No. 8 Clemson improves to 6-0 with 36-14 win over Boston College |
CLEMSON – The good news for No. 8 Clemson on Saturday was that the Tigers improved to 6-0 overall on the season, improved to 3-0 in the ACC and sit firmly in the drivers’ seat for the ACC Atlantic Division title, and became bowl eligible.
The bad news is that Clemson must wait on the results of Clemson quarterback
Tajh Boyd RS So. Quarterback #10 6-1, 225 Hampton, VA View Full Profile
’s MRI following a third quarter injury, leaving his status for next week in doubt. Boyd, who came into the game leading the Atlantic Coast Conference in total offense, threw for a touchdown and ran for another before his injury, giving the Tigers enough breathing room in a 36-14 victory over Boston College (1-5, 0-3) in Death Valley to improve Clemson to 6-0, the best start for the program in 11 years. The Tigers also got five field goals from
Chandler Catanzaro RS So. Punter / Kicker #39 6-2, 200 Greenville, SC View Full Profile
, while running back
Andre Ellington RS Jr. Running Back #23 5-10, 190 Moncks Corner, SC View Full Profile
showed flashes of his former self on the way to 117 yards and touchdown. True freshman
Sammy Watkins Fr. Wide Receiver #7 6-1, 200 Fort Myers, FL View Full Profile
had another stellar game, catching seven passes for 152 yards. Boyd was 16-for-26 for 282 yards and had 37 yards rushing at the time of his injury. With Clemson leading Boston College 23-7, he was hit by Eagle defensive end Max Holloway, and replays showed Boyd’s right leg twist as he fell to the turf. Boyd tried to get back up, but a Homecoming crowd of 78,000 fell silent as he fell back down. He later was taken to the locker room in a golf cart with what was later announced as a hip injury. X-Rays in the locker room were negative, but he will have an MRI late Saturday to determine if there is any structural damage to the hip. “We x-rayed him here and everything looked good but we took him to get him checked again just to be sure, and hopefully it will just be something muscular,” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said. “Without knowing more I don’t want to comment further.” The Tigers tried to put Boston College away early, scoring on its first three possessions to go up 17-0 in a frantic first quarter. Boyd threw a three-yard touchdown pass to
Jaron Brown RS Jr. Wide Receiver #18 6-2, 200 Cheraw, SC View Full Profile
on Clemson’s first drive for a quick 7-0 lead, and Chandler Catanzaro added the first of his five field goals a series later for a 10-0 lead. On the ensuing possession, defensive end
Malliciah Goodman Jr. Defensive End #97 6-4, 280 Florence, SC View Full Profile
sacked Boston College quarterback Chase Rettig, causing a fumble that was recovered by
Tyler Shatley RS So. Defensive Tackle #43 6-3, 295 Icard, NC View Full Profile
at the Boston College 16-yard line. Three plays later, Boyd ran it in from 14 yards out for a 17-0 lead. Boston College finally got on the board on Rolandan Finch's 20-yard touchdown run with 1:55 to go, in the half, but the Tigers answered that with a 65-yard drive that ended on an 18-yard field goal by Catanzaro and Clemson led 23-7 at the break. “At the half, I encouraged the team to get our running game going, especially Andre, and we were able to,” Swinney said. “Boston College is a physical team and they don’t quit.” Boyd led the Tigers down the field on the first possession of the second half, but his injury stopped the Clemson drive and Catanzaro kicked a 20-yard field goal to put the Tigers up 26-7. Boston College tried to capture the momentum as Death Valley sat quiet, and and Rettig hit Bobby Swigert on a 24-yard scoring pass to make it 26-14 Clemson. However, backup quarterback Cole Stoud engineered two scoring drives to put the game away. Catanzaro hit field goal number five, a 47-yarder that hit the crossbar and bounced over, and Ellington broke loose on a 36-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-1 to seal the victory with 11:24 remaining. Stoudt finished 6-for-10 for 37 yards and rushed two times for seven yards, and he was on the field at times with other true freshmen in Watkins,
Mike Bellamy Fr. Running Back #5 5-10, 175 Nocatee, FL View Full Profile
and
Adam Humphries Fr. Wide Receiver #13 6-0, 190 Spartanburg, SC “Sammy and
Cole Stoudt Fr. Quarterback #8 6-4, 200 Dublin, OH View Full Profile
both stepped up and as a team we had no turnovers on offense,” Swinney said. “It was not the ideal situation for Stoudt to come into but he did a good job of executing. [Mike] Bellamy gave us a spark late. Watkins is just great. After that catch [62-yarder down the sideline] I just said, ‘Boys, that’s recruiting.’ Stoudt is a very poised young guy, we were impressed with him in the spring and he had a good camp. We’re real proud of him.” Next week, the Tigers travel to Maryland for a 7 p.m. game. The Terps were 21-16 losers to Georgia Tech on Saturday. “It’s not going to be any easier for us this second half of the season, and it hasn’t been easy ever, but this team is resilient and this crowd was great,” Swinney said. “But we’re ready to take this show on the road. We’re proud of this win tonight but we have got to get ready for the night game in Maryland.” 
Tajh Boyd 
Chandler Catanzaro 
Andre Ellington 
Sammy Watkins 
Jaron Brown 
Malliciah Goodman 
Tyler Shatley 
Mike Bellamy 
Adam Humphries 
Cole Stoudt
Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score
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