Clemson rolls
No. 2 Tigers cruise past Pittsburgh 42-10.
No. 2 CLEMSON 42, PITTSBURGH 10
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Travis Etienne ran for 156 yards and two touchdowns, Trevor Lawrence threw two short scoring passes to Tee Higgins and No. 2 Clemson beat Pittsburgh 42-10 on Saturday night to become the first team to win four consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference championships.
Clemson (13-0) is expected to face thirdranked Notre Dame, which did not play Saturday, in the College Football Playoffs on Dec. 29.
The Tigers ran for 301 yards and four touchdowns, and averaged nine yards per carry on a dreary, rain-soaked night in which Lawrence was limited to 118 yards passing.
Clemson forced three turnovers, including two in the first half that gave the offense the ball inside the Pittsburgh 10 and led to 14 points. The Tigers limited quarterback Kenny Pickett to eight yards passing and had nine tackles for a loss.
The Tigers joined Florida (1993-96) as the only Power Five teams to win four conference titles in a row.
Etienne, the ACC player of the year, took a handoff on the first play from scrimmage, ran to the right, cut back and raced 75 yards for his 20th touchdown of the season, the quickest touchdown in the history of the conference title game. He had a scoring run a few minutes later after Isaiah Simmons stripped Pickett of the ball and Christian Wilkins return it to the Pittsburgh three.
Etienne had 78 yards on his first two carries, equaling Clemson’s rushing total from last year’s victory over Miami in the ACC title game.
The Panthers (7-6) would show signs of life, though, scoring 10 consecutive points behind a one-yard touchdown run by Qadree Ollison to cut the lead to 14-10.
But the Panthers, which had a knack for upsetting No. 2-ranked teams under coach Pat Narduzzi — they upset Clemson in 2016 and Miami in the 2017 regular-season finale — ran out of magic.
Lawrence found his fellow freshman Higgins on scoring passes of five and 10 yards in the second quarter, the latter coming after a 38-yard interception return by A.J. Terrell, to take a 28-10 lead at halftime. Adam Choice and Lyn-J Dixon had fourth-quarter touchdown runs.