Strong first half carries Clemson to victory

ATLANTA — The halftime stats were almost comical. Clemson looked as though it was going against the scout team, not a fellow Atlantic Coast Conference school.

Finally, the sort of performance everyone has been expecting from the No. 5 Tigers.

Deshaun Watson threw for 304 yards, including a pair of touchdowns during a dominant first half that carried Clemson to a 26-7 victory over Georgia Tech on Thursday night.

After sluggish wins over Auburn and Troy, and a practice-like rout of FCS school South Carolina State that meant nothing, the Tigers (4-0, 1-0 ACC) won at Georgia Tech for the first time since 2003 to set up a huge showdown with No. 3 Louisville.

“We came in focused that first half,” Watson said. “We just wanted to finish the deal.”

Watson threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Mike Williams and a 9-yarder to Jordan Leggett with just 4 seconds left before halftime to complete a stunningly lopsided showing that wasn’t entirely reflected in the 23-0 lead. Wayne Gallman added a 1-yard TD run.

At halftime, Clemson was up 347-22 lead in total yards and 19-3 in first downs, having run 56 plays to only 21 for the home team. Georgia Tech (31, 1-1) was outgained 442-124 overall.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve won here,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said. “We’ll take it.”

This was a virtual repeat of last year’s meeting at Clemson, where the Tigers raced to a 33-10 halftime lead on the way to a 43-24 victory. Both times, they totally dominated the line of scrimmage.

“They’ve done it to us two years in a row up front,” Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson said. “They kicked our butts.”

AP/JOHN BAZEMORE Georgia Tech defensive back Lawrence Austin (20) breaks up a pass intended for Clemson’s Artavis Scott in the first half of the Tigers’ 26-7 ACC victory Thursday in Atlanta.