Clemson Punter Closes Georgia Tech Route at Quarterback

Remember the one where Clemson was winning by so many points they let their punter get under center for an entire drive? You don’t have to think back too far; it just happened on Saturday during the Tigers’ Week 7 game at Georgia Tech.

Clemson built a 52-7 first-half lead and had the game in the bag even earlier. By the time their final drive rolled around, two quarterbacks besides Trevor Lawrence had led touchdown drives and they were up 73-7. So what do you do? You put your punter in at QB, of course.

Will Spiers, a senior who’s been Clemson’s starting punter since 2017, got under center with a little less than six minutes to play and went to work. The staff didn’t just ask Spiers to hand the ball off and kill clock either. No, ole No. 48 got to sling it around a little bit and even converted a 3rd-and-7 by completing a 12-yard wide receiver screen to sophomore Drew Swinney, son of head coach Dabo Swinney.

He finished 2-of-3 for 13 yards then stayed on the field to punt the ball away one final time after his offense’s drive stalled.

Prior to his QB turn in Week 7, Spiers had two pass attempts during his four-year career, both during the 2017 season. Per the Clemson Tigers official website, Spiers lettered at both punter and quarterback in high school.

Clemson, the top team in the country, won 73-7 to improve to 5-0 (4-0 ACC). They’ll host Syracuse in Week 8. The Orange just lost to independent Liberty by double digits so there’s a chance that game gets a little crazy as well.