Clemson passing game gets its groove back against The Citadel

South Carolina has faced a nonconference opponent the week before playing in-state rival Clemson every season since 2010.

It’s typically been a time for the Gamecocks to rest tired, beaten-up bodies and work on areas that need improvement.

For Clemson, though, Saturday’s 61-3 victory against The Citadel marked just the third time during that same span that the Tigers didn’t face an ACC foe in the next-to-last regular season game.

This was a good time for that to be the case.

Coming off conference wins against N.C. State and Florida State, there was concern in Tiger Town over a Clemson offense that was, as coach Dabo Swinney described it, missing the layups.

He was referring to quarterback Kelly Bryant being unable to connect with open receivers deep down the field for big plays. Despite winning the Atlantic Division, there were bad throws and drops by receives that would’ve led to more scoring.

The coaches and players spent the week leading up to the contest against the Bulldogs trying to explain what’s wrong.

After throwing for 479 yards as a team and recording a total of 662 yards against the The Citadel, there weren’t many mistakes to evaluate.

“Our goal today was to really create some momentum,” Swinney said. “We talk about finishing strong. It’s all right there. We wanted to start today, as we get into this last phase here, of playing our best football. It doesn’t matter who you play. You’ve still got to play well. You’ve got to execute well.”

Bryant found his groove again, connecting on 17 of his 22 passes for 230 yards, three touchdowns and zero interceptions in limited drives.

“The last couple games, for whatever reason, we just hadn’t been connecting on the passes down the field,” Clemson co-offensive coordinator Tony Elliott said. “We really hadn’t been finishing on balls. It’s not just Kelly. It was good to see Deon (Cain) finish on some balls, get Ray-Ray (McCloud) some opportunities, get Tee (Higgins) in there and stretch the field, because we’re going to need those plays down the stretch if we want to accomplish our goals.”

Clemson threw the ball six times in its first 11 plays. Bryant completed five of his first six passes.

The junior signal caller hit a deep pass when he found an open Cain for a 53-yard touchdown seven minutes into the game. It wasn’t his best throw of the day from a fundamental standpoint, but Cain was still able to get to the ball and make a big play.

Bryant went 4-for-6 and hooked up with Hunter Renfrow on the second drive for a 12-yard touchdown. The final TD throw from Bryant was a 13-yard strike to T.J. Chase.

He also connected on throws of 22, 18 and 15 yards.

“It’s been just missing by a few steps,” Bryant said. “To see it connect is really good.”

The Tigers know that to get to the College Football Playoff again and win another national title, those pass plays have to happen.

Heading into rivalry week, they at least know those plays are still possible.

This story was originally published November 18, 2017 at 6:25 PM with the headline "Clemson passing game gets its groove back against The Citadel."