Tigers swat Yellow Jackets

CLEMSON — In front of 79,118 orange-clad fans, the No.1 ranked Clemson Tigers (1-0. 1-0 ACC) wasted little time showing the college football world that last season was not a fluke — as they dominated the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (0-1,0-1 ACC) in the opening game of the 2019 season by a score of 52-14.

The defense that was questioned all offseason long, after losing four starter on the line, showed they were up the challenge — as they allowed 294 yards and 14 points to the Yellow Jackets.

On their first series of the season, the Yellow Jackets forced a three-and-out. However, the Yellow Jackets immediately gave the ball back to the Tigers when Jalen Camp muffed the 42-yard punt of Will Spiers and gave the ball to the Tigers on the Yellow Jacket 16-yard line.

The Tigers made the Yellow Jackets pay, as quarterback Trevor Lawrence (13-23 for 168 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions) scored from 6 yards outs and capped a five-play, 16-yard drive that gave the Tigers a 7-0 lead.

The Tiger defense forced a punt on the Yellow Jackets' opening possession, however gave the ball back to the Yellow Jackets after Travis Etienne fumbled the ball on the Tigers' 41-yard line.

However, the Tiger defense once again held the Yellow Jackets, and, after a second punt of the game, took over at their own 20.

A false start penalty on first down negated a 22-yard run by Lawrence. But Etienne made up for his mistake on the previous drive, as he scored on a career-long, 90-yard run that capped a one-play drive that extended the lead to 14-0.

After both teams exchange punts, Clemson once again benefited from a Yellow Jacket turnover.

After a 43-yard punt by Spiers pinned the Yellow Jackets on their own 9-yard line, a fumble on third-and-1 gave the Tigers the ball at the Yellow Jacket 14-yard line.

The Tigers need only one-play and three seconds to extend their lead to 21-0 after Etienne's second touchdown run of the half.

The Tigers continued their, somewhat, sloppy play on their next drive.

After holding the Yellow Jackets on fourth-and-1, Lawrence threw his first interception of the season to Trey Swilling — who returned the interception 41 yards to the Tigers' 2-yard line.

After the Yellow Jackets were unable to punch the ball in the end zone on three straight plays, they chose to go for the touchdown on fourth-and-goal. But Tiger safety Denzel Johnson had other ideas, as he recorded his first career interception and ended the threat.

The Tigers corrected their issues on the ensuing drive. Back-to-back 7-yard runs by Etienne moved the ball to the Tiger 17-yard line, and Lyn-J Dixon added 21 yards on the ground and moved the ball to the Tiger 38-yard line. The drive ended one play later when Lawrence found Tee Higgins for a 62-yard touchdown that extended the lead to 28-0.

Lawrence ended the first half throwing his second interception of the night as time expired.

After a three-and-out opened the second half for the Yellow Jackets, the Tigers quickly pounced — as Etienne's 48-yard touchdown run, his third of the night, took him over 200 yards rushing and extended the Tigers lead to 35-0.

The Yellow Jackets answered on their next drive, as they went on a three-play, 75-yard drive that ended the Tigers hopes of a shutout and cut the lead to 35-7.

On the next drive of the third quarter, the Tigers once again showed their dominance. After three consecutive rushes for Dixon moved the ball to the Tigers' 47-yard line, Lawrence found true freshman tight end Jaelyn Lay for a 20-yard completion to the Yellow Jacket 33. Four plays later, Dixon scampered into the end zone and capped off an 8-play, 75-yard drive that extended the lead to 42-7.

Following the Yellow Jackets' seventh punt of the night, backup quarterback Chase Brice led the Tigers on their seventh touchdown drive of the night.The Tigers 67-yard drive ended with Brice finding true freshman Frank Ladson Jr. for his first career touchdown, and gave the Tigers a 49-7 lead.

The Yellow Jackets turned to fourth string quarterback James Graham to provide a spark, and he did just that, as he led the Yellow Jackets on a nine-play, 90-yard drive that culminated with a 28-yard touchdown pass that cut the lead to 49-14.

The Tigers added a 51-yard field goal by B.T. Potter that extended the lead to 52-14.

Tiger Tracks:

Travis Etienne sets multiple records: Etienne had a career-high 205 yards rushing, while he moved into the top 10 for career rushing yards in Clemson history and tied a career-high with three touchdowns.

With ETN's 40th career touchdown, he joined an impressive group of Tigers in school history to reach that mark — C.J. Spiller, Travis Zachery and James Davis

Up Next: The Tigers play host to the No. 11 Texas A&M Aggies next Saturday (3:30 p.m., ABC).