Appalachian State opened Saturday’s game in Death Valley with three possessions near midfield, and on all three possessions it failed to even get a first down.

From the outset, Clemson’s defense came out to prove a point. They can still play defense.

After a long kickoff return to open the game, the Mountaineers had the ball at their own 43-yard line. But they managed just eight yards and were forced to punt the ball. Following a rare Deshaun Watson interception on the Tigers’ first offensive possession, App State had the ball at its own 46, and lost a yard on three plays before punting it back to Clemson.

Following a Clemson punt, the Mountaineers found themselves again with the football in good field position, this time at the 36-yard line, but the end result was again three plays and a punt.

It was obvious from that point that this day belonged to the Clemson defense in the Tigers’ 41-10 victory in Death Valley. Clemson held App. State to 298 total yards for forced four fumbles.

“A lot of good things defensively, with 10 tackles for loss and four forced turnovers. Winning the turnover margin was a big thing for us coming into this game,” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said.

Carlos Watkins’ 15-yard interception return for a touchdown with 11:42 to play in the second quarter got the Tigers rolling after that as they cruised to a 31-0 halftime lead, and led 38-0 in the third quarter before App State was able to put a dent in the scoreboard.

Before Watkins’ interception the offense struggled to figure App State out, but another interception by Ben Boulware set up a 27-yard touchdown pass from Deshaun Watson to Charone Peake, and then running back Wayne Gallman ran over an App. State defender for a 23-yard score and then Watson found Peake again on a 59-yard touchdown pass.

The Clemson defense held the Mountaineers to 88 yards, including 29 yards rushing in the opening 30 minutes. Clemson had six tackles for loss in the first half.

The Tigers harassed App State quarterback Taylor Lamb into three interceptions on 5 of 17 passing. The Mountaineers most impressive drive, when the Tigers were up 3-0 late in the first quarter, ended when Lamb was picked off by safety Jayron Kearse in the end zone for a touchback.

“This is why they call it a team sport. Everyone has to do their part, and sometimes you might need a spark from somewhere else on the team, whether it’s special teams, offense, or defense,” Swinney said. “We had a couple of miscues on offense, but it was great to see us get a spark from Jayron (Kearse) and Carlos (Watkins) with his score, and then the offense just came alive.

“It was explosive, and quick. We had four touchdowns of 23 yards or more, and that’s a very frustrating thing for a defense when you can strike like that. They gave us opportunities to for big plays, and Deshaun (Watson) was just tremendous.”

Watkins then intercepted Lamb, while dropping into zone coverage, on the next possession and rumbled for a 15-yard touchdown. Boulware then picked off Lamb on the next possession.

“We knew they were going to throw the ball a lot more this week, but we didn’t have anything specific as a point of emphasis,” Boulware said. “Our overall emphasis was on doing our job and on everyone one of those plays you saw, each one of those guys performed their jobs perfectly, and you saw the results.”

Clemson scored 28 second-quarter points, the most for the Tigers in a quarter since doing the same to The Citadel in 2013.

Deshaun Watson found Charone Peake hiding behind the App State secondary and then unloaded a 59-yard bomb to give Clemson a 31-0 lead with 1:56 to play in the second quarter. Watson started the play in the pocket, rolled right and then launched the pass from his 37-yard line where it did not hit Peake’s hands until the two-yard line.

It was Peake’s second touchdown catch of the day.

“I thought we came out really slow and sloppy at times. There are some things we can fix in the film room, but we got momentum back when Carlos (Watkins) made that good play and carried that through the second quarter,” Watson said. “It’s nice to know when things aren’t going your way there is still a chance when your defense is still making plays.”

Clemson took a 24-0 lead on a 23-yard Wayne Gallman touchdown with 5:48 to play in the first half. Gallman ran over the App State safety at the goal line and then stood over him as he walked into the end zone for the score. The drive was 9 plays, 64 yards and took 2:48 off the clock.

The Tigers grabbed a 17-0 lead with 10:10 to play in the second quarter as Watson found Peake for a 27-yard touchdown pass following Boulware’s interception. It took Clemson three plays to capitalize on the touchdown.

Watson finished his afternoon 19 of 28 for 248 yards and three touchdowns. His passer rating was 183.6.

Gallman rushed for 79 yards to lead the Tigers, while Artavis Scott, who hauled in 41-yard touchdown pass from Watson in the third quarter, had six catches for 73 yards. Peake hauled in four catches for 86 yards and had two touchdowns.

Clemson will face Louisville on Thursday to open up the ACC part of its schedule.

“We’ve been ready. We are going to play a great opponent who has had some tough games up to this point in their season so we have to be at our best,” Boulware said.