Tiger Nation – we’ve had quite the week from our football and basketball teams. From bowl announcements to double OTs, it’s been chock-full of great moments. Let’s take a look at some of the biggest highlights and news that went down in Clemson this past week.
The Most Orange Orange Bowl in History
This past Sunday, the college football bowl selection committee officially announced that the Clemson Tigers (uniform colors – orange and white) will take on the Tennessee Volunteers (uniform colors – orange and white) on December 30th for the Orange Bowl. This will be an incredibly evenly matched game, as Tennessee enters the game ranked sixth in the country and Clemson enters at seventh. The Orange Bowl also provides a chance for the ACC champions to punch back against the SEC and show that Dabo’s squad can hang with any team in the country. Tennessee’s offense will be without their long-time starter Hendon Hooker, who suffered a season-ending injury. They’ll have to rely on their backup Joe Milton III to take over the QB duties.
Chase Hunter: Member of the SWAT Team
This rejection was the perfect metaphor to describe Clemson’s performance against Wake Forest: unreal. Chase Hunter swatted that ball from Cameron Hildreth so hard, it almost warranted checking the court to see if that ball left a crater in the hardwood, or at least if he left a permanent hand mark on the ball. This wasn’t the only great hustle play from that night, as the Tigers kept up an intense and dominant ballgame throughout the entire forty minutes. Clemson moved to 7-2 on the season and are now riding a three game win streak.
98 Yard Pick-Six from ACC Championship Game
You’re telling me that on UNC’s goal line, we ended up scoring?? This defense is insane. To be more exact, Nathaniel Wiggins is insane. As you can see, Wiggins was ever-so slippery on this interception as not a single Tar Heel could bring him down. It’s hard to say what was better: the interception or the reaction of North Carolina fans as a cloud of despair washed over them after #20 crossed the pylon. Besides crushing the hopes and dreams of everyone in Chapel Hill, Wiggins also set a record for the longest interception returned for a touchdown in ACC Championship history. This was also one of three turnovers the Clemson defense forced on the match, and we couldn’t have asked for a better outcome to this one-of-a-kind game.
PJ Hall Forces Double OT Thriller in LJC
What is the best kind of basketball, you ask? Free basketball – and there was no shortage of that last Tuesday when PJ Hall took matters into his own hands and dropped in the deuce to give the Tigers a shot in double OT vs. the Penn State Nittany Lions. Solid post-play is somewhat of a lost art in today’s era of basketball, so it was invigorating to see Hall bully his way to the basket for the lay-in with five seconds left in OT. He had 22 points in only 25 minutes of play. It doesn’t get more efficient than that. Clemson 101 – Penn State 94.
Cade Klubnik Holding His Own
What a way for the back-up QB to step up and show why he is the real deal on this Clemson football team. Cade Klubnik had an incredibly admirable performance, going 20/24 with 279 passing yards, one passing TD (as shown below), a rush TD, and zero turnovers. The future is bright for Cade, as it appears he’ll be doing this a lot more.
A great week was had, with many great weeks to come. Stay involved with the Clemson Tigers community on the Geneva app!