By Will Vandervort.

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney has been bragging about the improvement of quarterback Nick Schuessler all spring. In Saturday’s annual Orange & White Spring Game the 37,000 that were in attendance saw why.

Schuessler threw for 201 yards and two touchdowns on 11 of 16 passing, including 134 yards in the first half, while guiding both offenses to 38 of the 52 points scored in the opening 30 minutes. The White ultimately won the glorified scrimmage in Death Valley, 35-24, over the Orange.

It did not take long for Schuessler to get things going. On the first play of the scrimmage, while quarterbacking the Orange team, he threw a 50-yard pass to wide receiver Mike Williams and two plays later he completed a 19-yard touchdown pass to Williams.

“Anytime you start the game out like that, it is definitely a big confident boaster,” Schuessler said. “Getting to play with some of the talent we have at receiver and in the backfield is amazing. If you just get the ball in their hands they are going to make plays. I think that is all what you guys saw today.”

Williams later caught a 6-yard touchdown pass from freshman Kelly Bryant and finished the half with five catches for 107 yards, which also wrapped up his day.

As for Schuessler, he also had passes of 29 yards to Charone Peake, 20 yards to Jay Jay McCullough and 18 yards to Scott, who caught a 40-yard pass from freshman Tucker Israel in the third quarter. Schuessler’s passes to McCullough and Scott set up a one-yard touchdown run by C.J. Fuller.

“He is definitely the backup coming out of spring ball,” Swinney said. “He has had a very consistent spring. He has to prepare himself to be the starter because if not, he is cheating himself and he is cheating this team.”

Schuessler’s second touchdown pass of the day was a 20-yard pass to Scott in the far corner of the end zone. That gave the White a 28-17 lead at the time.

Schuessler led the White on a two-minute drive to conclude the half which was capped by Fuller’s touchdown.

But Schuessler was not the only player making plays in the game. Running back Wayne Gallman and C.J. Davidson both broke off big runs for the White team. Gallman had a 60-yard run that set up his own one-yard score for the White’s first touchdown, while Davidson, who also had a one-yard run, broke off a 54-yard touchdown in the second quarter that gave his squad a 21-10 lead.

Davidson later had a 24-yard run in the third quarter to pad his statistics. He finished the game with more than 100 yards on the ground, while Gallman had 71 yards. Tyshon Dye had over 40 yards in the first 30 minutes.

Overall, both offenses combined for 10 plays of 15 or more yards in the first half, and had 12 by the start of the fourth quarter.

Israel and Bryant both made some plays. Israel had a long pass play to Scott, while Bryant threw a 6-yard pass to Mike Williams. Both led touchdown drives in the opening half. Bryant was 7 of 11 for 59 yards in the opening half, while Israel completed 6 of 9 passes for 57 yards.

Bryant found Germone Hopper for a long touchdown with a little more than four minutes to play that made the score 35-24.

“It was a good finish and now we have to finish up academically and get ready for a great summer,” Swinney said.