Clemson scored 77 points against Louisville in a comprehensive performance, and one in which the Tigers showed that they are putting it all together approaching the end of the regular season. Maybe the most stunning thing about the blowout is how well the Tigers shared the scoring.
Clemson’s 11 touchdowns against Louisville, ranked by how surprising the scorer was
A lot of Tigers scored against the Cardinals. Some were more surprising than others.
Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images
Clemson had 10 players score touchdowns in this game. Only running back Tavien Feaster scored more than one touchdown.
The Tigers have a habit of letting a lot of players get on the field. They’re blowing out good teams this season by basically playing the entire roster, like they did against NC State.
A look at Clemson’s box score shows that the Tigers played 84 (eighty four) players on either offense, defense, or special teams. That’s almost all of the 95 total players listed on the roster. Only 85 are even allowed to be on scholarship.
Just for comparison, from the same day: Alabama listed 44 players as having seen the field in its similar blowout win over Tennessee, and Oklahoma listed 49 during an easy win over TCU.
A comprehensive ranking of these touchdowns is in order. Here’s each of Clemson’s 11 touchdowns ranked by how surprising the scorer was.
T-10. Travis Etienne’s TD to open the game
Not terribly surprising. Etienne is Clemson’s best running back and has been highly efficiently toting the mail all season.
T-10. Tavien Feaster’s TD
Not terribly surprising. Although Feaster isn’t Clemson’s feature back, he does get plenty of run.
T-10. Feaster’s other TD
Not terribly surprising. The score from only three yards out. Easy pickings for him.
T-10. Tee Higgins’ TD
Not terribly surprising. Higgins is Clemson’s primary receiving threat.
T-10. Amari Rodgers’ TD
Not terribly surprising. Rodgers has scored a few times already this season.
T-10. Dexter Lawrence’s TD
Not terribly, surprising. Although Lawrence is a defensive lineman, the Tigers use defensive linemen in their short-yardage package almost every week. They scored against Florida State with a DL.
T-10. Isaiah Simmons’ pick-six
Not terribly surprising. A defense such as Clemson’s was bound to get a pick-six at some point.
T-10. Trevion Thompson’s TD
Not terribly surprising. Thompson hadn’t caught a touchdown this season, but he has been one of Clemson’s leading wide receivers. He was bound to get in on the fun.
T-10. Chase Brice’s TD pass to Justyn Ross.
Not terribly surprising. Justyn Ross is a speedster. It was a bit eyebrow raising that Brice threw it given that he’s technically the third quarterback on the roster. Then again, there is a reason that he is on Clemson’s roster.
T-10. Lyn-J Dixon’s TD
Not terribly surprising. Dixon is a talented freshman running back. Learn his name now because he’ll likely be a staple of the Tigers backfield for a few years.
1. DABO’S SON’S TD.
Uhh ... what? Clemson ran a tap pass play up 54 points for Will Swinney, the head coach’s son. That is really surprising and also really awesome.
“The biggest thing for me was seeing how happy his teammates were for him. Will is a grinder, he had a great camp, and he has worked really hard,” Swinney said. “It’s cool to see him rewarded and it was a cool moment as a dad too. . .I’m proud of him and it will be a good night at the Swinney house.”
It’s even better that dad never scored during his career.
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