Dabo Swinney praises elite Clemson freshmen for performance vs. Georgia Tech

Clemson freshmen made plays all over the field on Saturday against Georgia Tech.

The Tigers picked off Yellow Jackets quarterback Haynes King four times on Saturday, and all four picks were made by freshmen.

Three of the four interceptions were by true freshmen in Avieon Terrell, Shelton Lewis and Khalil Barnes. The other pick was by a redshirt freshman in Kylon Griffin.

Needless to say, Dabo Swinney was pleased with the way the freshmen, as well as the entire Clemson defense played in the 42-21 win over Georgia Tech.

“It’s been awesome. They’ve settled in. … They’re playing great, man. They’ve played great all year, really, but they’ve just gotten better and better,” Swinney said during the broadcast. “You see our young players emerging. What a great play by Avieon Terrell, Shelton Lewis. Two true freshmen out there. Barnes with an interception.”

Freshmen also made plenty of plays on the offensive side of the ball. Receiver Tyler Brown made an incredible one-handed touchdown catch in the first half, while redshirt freshman tight end Josh Sapp also caught a touchdown.

“Two of the best plays you’re going to see, probably all year, came from freshmen,” Swinney said. “A one-handed interception [by Terrell] and a one-handed touchdown by Tyler Brown. I’m just proud of them. Guys are playing hard. They’re playing tough. Just got to finish.”

Tyler Brown led Clemson with seven catches for 41 yards in the win. He had an excellent game for Tigers quarterback Cade Klubnik, who tossed four touchdown passes on the afternoon.

In addition to Brown and Sapp, Klubnik also threw touchdown passes to Beaux Collins and Jake Briningstool.

Clemson controlled the game throughout, building a 21-7 halftime lead and pushing its lead to 42-7 early in the fourth quarter, before Georgia Tech finally had a little bit of success on offense.

The Yellow Jackets finished the game with 254 yards of offense but 154 of those came in the fourth quarter.

Georgia Tech’s only seven points of the game until the fourth quarter were set up by a failed fake punt by the Tigers in the first quarter.

With the win on Saturday, Clemson has now won back-to-back games, after starting the season 4-4. Dabo Swinney’s team also clinched bowl availability with the win.

Clemson will look to win its third consecutive game next Saturday when it hosts North Carolina.

Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. The game will be televised by either ESPN or ABC.