenching 39-38 loss, Higgins didn’t see the ball come his way too much, yet he still made the most of it as he recorded one catch for a 44-yard touchdown to put the Bengals up 17-3 early.

This performance comes just a week after Higgins played a pivotal role in the Bengals’ 33-31 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, catching six of 10 targets for 96 yards and a 29-yard touchdown. 

The lanky wideout also delivered the game’s defining moment — a 28-yard catch in the final minutes before sliding at the 7-yard line to drain Pittsburgh’s timeouts and set up Evan McPherson’s game-winning field goal with seven seconds left.

Through the first eight weeks of 2025, the former second-round pick has totaled 25 catches for 360 receiving yards and four touchdowns. Higgins also scored a touchdown for the Bengals in the past eight straight home games. 

The past two weeks have shown the kind of clutch play Clemson fans know all too well. Before making highlight reels in Cincinnati, Higgins was a go-to target in one of college football’s most explosive offenses.

During his three seasons at Clemson, the 6-foot-4 wide receiver totaled 135 receptions for 2,448 receiving yards and 27 touchdowns, tying DeAndre Hopkins and Sammy Watkins for the most receiving touchdowns in program history.

A former borderline five-star recruit out of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, Higgins was a vital piece of Clemson’s 2018 national championship team, hauling in 59 catches for 936 receiving yards and a team-high 12 touchdowns as a sophomore.

He followed that up with a career year for his junior campaign, totaling 59 catches for 1,167 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns while serving as Trevor Lawrence’s top receiving threat.

After etching his name in Clemson history, Higgins was drafted with the No. 33 overall pick in the 2020 draft by the Cincinnati Bengals, and it didn’t take long for him to make his mark at the next level.

As a rookie, he led the Bengals in receiving yards and touchdowns, quickly building chemistry with then-rookie quarterback Joe Burrow. Over the next few seasons, he solidified himself as one of the most reliable No. 2 options at wideout in the league alongside Ja’Marr Chase, posting back-to-back 1,000-yard campaigns in 2021 and 2022 while helping Cincinnati reach the Super Bowl.

Now, five years into his NFL career, Higgins is reminding everyone why he was once one of Clemson’s all-time greats. With Joe Flacco spreading the ball around and Higgins back to making big plays, the former Tiger looks poised to finish the season the same way he left college.

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Angelo Feliberty
ANGELO FELIBERTY

Angelo Feliberty is a Sports Communication major who got his start with The Tiger newspaper at Clemson University starting as a contributor and working his way up to senior reporter covering multiple sports for the Clemson Tigers. A native of Myrtle Beach, S.C., Feliberty was a three-year letterman in track at Myrtle Beach High School.

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