By Will Vandervort.
By Will Vandervort
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — Though the statistics show 17th-ranked Clemson gave up 420 yards and 31 points to Boston College Saturday at Alumni Stadium, what they will not show was the growth of a unit that was much maligned following last week’s debacle at Florida State.
Several times in the second half, the Clemson defense either came up with a turnover or made a critical stop to put the football back in the hands of an offense that racked up 576 yards, while producing a quarterback who threw for 367 yards, a running back that rushed for 132 yards and a wide receiver that had a school-record 197 receiving yards in a 45-31 victory.
“They came back in the second half and they gave us the football back,” running back Andre Ellington said. “They made big plays and really got us out of a couple of jams.”
The biggest stops came late in the fourth quarter after Clemson failed to execute a fourth-and-one situation near midfield. With the Tigers leading by 14 points, BC took over at the Clemson 46 and moved the ball to the 14 after a 17-yard pass and a 15-yard penalty for a late hit out of bounds. But on second-and-16 from the 20-yard line, reserve corner Garry Peters, who came in for benched Darius Robinson, intercepted quarterback Chase Rettig at the 12 to end the Eagles last real scoring threat.
“We needed an inch and we did not get it, but our defense went out there and responds,” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said.
The defense responded again a few minutes later when quarterback Tajh Boyd fumbled at his own 33. After completing a pass on first down for five yards, Rettig missed on the next three thanks to heavy pressure from a Clemson defense that recorded a season-high three sacks and held the Eagles to 51 rushing yards on 28 carries.
Clemson (4-1, 1-1 ACC) took over on downs at its own 28 and ran out the final 4:02.
“When the game was on the line in the second half, they did it,” Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables said. “I’m proud of the way they responded. There were big plays there and big stops.”
Good D. Clemson’s defense had eight tackles for loss, or there were eight plays that resulted in negative yards for Boston College. Coming into this game the Clemson defense had just 20 for the season. Clemson had three sacks after having just four in four games entering today.
More Nuk records. Clemson wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins had 11 catches for 197 yards and a touchdown this evening. His 197 receiving yards set a school record for a single game. It broke the record of 182 by Rod Gardner against North Carolina in 2000.
Leather head. Quarterback Tajh Boyd was named the winner of the Leather Helmet Award this evening as the game’s most valuable player. He completed 28 of 38 passes for 367 yards and three scores. He also had 42 yards rushing and a score to finish with 409 yards of total offense, just the sixth 400-yard total offense game in Clemson history. He now has two of the six, as he had 416 against Auburn last year.
Tying the mark. Boyd threw three touchdown passes tonight and has now tied Charlie Whitehurst’s Clemson record for touchdown passes in a career with 49. Whitehurst, now with the San Diego Chargers, played for the Tigers between 2002-05. It took Whitehurst 44 career games to do it. Boyd has done it in just 26 games.