Clemson Whips N.C. State, 27-9, Improves To 2-1 |
The only trouble with Clemson's 27-9 win over N.C. State Saturday is it didn't seem to settle down any of the grumblings going on about this Clemson football team. Truth be told, you walked away from the 18-point win wondering if the Tigers could have survived against a better team. N.C. State, with an offense that lacked a passing game, somehow was able to hang around until a late Clemson touchdown drive put the game away. The Wolfpack didn't score an offensive touchdown -- it was an interception return on the first play of the game that gave N.C. State its only touchdown -- but hung around until the early fourth quarter. Clemson's Crezdon Butler intercepted a pass by N.C. State's Russell Wilson at the Clemson 4-yard line with 9:45 left in the game and the Tigers leading by 11 points. The Tigers then went on a 15-play drive that ended with a 12-yard touchdown run by C.J. Spiller with 2:27 left in the game to put the game away. "I thought I ran very physical today," said Spiller. "It was good to show my offensive line that I'm going to run hard for them. They did a really good job blocking today. We knew we were going to have to lower our shoulders and get the tough yards. That's the kind of mindset I came into this game with." It was Spiller's second touchdown of the game and he had another called back on a penalty. He and Jacoby Ford seemed to carry Clemson on a day when James Davis had just 34 yards on 14 carries and the defense allowed N.C. State enough rushing yardage to accumulate 20 first downs (Clemson's offense had 22). "Overall, I thought we play well today," said Clemson coach Tommy Bowden, who saw his team win its first conference game. "I was concerned starting three freshmen on offense, but everyone played with a lot effort. The new offensive line is progressing with each game. Brad Scott has done a good job in gaining continuity in the offensive line rotations." The rash of injuries on the offensive and defensive lines concerned Bowden going into the game. Those injuries might have been enough to have cost the Tigers the game against better competition. "Clemson is a very good football team and our team hung in there," said N.C. State coach Tom O'Brien, who saw his team fall to 1-2. "There were a couple situations when we were right there and could not make the plays. If we could have made a couple of kicks, it would have been a one score game in the fourth quarter." Clemson answered N.C. State's interception return for a touchdown with a touchdown drive of its own to open the game. Jacoby Ford caught a 16-yard touchdown pass from Cullen Harper with 10:28 left in the first quarter. Mark Buckholtz added a 22-yard fieldgoal and Spiller had an acrobatic 28-yard touchdown reception to give Clemson a 17-6 lead. There was little reason to think N.C. State would be able to make a game of it at the half consider its offense hadn't produced a score. However, in the third quarter Clemson's offense failed to score and N.C. State scored on a 22-yard fieldgoal to cut the lead to 17-9. Buckholtz' 31-yard fieldgoal gave Clemson a 20-9 lead with 13:21 left in the game after Spiller had a touchdown reception called back. N.C. State then started a drive that ended with Butler's interception near the goalline. It was the end of any chance that the Wolfpack of getting back in the game. "Coach O'Brien did a great job getting his team prepared for this game," said Bowden. "They are a more disciplined team this year." Clemson quarterback Cullen Harper completed 20 of 28 passes with the one interception to start the game and one fumble. "It was good that I came out and threw the ball well," said Harper "The defense did a good job, and we got it started in the right direction. The O-line did a great job, the running backs ran the ball extremely hard, and we found ways to get the receivers involved; we've got to continue to do that. They got the momentum early on and we had to put that behind us."
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