‘Ridiculous’: Dabo takes issue with notion that Clemson ran up score vs. App State

The Clemson football team made quick work of App State in a 66-20 win in its home opener Saturday night in Memorial Stadium.

The No. 22 Tigers jumped out to leads of 35-0 after one quarter and 56-13 at halftime while setting a program record for total yards in a half (525).

Despite that huge lead, the Tigers went for a number of fourth downs in the second half: Three of the six they faced in the third and fourth quarters, to be exact.

But App State coach Shawn Clark said postgame he didn’t think Clemson (1-1) was trying to run up the score after a 34-3 loss to No. 1 Georgia the previous week.

Swinney said as much Monday — and took issue with The State posing that question to Clark after the Tigers’ 46-point win.

Speaking on his weekly teleconference, which was moved from Sunday to Monday since Clemson is idle this week, Swinney said the Tigers’ multiple fourth-down attempts in the second half came down to wanting their backups to get experience.

“We’re just letting guys play, man,” Swinney said. “We’re letting (quarterback) Trent Pearman play. You know, we took all our guys out (after) the first half. We’re just trying to let them play, and we’re on the other side of the 50 and we want to let them young linemen play, let them young quarterbacks play and all that type of stuff.”

After quarterback Cade Klubnik led Clemson on eight straight touchdown drives in the first half, the Tigers took a 43-point lead into halftime over App State (1-1) and played exclusively second- and third-team players in the second half.

Clemson went for it on fourth down instead of punting in three different instances with either backup QB Christopher Vizzina or third-stringer Pearman in the game for Klubnik:

• Fourth and 4 from the App State 5-yard line with 3 minutes remaining in the third quarter while up 56-20; Vizzina scored a rushing touchdown

• Fourth and 6 from the App State 42-yard line with 9 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter while up 66-20; Vizzina was tackled for no gain

• Fourth and 3 from the App State 45-yard line with 5 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter while up 66-20; Pearman threw incomplete deep right

In three other fourth-down instances in the second half, Clemson punted from its own 46-yard line on fourth and 26; kicked a 36-yard field goal on fourth and 9 from App’s 19; and punted on fourth and 5 from its own 46-yard line on the team’s last offensive possession of the game.

Still, the Tigers’ continued aggressiveness prompted some confusion on social media. Asked by The State postgame if he felt like Clemson had been running up the score in the second half, Clark said he had no issues with how the Tigers ran their offense.

“That’s his program,” Clark said Saturday. “I have a lot of respect for Coach Swinney. That’s his program, and he’s going to do what’s best for his program.”

Swinney was not asked about the decision in his postgame news conference.

When asked Monday by The State about Clemson going for it on fourth down in the second half, Swinney said asking Clark the question amounted to “trying to create some kind of story, which is ridiculous.”

Unofficial counts from the box score showed 105 players got into the game for Clemson, which is about 80% of the team’s roster including scholarships and walk-ons. It was the third-most players to appear in a game during Swinney’s tenure.

Clemson’s coach said going for it on fourth down was a way to get backup quarterbacks Vizzina and Pearman the sort of game reps they don’t get often, as well as taking an opportunity to get more snaps for backups who will rarely play.

The Tigers finished with 712 yards of total offense (the sixth most in school history) and 460 passing yards (also the sixth most in history) in their win over the Mountaineers. Of those 712 yards, 525 came in the first half and 187 came in the second half. Clemson also had 10 second-half points to 56 in the first half.

“I didn’t think that was a really good question,” Swinney said. “There was no issue from the coach. (Clark) is a great guy. We’re friends. But, you know, that’s how you framed it. ... You didn’t ask me that question until now, but it’s all right.”

Next Clemson football game

Who: NC State (1-1) at Clemson (1-1)

When: Saturday, Sept. 21, noon

Where: Memorial Stadium in Clemson

TV channel: ABC