Clemson punishes Pitt as Trevor Lawrence, seniors finish off perfect home mark
Clemson destroyed Pitt 52-17 Saturday evening at Death Valley, playing like a team upset that it had to wait an extra week to get the bad taste out of its mouth after losing its previous game at Notre Dame.
The No. 3 Tigers (8-1, 7-1 ACC) scored a school-record 31 points in the first quarter on their way to a 28th-consecutive home win. Clemson has not lost at Death Valley since 2016 against Pitt.
Saturday was the team’s first game in 21 days after an open week was followed by a postponement last week when the Tigers were scheduled to play at Florida State.
“Just an awesome day. Our guys were so excited to play. We talked about setting the tone early and we did that,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said. “The first quarter was dominant. They’ve been playing football here for obviously 125 years, so it’s hard to do things that have never been done. And somehow, some way, this team just finds a way to do some unusual things.”
Clemson’s fourth-year seniors completed a perfect 27-0 home mark, becoming the first senior class to ever go undefeated at Death Valley.
Saturday’s game marked the final home performance for several of Clemson’s stars, including Trevor Lawrence, Travis Etienne, Cornell Powell and Amari Rodgers.
The group went out in style as Lawrence passed for 403 yards and two touchdowns, Etienne had 78 total yards and two scores, Powell caught six passes for 176 yards and a touchdown and Rodgers had 10 catches for 93 yards, catching 10 of his 11 targets.
“Just a lot of contributions from a lot of guys,” Swinney said. “The big thing is for this senior group to be the first ever to be undefeated at home. I mean that’s just incredible. What an accomplishment for those guys. What an incredible year these seniors have had. Just a great group of guys.”
The 150-plus yard game was Powell’s second in a row as he joined Sammy Watkins and DeAndre Hopkins as the only Clemson receivers ever to put up back-to-back 150-yard games. He’s also had three-straight 100-yard games.
“I’m just enjoying these last couple of games, this whole season,” Powell said. “It just shows all the hard work in the weight room and on the practice field that I’ve been giving is finally paying off, so it’s great to see.”
Defensively, the Tigers were down several starters, but it didn’t show. Clemson limited Pitt quarterback Kenny Pickett to 22-of-39 passing for 209 yards and picked him off four times. Mario Goodrich had a pair of interceptions, while Andrew Booth and Malcolm Greene also picked off Pickett.
“This quarterback had four interceptions all year and we had four tonight,” Swinney said. “The guys just kept competing, kept playing and just a tremendous, tremendous game.”
The Tigers play next week at Virginia Tech in what’s scheduled to be Clemson’s final regular-season game. It’s unclear if the postponed game vs. FSU will be made up Dec. 12.
The ACC championship game is Dec. 19 in Charlotte.
“We’ve got to be road warriors the rest of the way,” Swinney said. “We’ve closed up shot here at The Valley.”
Next Clemson football game
Who: No. 3 Clemson at Virginia Tech
When: Time TBD Saturday, Dec. 5
Where: Lane Stadium, Blacksburg, Virginia
TV: TBD
Clemson-Pitt stats, box score
First Quarter
CLE—E.Williams 5 pass from Lawrence (Potter kick), 11:36.
CLE—FG Potter 46, 9:26.
CLE—Powell 43 pass from Lawrence (Potter kick), 7:35.
CLE—Etienne 2 run (Potter kick), 4:55.
CLE—Dixon 1 run (Potter kick), :05.
Second Quarter
PIT—FG Kessman 23, 9:11.
CLE—Mellusi 2 run (Potter kick), 7:59.
PIT—Addison 18 pass from Pickett (Kessman kick), 1:13.
Third Quarter
PIT—V.Davis 4 pass from Pickett (Kessman kick), 14:24.
CLE—Etienne 3 run (Potter kick), :52.
Fourth Quarter
CLE—Mellusi 9 pass from Uiagalelei (Potter kick), 10:48.
- First downs: Clemson 27-12
- Rush yards: Clemson 145-14
- Pass yards: Clemson 436-230
- Time of possession: Clemson 36:32 to 23:28
INDIVIDUAL STATS
RUSHING—Pittsburgh, A.Davis 4-21, V.Davis 5-19, D.Turner 1-3, Addison 1-2, Carter 2-(minus 5), Pickett 10-(minus 26). Clemson, Etienne 11-58, Dixon 9-46, Mellusi 5-27, Lawrence 8-9, Pace 2-6, Uiagalelei 1-1, Rencher 2-(minus 2).
PASSING—Pittsburgh, Yellen 1-2-0-5, Beville 1-2-0-16, Pickett 22-39-4-209. Clemson, Lawrence 26-37-0-403, Uiagalelei 7-12-0-31, Helms 2-3-0-2.
RECEIVING—Pittsburgh, Wayne 5-62, Addison 5-41, D.Turner 3-32, A.Davis 3-30, T.Mack 2-17, V.Davis 2-9, Wright 1-16, Jacques-Louis 1-11, Barden 1-7, Vardzel 1-5. Clemson, Rodgers 10-93, Powell 6-176, E.Williams 3-38, Etienne 3-20, Galloway 2-37, Rencher 2-15, W.Swinney 2-10, Mellusi 2-8, Br.Spector 1-26, D.Allen 1-6, Pace 1-5, Chalk 1-4, Jackson 1-(minus 2).
MISSED FIELD GOALS—Clemson, Potter 41.
This story was originally published November 28, 2020 at 7:27 PM.
