By Will Vandervort.

South Carolina State head coach Buddy Pough now knows why the late Lonnie McMillan of Presbyterian College gave Clemson Memorial Stadium the moniker “Death Valley.”

After his Blue Hose were beaten by 76 points by the Tigers in 1945, McMillan told his players and the media the following year that he was taking his team to Death Valley to play Clemson.

Pough might want to start telling the press the same thing the next time he comes to Clemson. His Bulldogs had no chance Saturday as the 23rd-ranked Tigers won 73-7 on Saturday. It was the largest margin of victory by a Clemson team since the 1957 Presbyterian game — a 66-0 victory.

The 73 points were the most points scored by any Clemson team since the 1981 squad scored 82 against Wake Forest.

“It was a long week of practice and preparation, but I think we imposed our will today,” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said.

In three games against Clemson, Pough and S.C. State have been outscored 179-20.

Everyone figured Clemson might be mad this week after what happened at Georgia last week, but no one knew they were this mad. Clemson finished the game with 735 yards, while holding SC State to 44.

“This was a great win and I’m proud of our team today,” Swinney said. “We had to respond after last week and I think we did, and that’ what matters. The coaches, support staff, the players — everyone put forth the effort we needed today.”

Clemson gained 735 yards on 93 plays, marking the first time since the 2009 Boston College game where the Tigers had more plays than its opponent had yards. The Tigers had 78 plays that year and held the Eagles to 54 yards.

The 735 yards marked only the third time in school history the Tigers went over 700 yards. It was the second time since Chad Morris became the offensive coordinator in 2012.

Clemson quarterback Cole Stoudt threw for 302 yards and one touchdown, while backup Deshaun Watson threw for 154 yards and three touchdowns to pace an offense that had 467 passing yards — second best all-time.

Stoudt threw a 37-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Artavis Scott, while Watson three a 7-yard touchdown pass to Peake, 34-yard touchdown pass to Jay Jay McCullough and an 8-yard toss to Scott.

Scott led all wide receivers with a freshman record 167 yards on six catches. Mike Williams had four catches for 83 yards.

Wayne Gallman led all running backs with 10 carries for 77 yards, while Adam Choice had 12 carries for 74 yards and a touchdown.

Clemson did not punt in the game, while SC State punted 12 times.

The Bulldogs (1-1) lone score on a 35-yard fumble return by Dominique Mitchell with 4:05 to play in the game. That made the score 73-7 at the time.

SC State ran the ball 28 times for 7 yards, while it was 12 of 25 passing for 37 yards. The Bulldogs had 541 yards in last week’s win over Benedict. The Bulldogs had just five first downs.

“The defense did a good job standing up today and getting the shutout on their offense,” Swinney said.

Clemson will be off next week and will play at top-ranked Florida State on Sept. 20.

“This was an excellent win for our program, but we have bigger fish to fry,” Swinney said. “We’ll regroup here for the next week, a bye week, but then we’ve got the opportunity to play the No. 1 team in the nation. It’ll be a challenge, but we’re looking forward to it. I’m excited for that opportunity.”