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Clemson uses powerful running attack to rout N.C. State

Sep 22, 2007 - 11:51 PM RALEIGH, North Carolina (Ticker) -- Clemson got its running game unleashed against the worst rushing defense in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

James Davis and C.J. Spiller each surpassed the century mark, leading the 15th-ranked Tigers to a 42-20 victory over North Carolina State on Saturday.

Davis rushed for 166 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries, while Spiller added 114 yards and a score on 21 carries after being held to minus-one yard in last week's win over Furman.

"We knew we had to come here and run the ball," Davis said. "One thing we had to do was establish the running game, and we did that today."

In their first three games, the Tigers (4-0, 2-0 ACC Atlantic) averaged just 125 yards on the ground - a total they surpassed early in the second quarter against North Carolina State.

Overall, Clemson rushed for 340 yards Saturday while rolling up 608 yards of total offense. It marks the sixth time in school history the Tigers amassed more than 600 yards.

"The holes might have been a little bit bigger today than they possibly were in some of the other games that we played," Tigers coach Tommy Bowden said. "That kind of helps your vision."

Cullen Harper also played well for Clemson, completing 25-of-39 passes for 268 yards and two touchdowns.

The junior quarterback has completed 69.2 percent of his passes in his first four starts without throwing an interception. He came into Saturday's game ranked fourth in the nation in passing efficiency.

Harper tossed an 11-yard TD pass to Spiller in the first quarter and a three-yard scoring strike to Davis in the second period as the Tigers built a 27-14 halftime lead.

North Carolina State (1-3, 0-2) has dropped 10 of its last 11 games and appears to be facing a major rebuilding project under first-year coach Tom O'Brien.

The Wolfpack snapped a nine-game losing streak last week with a 38-17 victory over Wofford of the Football Championship Subdivision.

After Clemson took a 7-0 lead on Harper's TD pass to Spiller 3 1/2 minutes into the contest, Darnell Blackman excited the crowd by returning the ensuing kickoff 99 yards for a score.

But the Wolfpack had no answers for the Tigers' offense, which moved the ball at will. Clemson opened a 37-14 lead on Davis' one-yard TD run with 4:06 left in the third quarter.

N.C. State closed to 37-20 on Daniel Evans' nine-yard TD pass to Blackman with 8:29 left in the fourth quarter.

The Tigers methodically put away the contest with a 14-play, 72-yard march that consumed seven minutes. Mark Buchholz capped the drive with a 25-yard field goal, his fourth of the game.

Evans completed 16-of-25 passes for 123 yards with a touchdown and interception.

"It's hard to have any positives when you get beat like this," N.C. State coach Tom O'Brien said. "We have a lot of work to do. We have to go back, look at the tape, get back to the practice field and work to get better."