But it didn’t matter. The No. 8 Tigers still had what it took to defeat Temple, 37-7, Saturday at Clemson, S.C.
All week, the Tigers insisted they weren’t peering past the Owls to their showdown next week with 17th-ranked Georgia Tech.
But after a sluggish first half Saturday, Clemson Coach Ken Hatfield acknowledged the obvious.
“I don’t think we had our minds completely on the game, with Georgia Tech just being on television Thursday night and we have them next week,” Hatfield said.
Tailback Ronald Williams agreed the Tigers may have been looking ahead to the Yellow Jackets, who beat Virginia, 24-21, Thursday night.
“I don’t think our minds were there,” Williams said. “We thought we could come in on our natural talent alone.”
Despite being outplayed and turning the ball over on their first two possessions, the Tigers (2-0) led 14-7 at halftime after DeChane Cameron threw a six-yard touchdown pass to Dwayne Bryant with 24 seconds left.
Temple (0-3) had 15 yards passing, the lowest total in school history.