Clemson runs over Auburn in 26-19 win |
David Hood
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- Sunday, September 02 2012
ATLANTA, GA. – Saturday’s season opener against Auburn was a game that featured both the elegance and gritty running of Andre Ellington It was never pretty – even sometimes painful to watch as Clemson survived costly penalties, blown assignments, dropped passes and defensive lapses – but it was effective as Clemson laid to rest the ghosts of both the Orange Bowl and the Georgia Dome in a 26-19 win over Auburn in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff in Atlanta. Ellington rushed for a career-high 231 yards and Boyd rushed for 58 effective yards – many times on third down – and each player had critical runs on the fourth quarter drive that sealed the win for Clemson in the rubber match of the three-game set. Hopkins wound up with 13 catches for 119 yards, the receptions breaking the old record of 12 receptions in a game. “We were a better team than Auburn tonight,” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney Clemson led 23-19 with just 5:59 remaining in the contest, and took over at its own 20-yard line needing to not only run off clock, but add points to a slim lead. Boyd converted the first third down with a seven-yard rush to the Clemson 32-yard line, and two plays later Ellington converted a tough 3rd-and-1 with a six-yard run. With Auburn’s defense gasping for air on a night that saw Clemson run 87 offensive plays, Ellington then burst through the left side for a 45-yard run to the Auburn eight-yard line, forcing Auburn to start taking timeouts. Swinney said Boyd’s running was a critical part of the game. “He was phenomenal. He had some critical mistakes – some procedural penalties,” Swinney said. “We’ve talked to him about not taking sacks and making plays with his legs. We know that was the difference tonight. He had a career-high rushing.” Chandler Catanzaro Auburn had taken the lead at 19-16 on Cody Parkey’s fourth field goal of the game with 12:50 remaining in the contest, Auburn’s first lead since leading 7-3 at the end of the first quarter. Clemson answered that with a determined and physical 75-yard drive that included a Boyd 27-yard run and ended on a 4-yard pass from Boyd to Nuk Hopkins in the corner of the end zone for the 23-19 lead. The teams traded opening possession punts, but Clemson finally found a rhythm on the second drive of the game. Boyd connected with Hopkins four times for 60 yards on the drive as Clemson advanced to the Auburn one-yard line. It looked like Clemson would go for it on 4th-and-1, but a false start penalty moved Clemson back five yards and Swinney settled for Chandler Catanzaro 24-yard field goal and a 3-0 lead. It didn’t take Auburn long to respond however, as a bust in the Clemson secondary allowed Emory Blake to run uncontested down the middle of the field as he hauled in a 54-yard touchdown pass from Kiehl Frazier and a 7-3 lead. Clemson then added a 40-yard field from Catanzaro to make it 7-6, and took the lead on a three-play drive that covered 85 yards in just a minute and 17 seconds. Rod McDowell started the drive with a two-yard rush, and then Ellington pulled off a run that will make the highlight shows all season. He took the handoff from Boyd, went left, spun out of one tackler’s reach, almost went to the ground, spun back forward and then weaved his way 68 yards to the Auburn seven. One play later, McDowell punched it in for a 13-7 lead. Clemson led 13-10 at the half, and teams then settled into a war of field goals until the final fourth quarter flurry. Swinney said the difference in his mind was the dominance that Clemson’s inexperienced line showed, especially late in the game. “Our credit goes to the guys up front,” he said. “When you rush for 320 yards and win the turnover margin, you’re going to win a ton of ballgames. Our guys could have played all night. They were strong, The credit for that goes to Joey Batson and our strength staff. I can’t say enough about how proud I am of them for how they prepared.” Auburn head coach Gene Chizik gave the credit to Clemson. “We have to give Clemson a lot of credit,” Chizik said. “They played a very good football game tonight – hard fought on both sides. They are an extremely talented team, and they did a great job coaching. I’m proud of our guys. We had our chances to win and didn’t get it done. You could point to several factors. Defensively, we didn’t get off the field. They had a very quick offense and explosive tempo. At critical times in the game, they made plays defensively and we didn’t.” Clemson returns to action next week with a 12:30 p.m. kickoff against Ball St. in Death Valley. Counting the opener in the Dome, Clemson has played five consecutive games away from home.
Andre Ellington
RS Sr. Running Back
#23 5-10, 195
Moncks Corner, SC
View Full Profile, the light feet of Tajh Boyd
Tajh Boyd
RS Jr. Quarterback
#10 6-1, 225
Hampton, VA
View Full Profile, a career-night from Nuk Hopkins and the physical play of an offensive line that has been lacking in recent seasons.
Dabo Swinney
Head Coach
View Full Profile said postgame. “That’s all we know. Our season starts again tomorrow. Now that we have some video we can learn from, I look forward to the next two weeks in the Valley. I want to thank our fans – we brought an incredible crowd.”
Chandler Catanzaro
RS Jr. Punter / Kicker
#39 6-2, 195
Greenville, SC
View Full Profile then kicked his fourth field goal of the night – this one an 18-yarder – with 1:24 remaining, leaving Auburn needing a touchdown to tie the game. However, Auburn quarterback Kiehl Frazier’s last gasp heave with time running out floated out of bounds, giving Clemson a 1-0 start on the season.
Date: Sep 01, 2012 Site: Atlanta, Georgia Stadium: Georgia Dome
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