Gameday Live Blog/Open Thread: State vs. Clemson

Stop by for live analysis and updates from tonight's homecoming game at Carter-Finley

It's NC State vs. Clemson in the Textile Bowl on homecoming night at Carter-Finley Stadium.

It's a chilly night here in Raleigh and as if the odds weren't already stacked against the Wolfpack tonight as a 32 1/2-point underdog, the news gets even worse in the form of even more injuries.

Linebackers Isaiah Moore and Louis Acceus, who ranks second on the team in sacks, have both been ruled out of tonight's game. That means all three starting linebackers -- Payton Wilson, Drake Thomas and C.J. Hart -- are freshmen making their first career start. Against the top scoring offense in the ACC.

To make matters worse, starting right guard Joe Sculthorpe will also miss the game. He will also be replaced by a true freshman, Dylan McMahon. Backup defensive end Xavier Lyas and reserve safety Isaiah Stallings are also new additions to the injured list.

It's been that kind of season for State. It promises to be a long night. 

And here we go ...

FIRST QUARTER

We're about 15 minutes late in getting this one started. I wonder if ABC was waiting for the end of the LSU-Alabama game to get going here ...

State won the toss and elected to defer. Clemson will get the ball first ...

State wearing its red jerseys, white pants and white helmets. Clemson in white shirts, orange pants and orange helmets. I'm told Dabo only puts his team in orange pants for games it has a chance to clinch something. With Wake Forest's loss at Virginia Tech earlier today, Tigers can win the Atlantic Division with a win tonight ...

Trevor Lawrence is already picking apart this young, banged up State secondary. Tigers have the potential to put up a huge number tonight ...

And Lawrence runs it in himself. Clemson makes it look way too easy. 84 yards, nine plays Just over four minutes. It could be a costly touchdown, though, because the Tigers' big-play receiver Tee Higgins was injured on the play ... Clemson 7, State 0  10:56 left first quarter

That was an incredible fake by Lawrence. Everyone on the field was chasing running back Travis Etienne to the left. Meanwhile Lawrence kept it and ran 28 yards untouched down the far sideline on the right. ... 

Higgins is back for Clemson. And he just dropped a perfectly thrown touchdown pass in the end zone ...

Just what State needs, another cornerback down. De'Von Graves is the injured player. Wolfpack is already without injured corners Nick McCloud, Chris Ingram, Teshaun Smith and Taiyon Palmer ...

The injury situation is getting comical. Not one or two, but THREE State players are down after that Trevor Lawrence scramble. James Smith-Williams and Alim McNeill are able to walk off on their own. Payton Wilson, however, has been taken straight to the locker room. Last week, coach Dave Doeren called the epidemic "Code Red." Wolfpack is literally running out of healthy players ...

Lawerence hits Higgins for a 33-yard touchdown pass, completing a 10 play, 92-yard drive. The sophomore is now 7 of 9 for 108 yards and a touchdown. He's also run four times for 49 yards and a score ... Clemson 14, State 0

And it only gets worse. Leary is sacked, fumbles and Clemson recovers at the 3. Two plays later it's another touchdown and Clemson goes up 21-0. Second time in as many games State has trailed by three touchdowns before the end of the first quarter. As bad as things were in that 44-10 loss at Wake Forest, this has the potential to get even more lopsided. ...

Even when the Wolfpack does something good, it turns out bad. First Leary hits Carter for a big gain that's nullified by a holding penalty on wide receiver Keyon Lesane. Very next play, Zonovan Knight breaks out around right end for an even bigger gain that's called back by another holding call .... again on Lesane. Then on the ensuing play, Leary simply drops the ball as he looks downfield to throw and Clemson recovers -- setting up yet another Tiger touchdown, this one from 19 yards on an Etienne run. ... Clemson 28, State 0 still 1:31 left in the first.

SECOND QUARTER

Leary to Hines for a 22-yard gain gets the second period off to a good start for the Wolfpack ... State gets into Clemson territory for the first time, but still ends up punting. Total yards to this point: Tigers 210, Wolfpack 36

This is the kind of night it is ... State holds Clemson on third down, forcing a punt on fourth and five. But before the ball is snapped, freshman safety Jakeen Harris jumps offside and makes contact, giving the Tigers a first down.

Getting beat by better, more experienced players is one thing. Making self-destructive plays on virtually every other play is another. This is getting bad ...

And now senior nickel Jarius Morehead is injured ...

It's come to this … Clemson just let an offensive lineman score a touchdown. I guess this is karma for the Garrett Bradbury TD last year against ECU. Tigers now lead 35-0 with 4 1/2 left in the half ...

Total yards to this point: Clemson 318, State 37

Lawrence's third TD pass of the night is a 33-yarder to Justyn Ross. An absolute bullet into decent coverage ... Final minute of the half, it's now Clemson 42, State 0

Zonovan Knight with his first nice run in a month ... this one isn't called back by a penalty. 41-yard gain ... That's followed by a 19-yard completion from Leary to Carter and a completion to Emezie inside the 10. Maybe the Wolfpack should have gone hurryup earlier?

Good God … Leary lets a snap go right through his hands, Clemson recovers and that ends the threat and the half. Couldn't have gotten much worse for the Wolfpack, down 42-0 at the break.

THIRD QUARTER

The Wolfpack has come back to the field to play the second half. From the looks of things, most of the fans have taken the opposite approach. 

Here's a look at the stands ...

And here's what it looks like in the parking lot ...

Well, there's at least one positive State can take away from this game. After being banged up for past 2-3 weeks, Bam Knight is back to full strength. He had a 44 yard run at the end of the half, now a 53 yard TD run that makes it 42-7. Knight has 118 yards on seven carries. Knight is only the second back this season to rush for 100-plus against Clemson. He also went over the century mark in Week 2 against WCU ...

CJ Hart is injured now. Two of the three freshmen linebackers that were making their first career starts tonight have now gone down with injuries. State lost Payton Wilson in the first half and was without Isaiah Moore and Louis Acceus from the start. The attrition is astounding. First the cornerbacks, now the linebackers. Where does this end?

Etienne scores his second TD of the night, this time dragging the entire pile the final couple of yards into the end zone, increasing Clemson's lead to 49-7.

Lawrence's day is done. He goes 20 of 27 for 276 and 3 TDs. Remember that narrative about those eight interceptions early in the season. Seems kind of silly now, doesn't it?

End of 3: Clemson 49, State 7

FOURTH QUARTER

Rare good news for the Wolfpack ... whatever was wrong with Knight's leg wasn't serious. He's back in the game and just reeled off a 15 yard run. He now has 138 yards on 11 carries. ...

Now Drake Thomas is down, meaning that all three freshmen linebackers that started the game have all suffered some kind of injury.

Tabari Hines provides the coup de grace to a miserable performance by inexplicably trying to field a punt as it was rolling to a stop, touching it and allowing the Tigers to recover. These are mistakes that shouldn't happen regardless of who's injured and who's not. ...

Doeren calls a time out with 22 seconds left and Clemson, which is determined not to take  knee, having the ball at the 1-yard line  And the Tigers score a rub-it-in touchdown .... on a run by defensive back Tanner Muse. Now a linebacker is going to try the extra point. ...

Not sure if this is meant for the CFB playoff committee or if it's a statement to Doeren for his laptop on the sideline incident a few years ago. But this is a very bad look for Clemson and Dabo. That was a blatantly unnecessary score.

The two coaches with a brief hug and a handshake at midfield. It will be interesting to hear what Doeren says about all this.

Final score: Clemson 55, State 10 ... the most lopsided margin in the history of the Textile Bowl series.