September 9, 2017 Week 2 · Regular Season Belt defended

Clemson defends the belt, 14–6, at home over Auburn.

Home · Defending Holder

ClemsonAP No. 3 14

Away · Challenger

AuburnAP No. 13 6

AP poll, week 2: Auburn No. 13 at Clemson No. 3 · No. 1 that week: Georgia. The belt vs. the polls →

Belt context

Where this game sits in the lineage

Clemson came in 243 days into reign #298, which began with a win over Alabama, with one defense already behind it; this was its second defense. Clemson went on to defend it 4 more times before Syracuse took it on October 13, 2017, 277 days after the reign began.

For Auburn this was its 15th shot at the belt; it had held the belt 7 times before.

It was the 4th of 4 belt games between the two; going in, Auburn led the belt series 2–1; all-time it is 2–2. Every meeting →

AI-Written

Recap

Clemson's defense dominated this defensive struggle, holding Auburn to just 117 total yards and 6 points to retain the belt with a 14-6 victory. Auburn struck first with Daniel Carlson's 24-yard field goal in the first quarter, then added another with a 28-yarder in the second quarter to take a 6-0 lead, but the Tigers' offense found the end zone twice to pull away. Kelly Bryant orchestrated two touchdown drives for Clemson, first punching in a 3-yard TD run with 48 seconds left in the half, then adding a 27-yard scoring run in the third quarter to seal the outcome. While Auburn controlled time of possession at 32:25, they could not move the ball effectively, converting just 6 of 18 third downs and gaining only 79 passing yards against Clemson's stingy secondary.

Kelly Bryant's 3-yard TD run with 48 seconds left in Q2 gave Clemson a 7-6 halftime lead after Auburn had led the entire first half
Kelly Bryant's 27-yard TD run in Q3 extended Clemson's lead to 14-6 and put the game out of reach for Auburn's struggling offense
Auburn's inability to convert on third downs (6-18) and generate passing offense (79 yards) against Clemson's defense prevented any sustained scoring drives
Jeff Holland's forced fumble on Ray-Ray McCloud in Q1 gave Auburn an early momentum boost but the Tigers' defense ultimately prevailed

Written by Claude from the box score and play-by-play on this page — a plain-English recap of the numbers below, not a substitute for them.

Full Box Score

Team stats

CFBD box score

ClemsonAuburn

Total yards281117

Rushing yards9638

Passing yards18579

First downs1813

3rd down conv.9/166/18

Turnovers20

Penalties–yards8–605–40

Time of possession27:3532:25

Full team box score from CFBD’s /games/teams data. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have team-level stats that far back.

Play By Play

Key plays

CFBD play-by-play

When	Team	Yards	Play
Q1 7:13	Auburn	+24 yd	Daniel Carlson 24 yd FG GOOD
Q1 13:40	Auburn	+23 yd	Jarrett Stidham pass complete to Nate Craig-Myers for 23 yds to the Aub 44 for a 1ST down
Q1 1:13	Clemson	+1 yd	Kelly Bryant pass complete to Ray-Ray McCloud for 1 yd Ray-Ray McCloud fumbled, forced by Jeff Holland, recovered by Aub Jeremiah Dinson
Q2 14:17	Auburn	+28 yd	Daniel Carlson 28 yd FG GOOD
Q2 6:47	Clemson	+46 yd	Greg Huegel 46 yd FG MISSED
Q2 3:16	Clemson	+20 yd	Kelly Bryant pass complete to Deon Cain for 20 yds to the Clem 40 for a 1ST down
Q2 0:48	Clemson	+3 yd	Kelly Bryant run for 3 yds for a TD, (Greg Huegel KICK)
Q2 1:20	Clemson	+29 yd	Kelly Bryant pass complete to Ray-Ray McCloud for 29 yds to the Aub 9 for a 1ST down
Q3 13:26	Clemson	+33 yd	Kelly Bryant pass complete to Ray-Ray McCloud for 33 yds to the Aub 34 for a 1ST down
Q3 15:00	Auburn	+21 yd	Daniel Carlson kickoff for 65 yds , Cornell Powell return for 21 yds to the Clem 21
Q3 11:47	Clemson	+27 yd	Kelly Bryant run for 27 yds for a TD, (Greg Huegel KICK)
Q3 10:00	Auburn	-9 yd	Jarrett Stidham sacked by Clelin Ferrell for a loss of 9 yards to the Aub 26 Jarrett Stidham fumbled, forced by Clelin Ferrell, recovered by Aub Prince Tega Wanogho , return for 0 yards
Q3 7:54	Clemson	+13 yd	C.J. Fuller run for a loss of 2 yards to the Aub 31 C.J. Fuller fumbled, forced by Marlon Davidson, recovered by Aub Tray Matthews, return for 13 yds to the Aub 44
Q4 6:05	Clemson	+25 yd	Will Spiers punt for 43 yds , Stephen Roberts returns for 25 yds to the Aub 45

Scoring plays, turnovers, and gains of 20+ yards, pulled from CFBD’s play-by-play. This section only appears for belt games with play-by-play on file (2003 onward).

Box Score

Player stats

CFBD player stats

Passing

Clemson

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Kelly Bryant	19/29	181	6.2	0	0	69.1
Zerrick Cooper	1/2	4	2.0	0	0	2.3

Auburn

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Jarrett Stidham	13/24	79	3.3	0	0	9.2

Rushing

Clemson

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Kelly Bryant	19	59	3.1	2	27
Adam Choice	7	17	2.4	0	6
Tavien Feaster	3	15	5.0	0	9
C.J. Fuller	4	9	2.3	0	6
Zerrick Cooper	1	0	0.0	0	0
Team	2	-4	-2.0	0	0

Auburn

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	LONG
Kamryn Pettway	22	74	3.4	15
Eli Stove	1	6	6.0	6
Chandler Cox	1	0	0.0	0
Jarrett Stidham	18	-42	-2.3	9

Receiving

Clemson

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	LONG
Ray-Ray McCloud	6	81	13.5	33
Hunter Renfrow	9	62	6.9	13
Deon Cain	2	27	13.5	20
Cornell Powell	1	6	6.0	6
Amari Rodgers	1	5	5.0	5
Adam Choice	1	4	4.0	4

Auburn

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	LONG
Ryan Davis	8	32	4.0	9
Nate Craig-Myers	1	23	23.0	23
Will Hastings	2	12	6.0	10
Kyle Davis	1	7	7.0	7
Kam Martin	1	5	5.0	5

Show more stats (6 more categories)

Defense

Clemson

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD	QB HUR
Dorian O'Daniel	14	10	1.5	2	0	1
Christian Wilkins	10	3	1.5	2	0	0
Kendall Joseph	9	2	0.5	0.5	0	0
Austin Bryant	7	3	4	4	0	1
Tre Lamar	6	3	1	1	0	1
Tanner Muse	6	2	0	0	0	0
Clelin Ferrell	6	1	1	1	0	1
Ryan Carter	5	5	0	0	1	0
K'Von Wallace	3	3	0	0	0	0
Jalen Williams	3	2	0	0	0	0
Chad Smith	3	1	0	1	0	0
Dexter Lawrence	3	0	0.5	0.5	0	0
J.D. Davis	2	2	1	1	0	0
Jabril Robinson	2	0	0	0	0	0
Mark Fields	1	1	0	1	1	0
Trayvon Mullen	1	1	0	0	0	0
T.J. Chase	1	1	0	0	0	0
A.J. Terrell	1	1	0	0	0	0
Albert Huggins	1	0	0	0	0	0
Nyles Pinckney	1	0	0	0	0	0

Auburn

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD	QB HUR
Carlton Davis	11	11	0	0	2	0
Tre' Williams	9	3	0.5	0.5	0	0
Darrell Williams	6	1	0.5	0.5	0	0
Tray Matthews	5	5	0	0	0	0
Jamel Dean	4	4	0	1	1	0
Javaris Davis	4	4	0	0	0	0
Deshaun Davis	4	2	0	0	0	0
Jeff Holland	4	2	0.5	0.5	1	1
Derrick Brown	3	3	1	2	0	0
Stephen Roberts	3	3	0	1	0	0
Marlon Davidson	3	2	0	1	0	0
Andrew Williams	2	1	0	0	0	0
Jeremiah Dinson	2	1	0	0	1	0
Nick Coe	2	0	0.5	0.5	0	0
Montavious Atkinson	1	1	1	1	0	0
Ike Powell	1	1	0	0	0	0
Dontavius Russell	1	1	0	0	0	0

Fumbles

Clemson

Player	FUM	LOST	REC
C.J. Fuller	1	1	0
Ray-Ray McCloud	1	1	0

Auburn

Player	FUM	REC
Tray Matthews	0	1
Jeremiah Dinson	0	1
Jarrett Stidham	1	0

Kick Returns

Clemson

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Cornell Powell	1	21	21.0	21	0

Auburn

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Kam Martin	1	19	19.0	19	0
Noah Igbinoghene	1	16	16.0	16	0

Kicking

Clemson

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Greg Huegel	0/1	0.0	0	2/2	2

Auburn

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Daniel Carlson	2/2	100.0	28	0/0	6

Punt Returns

Clemson

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Ray-Ray McCloud	4	17	4.3	9	0

Auburn

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Stephen Roberts	1	25	25.0	25	0

Punting

Clemson

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Will Spiers	6	256	42.7	0	0	53

Auburn

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Ian Shannon	8	324	40.5	0	0	49

Full player stats from CFBD’s /games/players data, split out by team. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have player-level stats that far back. Linked player names go to that player’s stat line in every other belt game they’ve appeared in.

Sources Box score at ESPN · Game record: College Football Data (id 400933843) · This game in the downloadable dataset

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