By Heath Bradley.

By Heath Bradley

DURHAM, NC – Though it was a night in which DeAndre Hopkins broke another one of his records, Clemson wide receiver Sammy Watkins continued his ascent back as one of the nation’s best playmakers.

The sophomore followed up a record setting performance against Wake Forest last week by catching a team-high six passes for 97 yards and a touchdown to help lead No. 9 Clemson to a 56-20 victory over Duke at Wallace Wade Stadium.

Watkins 97 yards receiving against the Blue Devils gives him 501 for the year on 38 catches. In six games, he is averaging 83.5 yards per outing with just over six receptions per game. Saturday, after a fast start from Hopkins, who hauled in first quarter scores of 5, 58 and 45 yards on Clemson’s first three possessions, Watkins got in on the action, catching a 30-yard touchdown pass from Tajh Boyd to give the Tigers a 28-10 lead with 16 seconds left in the first quarter.

But as explosive as Clemson’s passing attack was, Watkins says it was the fact the Tigers rushed for 339 yards that made everything look so easy.

“The offense is executing,” he said. “We did a great job of rushing the ball, and the offense is just executing well.”

As far as his game personally goes, Watkins credits his recent performance to the work that he has put in preparation for the game.

“I am just going out and practicing hard, and it is translating on the field,” he said.

The Tigers (8-1, 5-1 ACC) have scored 98 points the past two weeks on the road, to Watkins it is just a tale of what this team can do when it is playing well. The Tigers rushed and passed for over 300 yards, while amassing 718 total, just the second time in school history a Clemson team has eclipsed the 700-yard mark.

“It is a great feeling knowing we are hitting on all cylinders,” offensive coordinator Chad Morris said.

Clemson may have went over 700 yards of total offense, but there can always be more.

“You cannot be mad at 700 yards but I feel like there were a lot of big plays we could have made,” he said. “Overall, we had a great game.”

As the Tigers head home to Death Valley for the stretch run, Watkins hopes they can continue to improve as they’ve done in recent weeks.

Clemson will be looking to continue its streak of scoring at least 37 points for a 10th straight game against Maryland next Saturday in Clemson Memorial Stadium. The game is scheduled to kickoff at 3:30 p.m. on ESPNU.