Clemson jumped out to a 35-3 halftime lead over South Carolina State in its return to a full-capacity Memorial Stadium in Clemson.
The sixth-ranked Tigers responded with plenty of offense with 315 total yards including 177 yards on the ground after a defensive slugfest in the season opener against Georgia last week.
On the first play from scrimmage, Lyn-J Dixon was able to surpass Clemson’s two-yard rushing total from the week prior with a 16-yard carry.
Dixon returned to action after head coach Dabo Swinney held him out for the first half of Clemson’s season opener for a violation of team rules.
The elder statesman of the Tigers’ running backs got the start out of the backfield on Saturday but split time with Kobe Pace, Will Shipley, Darien Rencher and Michel Dukes in the first half.
The Tigers got back to the basics in the first half. In the first quarter alone, Clemson rushed for 121 yards on 15 carries with three rushing touchdowns. At halftime, Clemson averaged 8.4 yards per carry.
As far as the defense was concerned, Clemson’s unit rose to the occasion for the second week in a row.
Clemson held S.C. State to 123 yards of offense. The Bulldogs were no match for Clemson’s starting defense, which played the bulk of the first half.
After jumping out to a 28-0 lead, things started to slow down for the Tigers.
D.J. Uiagalelei made an errant throw that was nearly intercepted with the team backed up in its own territory.
On the ensuing drive, reserve sophomore linebacker R.J. Mickens intercepted SC State quarterback Corey Fields. Clemson had a short field with the end zone in sight, only for Uiaglelei to be intercepted on an overthrown screen pass, intended for Rencher, the super senior running back.
Uiagalelei looked shaky at times, made some errant throws, including missing Justyn Ross multiple times in the end zone for should-be touchdowns.
He did make up for it by converting with Ross for an 11-yard touchdown.
All in all, Uiagalelei completed 11 of 21 passes for 138 yards with a touchdown and interception. He also had 16 rushing yards on three carries and two scores, both of them coming when he called his own number in the red zone.
Uiagalelei wasn’t the only quarterback to receive some carries. As a wildcat quarterback, true freshman Will Taylor had 14 yards on two carries. Though, the Dutch Fork product’s most explosive play came on special teams on a 51-yard punt return.
It wasn’t perfect. There were two miscues — Uiagalelei’s interception and Dukes’ fumble — still, the Tigers showed what they needed to and headed into the locker room with a 32-point lead.
B.T. Potter was just short of a 58-yard field goal as time expired on the first half.
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