Clemson’s goal Friday night was simple – stop quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele.

Easier said than done.

Or was it.

In fact, Clemson made it look easy, as the Tigers not only limited Sagapolutele, but they shut him down in a 24-10 victory at Memorial Stadium in Berkeley, Calif.

The sophomore had his worse game of his career, as he completed just 16 of 29 passes for 119 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions.

“We took the running game away,” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said. “I think they may have had 86 yards rushing, so not letting them have a balanced attack, I mean they popped a few, but we dug in there pretty good on the run game.”

As Swinney said, the Tigers limited the Bears (2-2, 1-1 ACC) to 86 yards on 27 attempts. Running back Adam Mohammed was limited to 51 yards on 13 carries, but he was forced to leave the game in the third quarter with an ankle injury.

He averaged just 3.9 yards per carry, while catching three passes for 30 yards.

But with the running game limited, Clemson (3-1, 2-0 ACC) came after Sagapolutele. Though the Tigers recorded just two sacks, their pressure affected the passing game and forced Sagapolutele to get rid of the ball quicky.

Sagapolutele was averaging 288 yards a game and completing 66.7 percent of his passes prior to Friday night.

“We took some of the easy access throws away,” Swinney said. “He is dangerous. You see how that ball gets out there. They are quick, so you can’t hardly react quick enough and the receiver is already on the move.

“He has great arm talent and he is accurate, so we just got up and challenged their (receivers) and they held up for the most part. They made him have to hold the ball a little bit and create some pressure. So, a great job by our guys.”

Corner Elliott Washington II recorded two interceptions – one to start the game and one to end it. Corner Ashton Hampton broke up a couple of passes and safeties Jerome Carter and Corey Myrick led the team in tackles.

Cal’s longest pass play was a 26-yard pass by the tight end on a trick play to start the second half.

In other words, the Clemson secondary really came to play on Friday.

“Guys made plays on the ball,” Swinney said. “We had some PBUs and forced (Sagapolutele) to have to make some throws on the move and did not allow him to get in a rhythm.”

–photo courtesy of Clemson Athletics Communications