CLEMSON, S.C. -- It was one of those plays the average fan probably missed altogether, but Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables gushed over every detail. Three weeks ago, the shovel pass was Clemson’s undoing in a loss to Pitt, and South Carolina had tried to mimic the strategy. It didn’t work.
“They tried to down-block him, and he just clubs a guy,” Venables said. “It was just an amazing play.”
In an instant, Dexter Lawrence was in the backfield, and in the moment the play had developed, he had sabotaged it.
It was everything Clemson had been practicing in the aftermath of the loss to Pitt, and Lawrence -- a true freshman -- executed it perfectly.