Boston College had some momentum and, more importantly, a chance to close the gap against the fifth-ranked team in America
Etinosa Reuben had other ideas.
Despite Clemson’s offense still trying to find its footing, the Tigers led Boston College 17-3 midway through the third quarter. But after forcing consecutive punts, the Eagles appeared on the verge of giving themselves and many of the burgundy-and-gold clad fans inside Alumni Stadium some hope of making things interesting.
Boston College’s star receiver, Zay Flowers, returned the latter of those two punts deep into Clemson territory, giving the Eagles’ offense its second-best starting field position of the night. Boston College lined up for a 39-yard field-goal attempt seven plays later.
Connecting on it would get Boston College the closest it had been since trailing by a touchdown late in the second quarter, but it never got the chance. Reuben, Clemson’s 6-foot-3, 295-pound defensive tackle, muscled through the interior of Boston College’s line enough to get his left hand in the way of the trajectory of Connor Lytton’s kick.
The block gave Clemson’s offense the ball back at its own 28-yard line. Eight plays later, D.J. Uiagalelei found Beaux Collins for a 10-yard touchdown connection, and the second-half rout was on in a 31-3 win that kept Clemson among the ranks of the unbeaten and improved the Tigers to 4-0 midway through their ACC slate.
“That was a huge turning point right there,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said. “Great, great effort right there.”
It was the highlight of a rollercoaster night for Clemson’s special teams, which also had its shaky moments.
Punter Aidan Swanson got his share of work and averaged 41.6 yards on his seven boots, but he had a couple of low liners, including a 36-yarder that helped set up Boston College’s threat in the third quarter. Flowers fielded it on the run near midfield and returned 16 yards to Clemson’s 36-yard line.
“We were trying to rugby it and dadgum if we didn’t kick a line drive right in the middle of the field,” Swinney said. “That was a nightmare, but we got him down.”
Reuben eventually kept the Eagles from cutting into Clemson’s two-score lead with his surge. It was the Tigers’ fourth blocked kick of the season..
“To get another one tonight, I’m just really proud of (defensive tackles) coach (Nick) Eason,” Swinney said. “He’s done a great job and put a lot of emphasis on that. Those guys have really bought in. There have been a few more that we’ve been close on because they’re just really playing with a lot of pride and a lot of effort in that phase of the game.”
B.T. Potter missed his second field goal in as many weeks when he pulled his 42-yard attempt midway through the fourth quarter, though a 35-yard make in the first quarter contributed to a 24-3 lead that wasn’t in any real jeopardy for Clemson at that point. It might have been a different story had the Tigers lost a pair of punts that were muffed by Will Taylor earlier in the game, but Clemson retained possession both times to keep its turnover count in the single digits.
But the Tigers also got a spark in the return game from freshman receiver Antonio Williams, who, for the first time this season, dropped back deep with Taylor at times and fielded two punts. One of those went for a 20-yard return that set up Clemson’s offense with a short field at Boston College’s 28 late in the second quarter. Seven plays later, Clemson was in the end zone for the first time on Will Shipley’s 1-yard plunge, which gave the Tigers a 10-3 lead at the half that they never relinquished.
“Any way we can create momentum,” offensive coordinator Brandon Streeter said, “our guys feed off of that.”
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