Kelly Bryant earns his stripes as Tigers blast Kent State in opener

Kelly Bryant did enough during preseason practices to pull away from Clemson’s other quarterbacks and earn the starting job.

Saturday afternoon against Kent State he showed why.

Bryant accounted for 313 yards and a pair of touchdowns before leaving the game early in the third quarter as the Tigers cruised to a 56-3 victory.

“It was good. I wasn’t surprised. I knew what type of player I was. It’s just now, people are starting to see, got to witness it today,” Bryant said. “We all knew what was in the offensive room, as well. People like to talk about everyone else leaving, but like I said we said all along, we’ve got a bunch of guys in that room to make plays and that’s what we did today.”

The junior did damage with his arm and legs, completing 16 of 22 passes for 236 yards and a touchdown and rushing for 77 yards and a score.

Bryant completed his first five passes, leading the Tigers to touchdowns on their first three drives as Clemson built a 21-0 lead.

“It was great to see him so poised and positive. He’s been a great leader for us,” Tigers coach Dabo Swinney said. “Y’all have heard me say it a couple times, if he would just play anywhere remotely close to what he’s done in camp, he’s gonna be pretty good. That’s what I was hoping for and just really happy for him.”

Clemson led 28-3 at halftime and continued to pour it on in the second half as backup quarterbacks Zerrick Cooper and Hunter Johnson led the Tigers’ up and down the field.

Clemson finished with 665 total yards, holding Kent State to 120. The Golden Flashes didn’t attempt a pass in the first half and finished with 1 passing yard.

“I told the team that I’ve been around the game of football for a long time, but I can’t remember a cleaner performance in an opening game than the one I saw today,” Swinney said. “I’m just really proud of how the team showed up and played today. It was a complete performance. We played really well from start to finish. The best part was that we played 91 guys, and they all continued to play well throughout the entire game.”

Freshman running back Travis Etienne led the way on the ground for the Tigers with eight carries for 81 yards and a touchdown, while Tavien Feaster had 69 yards and a score. Starting running back C.J. Fuller had 51 rushing yards and a pair of touchdowns.

THREE POINTS

Star of the game: Bryant made throws in the pocket and on the run and also displayed nice touch on deep passes.

Play of the game: Bryant found Deon Cain for a 61-yard touchdown on Clemson’s second drive of the game to give the Tigers a 14-0 lead. After a pair of short passes to open the day, Bryant’s deep ball hit Cain in stride.

Stat of the game: 0. Kent State didn’t attempt a pass in the first half.

OBSERVATIONS

Etienne impressive: Clemson’s freshman running back was the talk of preseason camp and was impressive in the opener. Etienne showed a quick burst and impressive balance.

Bryant the clear starter: There is no quarterback competition at Clemson. Bryant played the entire first half and looked confident while playing like the clear No. 1 guy.

Next week a measuring stick: It isn’t a surprise that Clemson dominated an overmatched Kent State team playing without its head coach. We will learn a lot more about Clemson when Auburn comes to town next week.

This story was originally published September 2, 2017 at 3:06 PM with the headline "Kelly Bryant earns his stripes as Tigers blast Kent State in opener."