Clemson coach Dabo Swinney vividly remembers the last time it happened because it had been a while.
Fifteen years, to be exact.
Swinney wasn’t the Tigers’ head coach during the 2007 season, but he was a member of Tommy Bowden’s staff. Then Clemson’s receivers coach, Swinney looked on as two of his wideouts, Nelson Faerber and La’Donte Harris, each blocked a punt in the Tigers’ regular-season finale at South Carolina to help Clemson squeak out a 23-21 victory over the rival Gamecocks.
“I’ll never forget it,” Swinney said. “It set the tone.”
Late Monday night, it happened again.
For the first time in Swinney’s tenure as head coach, Clemson blocked a pair of punts in the Tigers’ 41-10 win over Georgia Tech. Former walk-on safety Carson Donnelly and freshman linebacker Wade Woodaz were credited with the blocks.
Donnelly came up with the first block early in the second quarter, setting up the offense with its shortest field of the night at a time when it was needed. With just 42 yards and two first down in the first quarter, Clemson’s offense got off to a slow start. But Donnelly sped past Tech’s protection to get a hand on David Shanahan’s fourth punt of the night.
Receiver Brannon Spector picked up the loose ball and returned it to the Yellow Jackets’ 5-yard line. Four plays later, Will Shipley gave Clemson a 7-0 lead on a 1-yard touchdown run.
“What a huge play,” Swinney said. “I’m really happy for Carson Donnelly, and I’m glad we were able to punch that in to get the points.”
With the offense settling in and the defense suffocating Tech for much of the night (3.8 yards per play), Clemson eventually pulled away with an assist from Woodaz, who essentially put the game on ice for the Tigers when he came through with his block deep in Tech territory with less than 8 minutes left.
It set the offense up at the Yellow Jackets’ 15, and Shipley chased in again four plays later with his final touchdown run of the night to push Clemson’s lead to 34-10.
“Really, really proud of the special teams and what we were able to do,” Swinney said.
Dear Old Clemson is excited to announce a limited edition football and poster signed by Clemson’s Avengers.
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