ATLANTA — Top-ranked Clemson had a record-breaking performance in their 73-7 hammering of Georgia Tech in a college football today score on Saturday.
The Tigers (5-0, 4-0 ACC) rattled up 52 points in the first half behind five touchdown passes from quarterback Trevor Lawrence, who fell just short of ACC record with after throwing his first interception of the season.
http://gty.im/1228892696Meanwhile, the 52 first-half points was a school-record, while Clemson’s 73-7 final scored was the largest margin of victory ever over an ACC opponent, breaking its previous record of 49 against Wake Forest in 1981.
The win also saw the Tigers improving their school-best road winning streak to 14 games and ACC-record regular season winning streak to 34 games.
Meanwhile, Lawrence was 22-27 passing for 391 yards and five touchdowns in the first half alone. He finished with a career-best 405 yards through the air and his only mistake came late in the first quarter when he was picked off by Zamari Walton after throwing an ill-advised deep pass.
Lawrence entered the game at Georgia Tech with a chance to break Russell Wilson’s record for most consecutive passes without an interception, 379 from 2008 to 2009 while he was at NC State. His streak now ends at 366 straight passes without an interception.
“I think I played well today,” Lawrence said who became the second Clemson quarterback to throw for 400 yards and five touchdowns in a road game. “That’s the biggest thing coming away from the game, I feel like mentally I was prepared.
http://gty.im/1228876946“I think I progressed well, went through my reads, took care of the ball for the most part. That one play, even though it was an interception, I feel like my decision was still OK. We had one-on-one and that guy just made a good play,” he added.
“From that standpoint, it’s going to happen in football, especially in the offense we run. We take a lot of shots. It’s going to happen, but I’m really happy with the way our whole offense played today. All of us were really locked in. It was a lot of fun.”
Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said about his star quarterback: “He’s just having fun. He’s enjoying himself. He’s really focused.
“I’ve never been around a guy that’s just more dialed in to today, literally, today and when I see him Monday, he’ll be locked in on Monday. He’s just enjoying his journey. He loves to play.
Swinney added: “He loves to prepare. He loves the challenge, and he’s so focused on his execution and his details. His reads, his footwork, all the little … just a true joy to be able to work with him every single day.”
http://gty.im/1228876220In the meantime, wide receiver Amari Rodgers found the end zone twice and recorded the third 100-yard game of his career in a career-high 161 yard performance for Clemson.
Running back Travis Etienne rushed times for 44 yards and a touchdown. He has now scored a touchdown in 40 of his 48 career games.
The Tigers’ defense forced three turnovers and totaled four sacks. This marked the 11th straight and 27th of its last 28 games that Clemson recorded multiple sacks.
