Will Shipley rushed for 139 yards and two touchdowns to help No. 5 Clemson register a 48-20 victory over visiting Louisiana Tech in nonconference play on Saturday night.
DJ Uiagalelei passed for 221 yards and two touchdowns for the Tigers (3-0). Phil Mafah and Kobe Pace rushed for touchdowns, and Beaux Collins and Antonio Williams caught scoring passes for Clemson.
Malcolm Greene, R.J. Mickens and Jeremiah Trotter Jr. had interceptions for the Tigers, who forced four turnovers while extending their school-record home winning streak to 36 games.
Parker McNeil passed for 311 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions for Louisiana Tech (1-2). Marquis Crosby rushed for a touchdown but had just 7 yards on 12 attempts after rushing for a career-best 197 last week against Stephen F. Austin.
Griffin Hebert had five receptions for 122 yards for the Bulldogs and Tre Harris caught a touchdown pass.
Clemson played without standout defensive tackle Bryan Bresee, whose 15-year-old sister, Ella, died of brain cancer on Thursday.
The Tigers outgained Louisiana Tech 521 to 317. The Bulldogs had just 6 rushing yards.
Interceptions by Trotter and Greene set up third-quarter touchdowns that saw Clemson turn a 13-6 halftime lead into a 21-point advantage.
Trotter’s interception came on the third play of the second half and set the Tigers up at the Louisiana Tech 32-yard line. Shipley took the handoff on the next play and went the distance to make it a 14-point margin.
The Bulldogs then drove to the Clemson 20 before McNeil had his pass deflected by Barrett Carter and intercepted by Greene.
The Tigers responded by driving 90 yards on 14 plays with Mafah scoring from the 4 to make it 27-6 with 5:25 left in the quarter.
Clemson increased its lead to 28 less than two minutes later when Uiagalelei tossed a 32-yard touchdown pass to Collins.
Louisiana Tech cut into the margin in the fourth quarter as Crosby scored on a 3-yard run and McNeil tossed a 13-yard scoring pass to Harris with 9:30 remaining in the contest.
Uiagalelei returned to the game with the lead down to 14 and he restored order with a 19-yard touchdown pass to Williams to make it 41-20 with 6:21 left.
B.T. Potter kicked a 22-yard field goal to close Clemson’s opening possession and Shipley added a 2-yard run to make it 10-0 with 6:24 left in the quarter.
Jacob Barnes booted a 35-yard field goal to get Louisiana Tech on the board with 12:46 left in the first half. Potter kicked a 36-yarder and Barnes hit from 27 yards later in the quarter.
–Field Level Media
