More important for Clemson football today was honoring the men and women who fought for our country. They played the Citadel Bulldogs, a military academy from Charleston, SC on this special occasion. Clemson won 61-3 in a total team effort. 
Clemson opened the game by kicking off to the Citadel. Marching down the field, the Bulldogs eventually turned it over on downs in Clemson territory. The Tigers’ offense stalled for a few plays, but quarterback Kelly Bryant found wide receiver Deon Cain deep down the sideline for a 53-yard score. It was Cain’s first receiving touchdown in awhile. 
Changing up the plays, the Citadel tried passing but couldn’t find any separation from Clemson’s defensive backs. Their second attempt was intercepted by Trayvon Mullen, his second of the year.
The Tigers turned to the running game this time, featuring freshman Travis Etienne. Etienne tied Clemson great CJ Spiller’s record for rushing touchdowns by a freshman at 10 with his 6-yard score to put the Tigers up by 14. 
The Tigers continued to pile on points late in the first quarter. With 51 seconds left, Hunter Renfrow caught a 12-yard touchdown pass. Remarkably, it was his first of the year.
The offense seemed to be heavily slanted toward working on the passing game as Bryant threw more touchdown passes in the first half than he had in any other game in total. TJ Chase was the lucky man on the receiving end of the third passing touchdown of the game. It was the redshirt freshman’s first of the year.
The kicker got some work as well nailing a 26-yard field goal with 6:32 left in the second quarter putting the Tigers up a comfortable 31-0. 
Starter Kelly Bryant was pulled with 2:54 left in the second quarter. Backup Zerrick Cooper came in to relieve him. The Clemson offense shifted to a full display of passing prowess as young and talented CLemson receivers were constantly targeted deep downfield. Cooper connected with freshman Tee Higgins in the endzone on a ball that was tipped by Higgins himself as well as a Bulldog defender and finally caught by Higgins. It was his first career touchdown. The Tigers entered halftime with a 38-0 lead. 
Freshman quarterback Hunter Johnson took over after halftime. He made a quick handoff to Tavien Feaster who quickly took it 61 yards to the house for a 45-0 lead. 
Travis Etienne wound up breaking CJ Spiller’s record in the third quarter with a 7-yard score giving Clemson a 52-0 lead. 
The young guns weren’t done scoring yet, though. On third and long, Johnson launched a ball in Higgins’ direction. He outstretched his arm, hauled in the one-handed catch and streaked down the sideline for the 78-yard score and a 58-0 Clemson lead. 
Backup kicker and honored senior Christian Groomes kicked his first field goal of the year, from 38 yards, for an additional three points for Clemson late in the fourth quarter. 
The Citadel avoided the shutout after a big pass play put them in the red zone with 3:30 left. Kicker Jacob Godek made the 30-yard field goal to spoil the shutout.
In the end, it was an overall team effort with Head Coach Dabo Swinney making sure to get as many players on the field as possible. After three quarters of play, 83 Tigers had played at least one snap.