6-0 & 9 TO GO!!! RECAP, HIGHLIGHTS, DABO PC, COACH/PLAYER INTERVIEWS, NOTES

CUTrevor 2019-10-12 18:15:18


TIGERS WIN 45-14!!! Clemson has won a nation-long 21 straight games and is the 15th program in history with 750 wins! 5th straight win over the Seminoles.

I'll have Dabo's PC and interviews posted in a bit!












GAME NOTES

 

  • Clemson won its 750th game in program history, becoming the 15th FBS program to accomplish the feat and the first member of the Atlantic Coast Conference to do so.
  • Head Coach Dabo Swinney (122-30) improved his career winning percentage to .803. Pending the results of Washington vs. Arizona this evening, Swinney could enter next week having surpassed Washington’s Chris Petersen as the winningest active head coach among FBS coaches with at least five seasons of experience.
  • Clemson possessed the ball for 39:37, surpassing its 38:56 possession time against North Carolina on Dec. 5, 2015 for the longest in the Swinney era.
  • The 39:37 possession time was Clemson’s longest since its school-record 42:58 possession time against North Carolina on Nov. 7, 1992.
  • Clemson ran a season-high 91 plays, the team’s most since running 92 plays against South Carolina on Nov. 24, 2018.
  • Clemson gained 552 total yards, surpassing the 524 yards posted by the Tigers against the Seminoles last year for the most Clemson has posted against Florida State in a game in series history.
  • Clemson reached 550 yards in a game for the 33rd time under Swinney, improving to 31-2 in those contests. 
  • Clemson rushed for 320 yards, marking Clemson’s 17th 300-yard rushing game under Swinney. Clemson is 16-1 in those contests. It was Clemson’s second 300-yard game of the season, joining a 411-yard effort against Georgia Tech.
  • Clemson tied its season high with four takeaways, matching the mark set against Georgia Tech in the season opener.
  • Three of Clemson’s takeaways came via interception, Clemson’s first time posting three picks in a game since Nov. 5, 2016 vs. Syracuse.
  • Clemson rushed for two touchdowns and has now rushed for multiple touchdowns in seven consecutive games for the first time since a nine-game streak to open the 2018 season. Clemson has rushed for at least one touchdown in 21 consecutive games, every game since the start of the 2018 season.
  • Clemson recorded three sacks and has now posted multiple sacks in a 14th consecutive game for the first time since the 2012-13 seasons. It represents Clemson's fifth multi-sack streak of 14 games or more since 1980 (18 from 1991-92, 17 from 1998-99, 15 from 2012-13, 14 from 2000-01).
  • Quarterback Trevor Lawrence completed 17-of-25 passes for 170 yards with three passing touchdowns and rushed six times for 40 yards with one rushing touchdown prior to exiting the game with a 42-point lead in the middle of the third quarter.
  • On his final passing touchdown of the game,Lawrence tied Woodrow Dantzler (41 from 1998-2001) for fifth on the program's all-time leaderboard for career touchdown passes.
  • Lawrence has now thrown a touchdown pass in 16 consecutive games and has thrown a touchdown in 20 of his 21 career games.
  • Lawrence passed for three touchdowns and rushed for another touchdown in the first half, marking the first time in his career he’s been responsible for four touchdowns in a single half.
  • Lawrence tied Cullen Harper (47) for eighth on Clemson's all-time leaderboard for career total touchdown responsibility.
  • Running back Travis Etienne recorded 127 rushing yards on 17 carries, a 23-yard pass completion and a three-yard receiving touchdown.
  • The 100-yard rushing performance was Etienne’ssecond of the season and the 11th of his career. He is now one game shy of tying Andre Ellington and C.J. Spiller for fourth-most 100-yard rushing games in school history.
  • With 127 rushing yards on the day, Etienne (3,013) broke 3,000 career rushing yards, becoming the seventh player in school history to record 3,000 career rushing yards.
  • With 130 all-purpose yards in the game, Etienne(3,630) passed Artavis Scott (3,568) to enter the Top 10 in career all-purpose yards in school history.
  • Etienne recorded his first career pass completion on a 23-yard pass to Justyn Ross in the first quarter. Etienne became the first Clemson running back to complete a pass since C.J. Spiller on Nov. 14, 2009, at NC State.
  • During the contest, Etienne (3,013) passed Kenny Flowers (2,914) for seventh on Clemson's all-time rushing yardage leaderboard.
  • Etienne’s 127 rushing yards were the fourth-most by a Clemson player against Florida State all-time. 
  • Clemson opened the scoring on a three-yard touchdown pass from Lawrence to Etienne. Clemson pushed its record to 43-0 when scoring first since 2015.
  • The touchdown reception was Etienne’s first of the season and the third of his career. He most recently caught a touchdown pass in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game.
  • Lawrence added to his single-season career high in rushing touchdowns, adding his fifth of the season on an eight-yard scoring rush in the first quarter.
  • Lawrence has now rushed for a touchdown in five of Clemson’s first six games. He is the first Clemson quarterback to rush for a touchdown in five of the first six games of a season since Woody Dantzler in 2000.
  • Lawrence’s touchdown run gave Clemson a 14-0 advantage after one quarter. Florida State entered the contest having outscored its first five opponents this season, 59-9, in the first quarter of games.
  • Clemson added its third touchdown of the opening half of a 10-yard pass from Lawrence to wide receiver Justyn Ross.
  • The touchdown reception was Ross’ second of the season and his first since the second game of the season against Texas A&M. 
  • Ross recorded his second touchdown reception of the season in the second quarter, tying his single-game career high. He recorded two touchdown catches against Notre Dame in the 2018 Cotton Bowl, a game in which both of his scoring receptions also came in the second quarter.
  • Wide receiver Amari Rodgers recorded his first career rushing touchdown on a 29-yard run in the third quarter. 
  • Rodgers joined Adam Humphries, Jacoby Ford, C.J. Spiller and Chansi Stuckey as the only Clemson players since 2000 to score via rush, reception and punt return in their careers.
  • On his second reception of the game, a four-yard pass from Lawrence, wide receiver Tee Higginsreached 100 career catches. On that same play, Lawrence became the eighth Clemson player to complete 350 career pass completions all-time.
  • Safety Tanner Muse recorded his career-high third interception of the season in the first quarter, picking off Florida State Alex Hornibrook, who had opened his Seminole tenure with 62 consecutive pass attempts without an interception prior to Muse’s interception. 
  • Clemson has now recorded an interception in nine of its last 10 games, dating to last season. 
  • Linebacker Chad Smith recorded his first career interception in the second quarter, giving Clemson its first multi-interception game since the season opener against Georgia Tech.
  • Linebacker Isaiah Simmons added to his single-season career high in sacks in the second quarter, forcing a fumble on his fourth sack of the season.
  • Simmons added a fumble recovery in the third quarter, recovering a fumble forced by safety Denzel Johnson.
  • Cornerback Derion Kendrick recorded his first career interception and returned it 38 yards for a Clemson touchdown. It was Clemson’s second pick-six of the season, joining safety K’Von Wallace’s66-yard interception return against Charlotte.
  • Clemson has now recorded multiple interception returns for touchdowns every year since 2013, the longest such streak in the FBS. 
  • A 14-0 advantage in points off turnovers pushed Clemson’s edge in that category to 97-21 in the last nine games, dating to the start of the 2018 postseason.
  • Linebacker Kane Patterson recorded his first career sack in the fourth quarter.
  • Kicker Steven Sawicki recorded his first career field goal, a 26-yarder in the fourth quarter.
  • Clemson carried a 28-0 lead into halftime against Florida State for the second year in a row. Clemson has now won 71 of its last 73 games when leading at halftime. In the first halves of Clemson’s last two games against Florida State, Clemson holds a 56-0 edge in points, a 614-128 advantage in total yards and a 35-10 advantage in first downs.
  • Clemson improved to 92-2 since 2011 when leading after three quarters.
  • Clemson now has a 92-2 record when totaling more first downs than its opponent since 2011.
  • Clemson won the turnover margin, 4-2, and now has a 50-3 record when winning the turnover margin since 2011. It was Clemson’s third time winning the turnover margin this season and snapped a three-game streak of losing the turnover margin. 
  • Clemson improved to 59-1 when rushing for 200+ yards under Dabo Swinney.
  • Clemson is now 45-0 when both passing and rushing for 200+ yards under Dabo Swinney.
  • Clemson improved to 40-1 since 2015 when outscoring opponents in the "Middle Eight," defined as the final four minutes of the first half and the first four minutes of the second half.
  • Clemson is now 42-2 when having a 100-yard rusher since 2011.
  • Clemson did not allow a 100-yard rusher in the contest and has not allowed a 100-yard rusher in 27 straight games, the longest active streak in the FBS. 
  • Captains for the contest were offensive linemanGage Cervenka, linebacker James Skalski, linebacker Isaiah Simmons and guard John Simpson.

 


WITH THE WIN…

 

  • Clemson won its 21st consecutive game, dating to the start of the 2018 season, to extend the longest winning streak in school history and second-longest winning streak in ACC history.
  • Clemson won a 15th consecutive ACC regular season game for the second time in school history (20 from 1981-84). Including postseason play, Clemson has now won 17 consecutive games against ACC competition.
  • Head Coach Dabo Swinney won his 122nd career game as a head coach, passing the career total of College Football Hall of Famer and Clemson legend Danny Ford, who won 121 career games (96 at Clemson and 25 at Arkansas).
  • Clemson, who entered the game second in the AP Poll after being ranked No. 1 last game, won its 14th consecutive game when ranked lower in the AP Poll than in its previous contest. Clemson is now 22-4 under Swinney when playing a game at a lower AP ranking than in its previous contest, including season openers in which Clemson opened lower than it finished the prior season.
  • Clemson has now won five consecutive games against Florida State for the first time in series history. Clemson was already the first school to defeat Florida State in ACC play in four consecutive years and pushed that mark to five. (Note: Miami previously accomplished defeated Florida State in six straight games from 2000-04, including a bowl game, but only the final game of that streak came during Miami's ACC membership.)
  • Clemson earned its 13th all-time victory against Florida State.
  • Clemson improved to 8-1 in its last nine home games against Florida State and evened its all-time home record against the Seminoles at 8-8.
  • Swinney pushed his all-time record against Florida State to 7-5. 
  • Clemson won its 10th straight game against ACC Atlantic Division opponents and has now won 30 of its last 31 games against divisional foes.
  • Clemson pushed its winning streak in Saturday games to 35 to extend the longest Saturday winning streak in school history. Clemson's current 34-game run of consecutive Saturday victories is the longest active streak in the country.
  • Clemson has now won 64 of its last 68 games overall dating to 2014, including 38 of its last 40 games against ACC teams.

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CUTrevor 2019-10-12 20:31:53










CLEMSON HEAD COACH DABO SWINNEY

Opening statement: 

“I just felt like we were playing a little tight in the last game, so I just wanted our team to have an edge getting off the bus today. I thought our guys had the right tone. They were locked in and eager to get back on the field. We were also eager to get back to doing the things that we need to do in order to win, like winning the turnover margin, making big plays on both sides of the ball and having great rhythm on offense.” 


On the keys to the win:

“The defense did an awesome job of getting us the ball and forced four turnovers. But the offense set the tone. Trevor Lawrence was awesome. It was a great day for Travis Etienne and the offensive line, which gave up no sacks. Overall, it was a great day and a dominant performance by our guys, and it all goes back to how we practiced this week. I knew our guys were ready to go. We also had a chance to play a lot of people and challenge our backups.”


On Clemson’s defensive performance:

“We were physical up front. Cam Akers is a great running back for Florida State, and we were able to limit him to 34 rushing yards on nine carries. We did the little things better on defense and got our hands on some passes. That set the tone for everything else.”


CLEMSON CO-OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR TONY ELLIOTT

On the game: 

“We all were challenged over the last two weeks to come out and to get back to being who we are. We wanted to have an aggressive game plan. That’s when we have been at our best. The guys put in the work. They had a really, really great week of preparation. [I’m] really excited to get in and watch the film because obviously there were a lot of good things.”


On if the offense had anything to prove:

“I don’t think [we had anything to prove] to the outside, but I think all of us felt like we needed to prove to ourselves. It’s not just knowing it; we have to go be it. We feel like we’re the best offense in the country.”


On offensive performance:

“I think it was a good starting point for us, and hopefully we can continue to play well and continue to stack good performances on top of this.”


CLEMSON OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR JEFF SCOTT

On the game: 

“[I’m] really proud of the way our guys came out of the locker room. Any time you don’t play well, you’re always ready to go play again. To have an open week, to have two weeks to wait before you go out there, it was great to see our guys come out and really attack, be precise and execute and all the things that we want. I thought that was great momentum.”


On the quick start offensively:

“We just really wanted to send a message to our guys that we were ready to go out and attack, and we weren’t just going to sit back and wait and see how people were going to play us. We were going to attack, and that’s something Coach [Dabo] Swinney really challenged our offense with. ‘Hey, we’re going to go throw it up first play, and second play is going to be a halfback pass. Make it happen.’”


On Travis Etienne bouncing back:

“It was great. Travis is obviously a talented player, and [he’s] just trying to feel his way. Two weeks ago wasn’t his best outing, and again, every guy was challenged individually… It was great to see Travis go out and be the player we know he is.”


CLEMSON DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR BRENT VENABLES

On the game: 

“I’m really pleased with [our guys]. They came out sharp, [had] great intensity, played with tremendous passion and great physical toughness. I really felt that the most physical team who can dominate the line of scrimmage would win the game. We put a lot of focus on [Cam Akers]. I felt like everything goes through him. Our guys accepted the challenge. I thought they came out and were on fire. It was fun to watch.”


On forcing four turnovers:

“It was great. We had a great streak going there for a while… We bounced back [after North Carolina] in a big way. Guys played with great effort being physical. Good things always happen playing with confidence. I thought guys were really in tune with the game plan where we played with great cohesion as a unit.”


On shutting down Florida State running back Cam Akers:

“It’s always a collective team effort. You’ve got to have good coverage. You’ve got to have great play up front, and you’ve got to be good in the second and third levels. Fitting things between our base coverages and alignments and fronts and pressures, our guys did a really good job of mixing it up. Our guys up front played really well, and that’s where it all starts.”


CLEMSON QUARTERBACK TREVOR LAWRENCE

On the game: 

“I was proud of the way we responded from two weeks ago. We had a good two weeks of preparation. It was good to see, and we knew were going to play based on how we prepared.”


On first play:

“That’s something we usually work on at the end of the week as far setting in stone what we’re going to do at first. The coaches did a really good job of game-planning throws, and it worked well.”


On gameplan:

“I think it was [about] us going out and playing. [Using] fast-tempo and taking some shots, and it worked out well. Guys made plays.


On national ranking as motivation:

“[It wasn’t] necessarily just that [but] the way we played two weeks ago. We wanted to prove that we’re a better team than that and can do a lot more than we did. We have high expectations for ourselves just like a lot of people do. We just want to play well, and I think we played really, really well.”


CLEMSON RUNNING BACK TRAVIS ETIENNE

On the game:

“It was very important for us to remember who we were, come out, play football and play to the standard.”


On if No. 2 ranking was used as motivation:

“No, not at all. Coach always tells us to run the race before us which is to win. We just run our race and go out there and play to our potential.”


On the team:

“We’re a team to be reckoned with. We’re still trying to put everything together, but we’re running in the right direction.”


CLEMSON CORNERBACK DERION KENDRICK

On his interception-return touchdown:

“I was reading my keys, and I read them well, and I saw the ball leave his hand and knew I had it.”


On the fast start defensively after a tough performance in the last game:

“Well, two weeks ago y’all know we had a slow game, a bad game. We had a good week in practice. Being able to go in there, watch film and knowing what the teams were doing and just executing and just practicing complementary football.”


On play-calling versus execution:

“It’s just really about executing. It’s something we didn’t do two weeks ago. It’s just being in the right sports at the right times and making plays.”



CLEMSON SAFETY TANNER MUSE

On the defense’s strong performance:

“Coach [Dabo] Swinney challenged us to really dominate a game. It’s been a while since we’ve really dominated a game like we did today. So we just took that as a challenge from him and tried to do our best.”


On Clemson dropping from the number one ranking:

“I wasn’t surprised. It’s happened before, so it’s not really a big deal. At the end of the day it doesn’t really matter to us. If you go from one to two, you’re still on the floor. At the end of the day, it’s all about how the endgame works. That doesn’t really surprise me any how they do the polls or whatever… I think we definitely showed that we are one of those teams right now, but we’ve just got to continue to keep doing it.”


On the key to a strong defensive first half:

“I think it was our preparation. We had two weeks to prepare for these guys. They did a lot of different stuff that we weren’t prepared for, but I think when you apply the concepts of what we thought they were going to do with all we have, I think it just plays out really nice. I think when you’ve got a really veteran back seven, you can do that kind of stuff… At the end of the day, you just apply concepts.”


CLEMSON LINEBACKER ISAIAH SIMMONS

On national ranking as motivation:

“I don’t really think it mattered. That preseason ranking means absolutely nothing; we got that based on last year’s team. This is a completely new team, and what ranking we get will be earned throughout the season.”


On defensive performance:

“We’re trying to open up our stride. We felt like we took a step back last game, so from here on out we just want to build on each week and get better and better as the season goes.”


On team mindset:

“We all had a complete different focus with the bye week and this week to prepare. We got a wake-up call. We knew we couldn’t make the mistakes we made last game if we wanted to come out with the win.”


CLEMSON WIDE RECEIVER JUSTYN ROSS

On the North Carolina game as motivation:

“Of course everybody was mad. They were talking bad about us, but we weren’t really worried about it because we know what we’re capable of, and we showed it tonight.”


On his two touchdowns:

“I was able to get good leverage, and then when I got to the top of my routes, I was able to break them off. Trevor [Lawrence] is going to find me every time.”


On having a good opening drive:

“It’s always important to come out and have a strong opening drive just because you want to start the game off right. You want to get a good jump on every team.”



FLORIDA STATE HEAD COACH WILLIE TAGGART

Opening Statement: 

“Disappointing loss. I thought we had a good week of practice, a good game plan, we didn’t play the way we wanted to or the way we thought we should. We lost to a really good football team. Clemson is a really good football team. Like I told you guys earlier in the week, we got to play our best in order to beat them and we didn’t. It’s disappointing, like I told our guys afterwards, I loved the way they fought. We can’t let this one game cause us to lose two games. We have to get back to work. I know they will. I know they’ll fight back and we’ll get back next week.”


On carryover effect from this game:

“I think we’re mentally mature enough to get past it and they will, we have to.”


On the lack of execution:

“I mean we just didn’t make the plays, we didn’t execute. We turned the ball over, I told you all before we can’t turn the ball over and expect to win, we gave up some explosive plays there, we can’t do that and we just didn’t play well, didn’t execute at all.”


On if they are as talented as Clemson:

“I think we have the talent, if you have the talent, you can't turn the ball over four times and expect to win against a team like Clemson, they're a really good football team and you have to take care of the ball and be better on third downs and keep the ball.”


On the offense: 

“I think from the offense in general, we didn't do enough. Everybody on that side of the ball, we didn’t do enough.”


On the defense: 

“I thought the first half we came out, really the first quarter, we didn't come out with the same passion and energy that we did weeks before. I thought our defense settled down and after a while we started playing a lot better and unfortunately we got so far behind, we didn't have any help from the offense.”





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I'll have Trevor Lawrence and more shortly!


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