Lawrence passing Watson one record at a time

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—Second-ranked Clemson pummeled Atlantic Division rival Florida State 59-10 at Doak Campbell Stadium Saturday.

The Tigers (8-0, 4-0) left no doubt in the game as the offensive clicked on all cylinders gaining 524 yards on the day behind a record setting performance by freshman quarterback Trevor Lawrence. He picked apart the Seminole (4-4, 2-4) secondary finishing 20-of-37 for 314 yards and four touchdowns passing Deshaun Watson’s freshman numbers in multiple categories.

Head coach Dabo Swinney is pleased with the first four starts of his young quarterback and the way Lawrence makes breaking milestones look easy.

“Trevor was awesome, 348 yards and four touchdowns,” Swinney said. “We had this guy here named Deshaun Watson, who was a pretty good player, and he broke his records for yards and touchdowns and was just kind of ho-hum doing it, it’s amazing.”

Clemson also, earned its fourth victory in games started by Lawrence to tie him with Deshaun Watson’s school record for wins as a starting quarterback as a true freshman (four).

With his third touchdown pass of the day, Lawrence recorded his 15th passing touchdown of the season to break Deshaun Watson’s school record for passing touchdowns by a true freshman. During the contest, Lawrence also broke Watson’s school record for passing yards by a first-year freshman (1,466).

Three straight. Clemson played all 72 available players in the victory. Clemson has played all 72 players on the travel roster in each of its three ACC road games this season.

Six consecutive games. Clemson has now gained 450 yards of offense in six straight games for the first time since a 12-game streak spanning the final 11 games of 2015 and the opener in 2016.

Stopping the run. Clemson held Florida State to -21 rushing yards, breaking the mark for fewest rushing yards allowed by the Tigers in ACC play set at North Carolina on Nov. 4, 1989 (-6). The -21 rushing yards tied for the second-fewest rushing yards allowed in a game in school history, trailing only a rushing performance of -29 yards by Furman on Sept. 7, 1996.

Dynamic receiving duo. Higgins and Rodgers became the first Clemson duo to both catch two touchdown passes in a single game since Germone Hopper and Mike Williams against North Carolina on Sept. 27, 2014.

Striking first. Clemson opened the scoring in the second quarter on a seven-yard pass from Lawrence to Higgins. Clemson improved to 34-0 when scoring first since 2015.