Clemson vs. South Carolina Postgame Notes

Team Notes

• Clemson Athletic Director Dr. Terry Don Phillips dotted the ‘I’ before tonight’s game.
• Tonight’s meeting between Clemson and South Carolina was the 110th of the series.
• Clemson received the opening kickoff for the 11th time in 12 games. The only game that Clemson did not receive the opening kickoff this season was the Furman game.
• The game-time temperature for tonight’s game was 48 degrees. That is the coldest game-time temperature for a Clemson-South Carolina game since 2005 when the game-time temperature was 47 degrees.
• Clemson finished the regular season with a 1000-yard rusher, a 1000-yard receiver and a 3000-yard passer. Tajh Boyd has thrown for exactly 3,550 yards, Andre Ellington has rushed for 1,031 yards and DeAndre Hopkins has 1,214 receiving yards this season.
• Clemson recorded four sacks in tonight’s game. That is the most since the Florida State game this season when Clemson had five sacks. It is also the third time this season that the Tigers have had at least four sacks in a game.
• Clemson set the school season record for total offense tonight. Clemson needed 280 yards to reach the record and gained 328. Clemson now has 6220 for the year.
• Tonight’s Clemson vs. South Carolina game was the longest in history in terms of time. The game took 3:32 and the previous high was 3:28 in 1999.
• Clemson did not score in the second quarter this evening for the first time all year. Clemson has scored 194 points in the second period this year, most in school history in any quarter.
• South Carolina had possession of the ball for 23:19 in the second half.

Individual Notes

• DeAndre Hopkins caught a touchdown pass from Tajh Boyd in the first quarter of today’s game. With that touchdown reception, Hopkins has had a touchdown reception in nine straight games, an ACC record. The previous record was eight games by Virginia’s Herman Moore in 1990.
• Hopkins established an ACC mark for most games catching at least one touchdown pass. Tonight was the 11th game he has had caught at least one touchdown. The previous ACC mark was 10 set by Herman Moore of Virginia in 1990, Peter Warrick of Florida State in 1998 and Leonard Wilkerson of Miami in 2010.
• Hopkins finished the regular season with a school-record 16 touchdown receptions this season and 25 touchdown receptions for his career. He needs just one touchdown catch to tie the ACC record, 17 by Clarkston Hines of Duke in 1989. He was coached by Steve Spurrier that year.
• Hopkins will enter the bowl season needing just six receiving yards to break Sammy Watkins season receiving yardage record. Watkins had 1219 last year and Hopkins has 1214 this year.
• Tajh Boyd threw a touchdown pass in the first quarter to give him 34 touchdown passes on the season. That is a Clemson single season record for touchdown passes in a season. Boyd broke his own record of 33 touchdown passes in a season that he set last season. He also extended his touchdown responsibility record. He has 34 passing and nine rushing for 43 total.
• Boyd’s nine rushing touchdowns are the most by a Clemson quarterback in a season since Woody Dantzler had 10 in 2001.
• Andre Ellington rushed 15 times for 72 yards in tonight’s game, which gives him 1031 rushing yards for the season. He now has back-to-back 1000-yard seasons. He is just the fourth player in Clemson history with two 1000-yard seasons. The others are James Davis, Woody Dantzler and Raymond Priester.
• Xavier Brewer recorded a career-high 12 tackles, including one sack and two tackles for loss, and recorded his second interception of the season. The last Clemson player to record an interception and a sack in the same game was Rashard Hall, who did it against Boston College in a game at Clemson in 2009.
• Jadaveon Clowney set a Memorial Stadium record this evening with 4.5 sacks and tackles for loss. He broke the opponent record in both categories. The previous record for tackles for loss was four by Ross Browner of Notre Dame in 1977 and Bruce Smith of Virginia Tech in 1984. Both of those players are in the College Football Hall of Fame.