Clemson clicking on all cylinders in the first half

For the first time this season, second-ranked Clemson came out clicking on both sides of the football.

With the defense smothering Florida State’s offense, Trevor Lawrence and the Tigers’ rolled up 367 yards in the on their way to a 28-0 halftime lead.

Lawrence threw three touchdowns and ran for another while completing 17 of 25 passes for 170 yards. The sophomore also ran for 40 yards on six carries.

With the offense clicking on all cylinders, the defense dominated the Seminoles. Clemson’s defense forced two interceptions—one by Chad Smith and one by Tanner Muse—and had two sacks. The Noles were 1-for-6 on third down and that came on their first possession.

Florida State ran for just 16 yards on 10 carries in the opening half, while Cam Akers had just 2 yards on three carries. Akers came into the game second in the ACC rushing at 116.2 yards per game.

The Seminoles finished the first half with 63 total yards.

Clemson running back Travis Etienne rushed for 89 yards on 13 carries and caught a 3-yard touchdown pass from Lawrence on the Tigers’ opening drive.

Lawrence also threw two touchdown passes to Justyn Ross, a 10-yard pass with 13:13 to play in the half and then an 8-yard toss with 8:58 to play for a 28-0 lead. Lawrence’s 8-yard touchdown run came in the first quarter and gave the Tigers a 14-0 lead with 4:41 to play in the quarter.

The only thing that went wrong in the first 30 minutes was a poor throw by Lawrence along the sideline with Clemson already up 28-0. Xavier Thomas was later stopped short of the end zone on a third-and-goal play from the 2-yard line in Clemson’s “Fridge” package.

B.T. Potter then missed a 24-yard field goal with 21 seconds to play in the half.