#2 Clemson Defeats Duke 35-6
Clemson, SC
Clemson came into Saturday’s contest looking to remain in the undefeated ranks of college football. And with a resounding 35-6 defeat of the Blue Devils of Duke University on Saturday night, the Tigers were able to keep that undefeated mark now sitting at 11-0 (8-0 ACC). Now the Tigers turn their eyes toward the annual in-state Palmetto Bowl with Rivals South Carolina on next Saturday night.
The Tigers donning their all-purple uniforms were celebrating Military Appreciation Day and Senior Night on this cold and clear evening inside of Memorial Stadium. Clemson took the opening kick and sputtered on offense the entire first quarter of the game. Duke took the ball and twice in the first half managed to drive deep enough into Clemson territory to take advantage of field position and kick a couple field goals. Leading this game at one point 6-0.
Clemson then put together a 75-yard drive and took the lead 7-6 on a Tavien Feaster touchdown run. The Tigers then went on to score another 28 unanswered points in the contest to finish the ACC regular season undefeated. Follow that up later in the 2nd quarter with a Lawrence to Ross touchdown pass. And the Tigers led going into the half 14-6.
Duke took the opening possession of the 2nd half and ended up punting to the Tigers who took their first chance in the 2nd half and marched downfield and scored on a Travis Etienne touchdown run. Putting the Tigers up 21- 6. The Blue Devils were unable to move the ball and spent the rest of this night getting manhandled by the Clemson defensive front. Jones was sacked the four times but pressured over and over on almost every pass attempt. Jones threw for 158 yards on 43 pass attempts with 24 of those being completed. But could not shake off the Clemson defense as they constantly harassed the Duke signal Caller.
Clemson would manage two more scores including one on a 10 yard Lawrence to TJ Chase touchdown pass. Lawrence would finish the game 21 out of 38 for 251 yards and 2 touchdowns as the Freshman continues to play like a veteran. Travis Etienne was limited in his carries again as he totaled up 9 carries for 81 yards on the night with 2 touchdowns to add to this season total. Justyn Ross led the way in receiving with 4 receptions for 76 yards and a touchdown.
The Clemson defense was solid and stingy as ever on the evening, after allowing the 6 points in the first half the Christian Wilkins led unit managed to shut down Daniel Jones and the Blue Devils the rest of the evening. The Tigers were busy all night in the Duke backfield consistently pressuring the Blue Devils quarterback. Duke was only able to muster 262 total yards on the night. And gave up 4 sacks to the relentless pass rush of the Clemson defense.
The 35-6 victory gave this Clemson senior class its 51st win in their 4 seasons at Clemson. Setting an ACC record for wins by any senior class.
The Tigers next ACC foe will be the Pitt Panthers on December 1st inside Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC in the 2018 ACC Championship Game.
* Clemson opened a season 11-0 for the fourth time in program history, joining 11-0 starts in 1948, 1981 and 2015.
* Clemson has now the first 11 games of a season for the second time under head coach Dabo Swinney (2015). Swinney became the first coach in Clemson history to coach the school to multiple 11-0 starts, as legendary coaches Frank Howard and Danny Ford only accomplished the feat once each, in 1948 and 1981, respectively.
* The 2018 Tigers won their 11th game of the season to tie 1948, 1978, 2012 and 2013 squads for the fifth-most wins in a season in school history.
* Clemson’s active 11-game winning streak is now tied for the fifth-longest winning streak in school history and is the program’s seventh winning streak of 11 games or more all-time.
* Clemson won its 51st game in the last four years give the 2018 senior class the most wins in school and ACC history, surpassing the mark set by Clemson’s 2017 senior class.
* The victory was Clemson’s 99th win of the decade. Next week, Clemson will attempt to join Alabama and Ohio State as the only FBS programs to win 100 games this decade.
* Clemson finished ACC regular season play with a perfect 8-0 record. It represents Clemson’s seventh time winning every ACC regular season game, joining perfect conference records in 1967 (6-0), 1978 (6-0), 1981 (6-0), 1982 (6-0), 1983 (7-0) and 2015 (8-0). The school posted additional unbeaten conference regular season records including ties in 1956 (4-0-1) and 1991 (6-0-1).
* Including 2015, Clemson joined Florida State (1992-94, 96-97, 99-00, 2013-14) as the only ACC schools to post multiple 8-0 regular season records in conference play since the league adopted the eight-game conference schedule in 1992. Clemson, Florida State (nine times, listed above), North Carolina (2015) and Virginia Tech (2000) are the only ACC schools with perfect eight-game conference regular seasons to their credit.
* Clemson’s senior class finished regular season conference play 30-2 in the last four years, becoming the first class in league history to win 30 regular season conference games.
* Clemson’s senior class also improved to 26-1 at Death Valley with one more home game to play next week.
* Clemson defeated an ACC foe for the 33rd time in its last 35 opportunities, including conference championship games, dating back to 2015.
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