Clemson running back Travis Etienne rushed for a career-high 118 yards and scored one touchdown, while freshman quarterback Trevor Lawrence completed 7-of-8 passes for 130 yards, including a 57-yard touchdown pass to Justyn Ross as the second ranked Tigers took a 21-0 lead over Georgia Southern into halftime.
Running back Tavien Feaster had a one-yard touchdown run with 53 seconds left to play before halftime.
The Tigers had 383 total yards in the first half, mixing a nice balance between the run and the pass. Clemson threw for 198 yards, while the ground game had 185.
The defense bounced back from a bad second half at Texas A&M and held the Eagles to 30 total yards, all on the ground. Georgia Southern was 0-for-5 on third down.
Clemson got off to a rocky start, turning the ball over two times and missing a field goal on its first three possessions of the game. Starter Kelly Bryant threw an interception on the opening drive and then Adam Choice lost a fumble following a 40-yard missed field goal by Greg Huegel.
After the early miscues, Clemson finally got things going in the second quarter when Lawrence led Clemson on a 13-play, 93-yard drive.
Lawrence was 4-for-4 for 63 yards on the drive, including a 31-yard pass down the middle of the field to Hunter Renfrow to the Georgia Southern 12-yard line. Lawrence then ran 10 yards to the two.
It took the Tigers four tries to get the ball into the end zone, but Etienne finished the drive with a one-yard run with 8:43 to play in the second quarter.
The touchdown drive was Clemson’s third scoring drive of 90 yards or more already this season. Clemson had four scoring drives of 90 or more yards in 14 games in 2017.
It did not take long for the Tigers to get back in the end zone. After Xavier Thomas got his first career sack, Lawrence found Ross wide open down the middle of the field for a 57-yard touchdown for a 14-0 lead with 5:19 to play in the half.
Clemson extended the lead to 21-0 on its next possession. Tavien Feaster got his first touchdown of the year with a one-yard run with 0:53 left in the half. That capped an 8-play, 76-yard touchdown drive that took 2:49 off the clock.
