Clemson holds off Texas A&M for critical road victory

Clemson’s 2018 recruiting class may very well go down as one of the best in school history, but it was the veterans, most notably quarterback Kelly Bryant, who stepped up Saturday night at Texas A&M.

Bryant was 12-for-17 passing for 205 yards and a touchdown and also rushed for 54 yards and a score as Clemson held on for a 28-26 victory in front of more than 100,000 fans at Kyle Field.

The senior started the second half on the bench as freshman sensation Trevor Lawrence got the nod coming out of the break, but it was Bryant who orchestrated back-to-back touchdown drives to give Clemson a 28-13 lead after being inserted back into the game early in the third quarter.

The Tigers held off a late rally by the Aggies with safety K’Von Wallace intercepting Texas A&M quarterback Kellen Mond on a two-point conversion try with less than a minute remaining to seal the win.

“Just really proud of our team, man. What a dogfight,” Tigers coach Dabo Swinney said. “It’s a shame somebody has to lose a game like that when you see two teams play with such great will to win. Early in the season nobody wants to lose, and hats off to Texas A&M. I mean what an awesome environment. Their fans were great. And man, their team played with incredible heart.”

Clemson appeared in control late in the first half as the Tigers led 14-3 after holding Texas A&M’s offense in check for the opening two quarters. Bryant had a rushing touchdown late in the first quarter and Lawrence tossed his first road pass of his career for a 64-yard touchdown to Tee Higgins and everything seemed to be going Clemson’s way.

The momentum changed quickly when Bryant fumbled the snap on fourth-and-1 near the Texas A&M goal line in the final seconds of the second quarter and the Tigers were unable to come away with any points.

“I thought we had opportunities to really get control of the game in the first half, and we didn’t take advantage of it with a couple of really boneheaded missed opportunities,” Swinney said. “And when you don’t do that, especially on the road, you let a team hang around, you get in a dogfight. And that’s really what happened.”

The Tigers went three-and-out on back-to-back drives to open the third quarter with Lawrence in at quarterback before Bryant entered the game and played the rest of the way.

The former Wren star led Clemson on back-to-back touchdown drives to push the lead to 28-13. Bryant was 7-for-9 passing for 121 yards in the second half. He added 63 yards on the ground.

“It was big, a big confidence for me and all the other guys on the offense as well,” Bryant said. “To go on the road in an environment like this, to play the way we did, it wasn’t pretty but we just found a way to win. That just says a lot about this team.”

But as Clemson’s offense got going the defense began to struggle.

Mond finished with 430 passing yards and three touchdowns, including 333 passing yards in the second half. His favorite target on the night was Kendrick Rogers, who caught seven passes for 120 yards and two touchdowns.

But after Mond found Rogers from 24 yards out to cut Clemson’s lead to 28-26 with 46 seconds remaining, the Tigers played the two-point conversion try perfectly. Mond rolled to his right and searched for an opener receiver but could not find one. His desperation attempt fell into the hands of Wallace. The Clemson defensive front also drew a holding call on the play.

The victory was Clemson’s fourth consecutive win over an SEC team on the road, and the Tigers passed what will likely turn out to be their toughest road test of the 2018 season.

“Early in the season, you come on the road and win in a place like this, that takes an incredible amount of mental toughness and focus and just character,” Swinney said. “It was an unbelievable task.”

THREE POINTS

Star of the game: Kelly Bryant had his back against the wall Saturday night as Trevor Lawrence started the second half and had an opportunity to grab control in the quarterback race. Instead, Bryant led the Tigers on back-to-back touchdown drives to keep Clemson ahead.

Play of the game: Clemson’s secondary was torched in the second half, allowing more than 300 passing yards, but it made the big play when it needed to on the deciding two-point conversion. Mond tried to force a ball past a number of Tigers defenders, but Wallace hauled in the pass to end the game.

Stat of the game: 914. The two teams combined for 914 yards of offense.

OBSERVATIONS

Clemson’s defense has some work to do: The Tigers allowed 359 yards in the second half as the secondary looked lost.

Kelly Bryant deserves to start: The senior once again came up big in a big road game.

Trevor Lawrence will still be a factor: His first pass of the game was an absolute dime as he found Tee Higgins running down the left sideline for a 64-yard touchdown.

NEXT

Who: Clemson vs. Georgia Southern

When: 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 15

Where: Memorial Stadium, Clemson

This story was originally published September 8, 2018 at 10:37 PM.