South Carolina State Played So Bad Versus Clemson They Were Literally Giving Them Touchdowns

Clemson (3-0) faced South Carolina State (0-3) for an interstate showdown on Saturday, and it didn't go very well for Bulldogs from the jump. And that's being modest saying that about how they got destroyed by the No. 5 Tigers.

In the first quarter, after Clemson increased the lead 14-0, South Carolina State kick returner Ahmaad Harris caught the ball in the end zone and mindlessly threw the ball to the referee behind him without officially taking a knee or declaring a fair catch. In the clip above, you can visibly see that the referee was dumbfounded and moved out of the way due to the lack of communication from Harris, and Clemson's special team ran into their end zone to jump on top of the live ball for a touchdown.

The mental meltdown didn't stop there for the Bulldogs. The Tigers completely demoralized them for a 45-0 score at halftime. It got to the point where the coaching staff from both teams declared a mercy rule and shorted the second half by 6 minutes, with the remaining two 15-minute quarters were lessened to 12-minutes. In the second half, Clemson scored two more touchdowns, and the final score read a whopping 59-0.

So did the Bulldogs coach Buddy Pough expect this routing of his squad from the Tigers? Yes. Earlier this week, he reported to The State newspaper, "We want them to just kind of come out and just kind of go on through the motions and get on out of there, which would probably be the best case scenario for us."

And to add more sympathy for the ass-kicking, the Bulldogs reportedly got $300,000 from Clemson. I guess it pays to play that horrible against a national championship-caliber team.