If Clemson’s Tee Higgins wants a keepsake, he’ll need to grab another touchdown
Deferred gratification.
Matching the likes of DeAndre Hopkins and Sammy Watkins wasn’t enough Saturday for Clemson wide receiver Tee Higgins to get a game ball. He’s going to have to reach 28 career receiving touchdowns, something that would have to wait until the playoff game.
“Next touchdown gets that game ball!” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney teased, after Higgins’ exceptional performance in the Tigers’ 62-17 victory over Virginia for the ACC championship.
Higgins finished with nine catches for 182 yards and three touchdowns. The last of those was his 27th in three college seasons, which matches the production of Hopkins, now with the Houston Texans, and Watkins, now a Kansas City Chief.
Clemson’s recent championship runs had talent spread throughout the depth charts, but wide receiver is the position that stands out most. Higgins, at 6-foot-4 and 215 pounds, is in that small circle now. He has all the measurables of a first-round NFL pick: size, power, athletic grace. And sometimes exceptional body control, as his best catch Saturday illustrated.
In the first half, he had gathered in quarterback Trevor Lawrence’s throw to the sideline, managing to get down a foot with control of the ball before momentum carried him beyond that sideline. Replay confirmed it was a legal catch.
“Coach says it all the time: ‘You touch, you catch,’” Higgins said post-game.
And what of reaching heights associated with Hopkins and Watkins?
“A great accomplishment (to be mentioned) with those two guys,” Higgins said.
“In this receiver room, we just go out there and play; don’t worry about stats. If one guy is doing good, go congratulate him and keep going.”
In describing Higgins’ skill set, Swinney added a different Clemson receiver, San Diego Charger Mike Williams — a bigger, stronger guy than Hopkins or Watkins, and a possession receiver who could constantly wrestle 50-50 balls away from defensive backs.
That sure wasn’t what Higgins was when he arrived, out of Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Higgins weighed barely 180 pounds and was more a basketball player learning football than anything like a polished receiver.
“A jump-ball guy; go down the field and just throw it to him,” Swinney said. “He had a lot to learn from a technical standpoint about the position. He’s been such a joy to coach.”
Last season’s Tigers were loaded with experience and leadership. Getting through the regular season undefeated this season has been more challenging. The saving grace has been Clemson’s most gifted players also being example-setters.
“Our best players — Tee, (running back) Travis (Ettienne), Trevor — they’re the most humble, selfless kids. They don’t act like they’re better than anybody else,” Swinney described.
“Whether Tee gets one ball or 10, he doesn’t care. He’s happy for his teammates. When your best player has such high character and great respect for how to work — it makes my job easy.”
This story was originally published December 8, 2019 at 12:00 AM.
