September 2, 2017 Week 1 · Regular Season Belt defended

Clemson defends the belt, 56–3, at home over Kent State.

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Clemson 56

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Kent State 3

AI-Written

Recap

Clemson's defense suffocated Kent State from the opening kickoff, forcing the Golden Flashes into a one-dimensional offensive attack that managed just 120 total yards and a single field goal. The Tigers' offense was devastating in response, with Kelly Bryant orchestrating a relentless assault that included touchdown passes to Milan Richard and Deon Cain in the first quarter alone, followed by a 47-yard scoring run in the second quarter. Kent State's only bright spot came when Shane Hynes connected on a 37-yard field goal in the second quarter, but Clemson's offense never relented, with C.J. Fuller, Tavien Feaster, and Travis Etienne all punching in rushing touchdowns as the Tigers systematically dominated the line of scrimmage. The final 56-3 scoreline fully reflected Clemson's complete control of both sides of the ball throughout the contest.

Deon Cain's 61-yard touchdown reception in Q1 - established Clemson's passing dominance early
Kelly Bryant's 47-yard scoring run in Q2 - showcased the Tigers' ability to attack on the ground
Tavien Feaster's 47-yard touchdown run in Q3 - maintained Clemson's relentless offensive rhythm
Kent State's 37-yard field goal in Q2 - the only offensive success the Golden Flashes could muster all game

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

ClemsonKent State

Total yards665120

Rushing yards353119

Passing yards3121

First downs345

3rd down conv.5/104/16

Turnovers10

Penalties–yards4–4511–79

Time of possession26:5533:05

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 13:45	Clemson	+26 yd	Kelly Bryant pass complete to Milan Richard for 26 yds to the KntSt 26 for a 1ST down
Q1 13:42	Clemson	+26 yd	C.J. Fuller run for 26 yds for a TD, (Greg Huegel KICK)
Q1 10:37	Clemson	+61 yd	Kelly Bryant pass complete to Deon Cain for 61 yds for a TD, (Greg Huegel KICK)
Q1 3:18	Clemson	+3 yd	Adam Choice run for 3 yds for a TD, (Greg Huegel KICK)
Q2 12:14	Kent State	+37 yd	Shane Hynes 37 yd FG GOOD
Q1 1:06	Kent State	+24 yd	Mike Carrigan run for 9 yds to the Clem 46 for a 1ST down CLEMSON Penalty, Personal Foul (Tanner Muse) to the Clem 39 for a 1ST down
Q2 12:14	Kent State	+22 yd	Grant Urenovitch kickoff for 63 yds , Cornell Powell return for 22 yds to the Clem 24
Q2 7:53	Clemson	+47 yd	Kelly Bryant run for 47 yds to the KntSt 9 for a 1ST down
Q2 1:13	Clemson	+8 yd	Kelly Bryant run for 8 yds for a TD, (Greg Huegel KICK)
Q3 10:44	Clemson	+2 yd	C.J. Fuller run for 2 yds for a TD, (Greg Huegel KICK)
Q3 12:19	Clemson	+44 yd	Kelly Bryant pass complete to Milan Richard for 44 yds to the KntSt 32 for a 1ST down
Q3 7:35	Clemson	+47 yd	Tavien Feaster run for 47 yds for a TD, (Greg Huegel KICK)
Q3 7:35	Clemson	+20 yd	Christian Groomes kickoff for 63 yds , Kavious Price return for 20 yds to the KntSt 22
Q3 0:33	Clemson	+14 yd	Zerrick Cooper pass complete to Cornell Powell for 14 yds for a TD, (Greg Huegel KICK)
Q3 0:33	Clemson	+20 yd	Alex Spence kickoff for 65 yds , Zaquon Tyson return for 20 yds to the KntSt 20
Q4 11:01	Clemson	+4 yd	Travis Etienne run for 4 yds for a TD, (Alex Spence KICK)
Q4 13:25	Clemson	+54 yd	Travis Etienne run for 54 yds to the KntSt 35 for a 1ST down
Q4 0:45	Clemson	+21 yd	Darien Rencher run for 21 yds to the KntSt 32 for a 1ST down

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

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Kelly BryantClemson	16/22	236	10.7	1	1	95.7
Hunter JohnsonClemson	5/6	39	6.5	0	0	88.4
Zerrick CooperClemson	4/6	37	6.2	1	0	97.5
TeamClemson	0/1	0	0.0	0	0	0.0
Nick HolleyKent State	1/4	1	0.3	0	0	21.6
George BollasKent State	0/1	0	0.0	0	0	2.1

Rushing

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Travis EtienneClemson	8	81	10.1	1	54
Kelly BryantClemson	7	77	11.0	1	47
Tavien FeasterClemson	6	69	11.5	1	47
C.J. FullerClemson	7	51	7.3	2	26
Ty ThomasonClemson	4	32	8.0	0	11
Darien RencherClemson	4	27	6.8	0	21
Adam ChoiceClemson	4	20	5.0	1	10
Zerrick CooperClemson	1	11	11.0	0	11
Ryan Mac LainClemson	1	-2	-2.0	0	0
TeamClemson	1	-13	-13.0	0	0
Nick HolleyKent State	10	53	5.3	0	19
Kesean GambleKent State	5	21	4.2	0	10
Justin RankinKent State	7	11	1.6	0	6
Myles WashingtonKent State	9	10	1.1	0	5
Mike CarriganKent State	1	9	9.0	0	9
Will MatthewsKent State	6	8	1.3	0	3
George BollasKent State	2	7	3.5	0	5
Keon SingletonKent State	2	5	2.5	0	4
Raekwon JamesKent State	1	-1	-1.0	0	0
Miles HibblerKent State	1	-4	-4.0	0	0

Receiving

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Deon CainClemson	2	70	35.0	1	61
Milan RichardClemson	2	70	35.0	0	44
Ray-Ray McCloudClemson	3	24	8.0	0	9
J.C. ChalkClemson	2	19	9.5	0	18
Amari RodgersClemson	3	19	6.3	0	9
Tee HigginsClemson	2	18	9.0	0	12
Hunter RenfrowClemson	2	16	8.0	0	8
Cornell PowellClemson	1	14	14.0	1	14
Trevion ThompsonClemson	1	14	14.0	0	14
C.J. FullerClemson	2	13	6.5	0	8
Adam ChoiceClemson	1	8	8.0	0	8
Shadell BellClemson	1	8	8.0	0	8
Diondre OvertonClemson	1	8	8.0	0	8
Carter GroomesClemson	1	7	7.0	0	7
Jayson HopperClemson	1	4	4.0	0	4
Justin RankinKent State	1	1	1.0	0	1

Show more stats (6 more categories)

Defense

Player	TOT	SOLO	TFL	PD	QB HUR
Tanner MuseClemson	6	3	0	0	0
Kendall JosephClemson	6	2	1	0	0
Chad SmithClemson	6	1	0.5	0	0
Austin BryantClemson	5	4	0	0	0
Jalen WilliamsClemson	5	3	1	0	0
Isaiah SimmonsClemson	5	3	0	0	0
J.D. DavisClemson	5	2	0	0	0
Clelin FerrellClemson	5	0	0	0	0
Dorian O'DanielClemson	4	0	0	0	0
Sterling JohnsonClemson	4	0	1	0	0
Dexter LawrenceClemson	4	0	0	0	0
Judah DavisClemson	3	1	0	0	0
Albert HugginsClemson	3	0	0.5	0	1
Nyles PinckneyClemson	3	0	0.5	0	0
Trayvon MullenClemson	2	0	0	0	0
Tre LamarClemson	2	0	0	0	0
Logan RudolphClemson	2	0	0.5	0	0
Mitch HyattClemson	1	1	0	0	0
Christian WilkinsClemson	1	1	0	0	0
Marcus EdmondClemson	1	0	0	0	0
Shaq SmithClemson	1	0	0	0	0
K'Von WallaceClemson	1	0	0	0	0
Nolan TurnerClemson	1	0	0	0	0
James SkalskiClemson	1	0	0	0	0
A.J. TerrellClemson	1	0	0	0	0
Justin FosterClemson	1	0	0	0	0
Ryan CarterClemson	0	0	0	1	0
Matt BahrKent State	9	6	1	0	0
Cepeda PhillipsKent State	7	2	0	0	0
Jamal ParkerKent State	6	4	0	2	0
Manny Lawrence-BurkeKent State	6	2	0.5	0	0
Jon CunninghamKent State	6	0	0	0	0
Nick FaulknerKent State	5	3	1	1	0
Miles DanielKent State	4	3	0	0	0
Jerrell FosterKent State	4	2	0	0	0
Jim JonesKent State	4	2	0	0	0
Jordan RobinsonKent State	4	1	0.5	0	0
Quan Robinson Jr.Kent State	3	2	0	0	0
James AlexanderKent State	3	1	0	0	0
Sam ThomasKent State	3	0	0.5	0	0
Demetrius MondayKent State	2	1	0	1	0
Jontey ByrdKent State	2	1	0	0	0
Erik SimpsonKent State	2	1	0	0	0
Carlos PickettKent State	2	1	0	0	0
Theo EboigbeKent State	2	1	0	0	0
Akeam PetersKent State	2	1	0	0	0
Kesean GambleKent State	2	1	0	0	0
Matt BellKent State	2	0	0	0	0
Alex HoagKent State	1	1	0	0	0
Dominic HillKent State	1	1	0	0	0
Joey PalumboKent State	1	1	0	0	0
Elvis HinesKent State	1	1	0	1	0
Devante LeeKent State	1	0	0	0	0
John Henry BronczekKent State	1	0	0.5	0	0
Danny JohnsonKent State	1	0	0	0	0
KJ SheraldKent State	1	0	0	0	0
Anthony McKayKent State	1	0	0	0	0

Interceptions

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Quan Robinson Jr.Kent State	1	10	0

Kick Returns

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG
Cornell PowellClemson	1	22	22.0	22
Kavious PriceKent State	2	39	19.5	20
Zaquon TysonKent State	2	33	16.5	20

Kicking

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Greg HuegelClemson	0/0	0.0	0	7/7	7
Alex SpenceClemson	0/0	0.0	0	1/1	1
Shane HynesKent State	1/1	100.0	37	0/0	3

Punt Returns

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG
Ray-Ray McCloudClemson	2	14	7.0	9
Amari RodgersClemson	1	7	7.0	7
Amir TrappClemson	1	5	5.0	5

Punting

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG
Will SpiersClemson	1	49	49.0	49
Carson KingClemson	1	49	49.0	49
Derek AdamsKent State	11	511	46.5	66

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

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