Clemson Blanks Charleston Southern 37-0 Behind a 34-0 Half
Two touchdowns in nine seconds of game clock. That is how Clemson turned a comfortable lead into a closed case. Chris Johnson Jr. ran in from two yards out with 5:30 left in the second quarter to make it 24-0, and Kylon Griffin followed with a 17-yard fumble return for another score. 31-0, and Charleston Southern had not yet run out of first half.
The whole thing was a Clemson walk from the first snap. Nolan Hauser opened with a 41-yard field goal, Johnson and Gideon Davidson each found the end zone on short runs, and Hauser tacked on a 59-yarder with 47 seconds left to make it 34-0 at the break. The only score of the second half was another Hauser field goal, a 44-yarder early in the fourth, and Clemson finished 37-0 without ever being tested.
The Tigers ran 46 times for 231 yards and threw for 207 more, 438 total, and sacked them four times. They also gave it away twice through the air, which would matter against a real opponent. Here it cost them nothing at all. Charleston Southern falls to 0-2, and Clemson moves to 4-2.
For fantasy, this was a game of small pieces. Johnson was the top scorer with 17 points, and 17 points is a season high for a back who had averaged under three over his previous three games. Davidson was the more reliable name coming in and scored 11.9. Then there is Christian Bentancur, the tight end, whose 74 yards on four catches made him the third-best fantasy play on the field. A 37-0 game spreads the points thin.