Tigers May Be No. 3 in the Polls, but Are Playing Like No. 1
CLEMSON — The Clemson Tigers may not be the No. 1 team in the College Football Playoff Rankings, but they may be the team playing the best football over the last month.
In their 52-3 win over Wake Forest Saturday, the Tigers list of accomplishments continued to grow, as they joined 1944 Army and 1972 Nebraska as the only teams in the AP Poll era to win four consecutive games by 45 or more points.
They also won a sixth straight game by 30 or more points to break a tie with 2013 Florida State for the longest such streak in conference history. Clemson held an 11th straight opponent below 300 yards of total offense to become the first team since the turn of the century to open a season holding opponents below 300 yards in each of the first 11 games. ESPN Stats & Info says it is the first such occurrence in records back to 1996.
Clemson reached 50 points in a fourth straight game for the first time in program history, and has now scored 45 points in six consecutive games for the first time in school history. The streak matches the 2013 Florida State Seminoles for the longest in ACC history.
“We’re a talented football team, and we can overwhelm our opponents when we get short fields on offense and disrupt the line of scrimmage on defense," Swinney said. "I’m proud of our guys. Trevor [Lawrence] was amazing. He threw for a career-high four touchdowns. Tee [Higgins] tied a record with three receiving touchdowns. The ball was spread around. A lot of guys made big plays for us, and we also won the turnover margin.
"Travis [Etienne] is the first Clemson rusher to have six 100-plus-yard games in a row. That’s a pretty special accomplishment. Lyn-J [Dixon] played well, too. The game ball went to the offensive line. It was just a tremendous performance by everyone. We subbed early in the third quarter and continued to play well. I’m excited about that for our backups to go in and play at a high level like they did.”
They have now held 14 consecutive opponents to 20 or fewer points for the first time since the 1949-51 seasons under Head Coach Frank Howard.
“I’m super proud of our guys. It’s been an amazing journey with this group. The defense set the tone today," Swinney continued. "Wake Forest’s offense was averaging around 500 yards of offense entering the game and only had 41 yards passing today. Of course, it was a big loss for them to not have their top two receivers, but they still have a great quarterback and offensive life and a unique offensive scheme. Our guys were locked in all week. I can’t say enough about our preparation. The turnovers were huge for us. We’re playing well on offense. We had a lot of great contributions on special teams, as well. It was a complete game.”
The normally slow-to-praise defensive coordinator of the Tigers, Brent Venables, joined Swinney in admitting that what the 2019 defense has done is nothing short of amazing.
“It was a great performance," Venables said. "First of all, I’m just thankful for our players and their dedication and their commitment. There’s been 150 years of college football and what they’ve accomplished through 11 games is pretty special. Hopefully they'll get a game ball out of it. That's probably my favorite thing of victory is the opportunity to get a game ball.
"I’m super proud of them and their coaches. It’s hard to sustain success and the mindset it takes to not only win but to play well against a really well-coached and talented group, a very tough system to defend. For the seniors to be able to go out, they’ll never forget that last game at home, 22 in a row now, it’s pretty special to sit back and witness now so I’m thankful for each and every guy in that locker room.”
According to senior safety Tanner Muse, the nation had better be prepared for the Tigers because they haven't peaked yet — in fact, they are getting better each week.
"I think we’ve been peaking all year," Muse said. "I think people thought the UNC game was our low point. I think this team has just had the determination and drive to prove everybody wrong and prove the guys who did believe in us. I think the season has just been an accumulation of that, just playing our best every week.”
