Defensive tackle Payton Page shook his head when asked how far his freshman self, who weighed over 400 pounds when he first arrived at Clemson, might have run on an interception.
“About two yards,” he said. “He wouldn’t have made it far at all.” The slimmer, 315-pound Page, now a senior, took it 57 yards for a touchdown Saturday as No. 17 Clemson easily beat The Citadel 51-14.
Page reached out to catch the ball, saw the open field, and started running towards the end zone.
“I looked forward and saw I had like 60 more yards to go,” said Page, who was honored in a pregame ceremony on Senior Day.
“I feel like all the work I put in shows,” said Page, who’s started all 11 games this season. “I felt I read that screen pretty good and made that play.”
The pick-6 was the first touchdown by a Clemson defensive lineman since 2019 when Logan Rudolph returned a fumble 39 yards for a touchdown against Boston College.
“When you get a chance to see one of those plays, you better enjoy it,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said.
It was part of a 35-0 first half for Clemson (9-2), which still had faint hopes of reaching the Atlantic Coast Conference title game and the College Football Playoff.
Quarterback Cade Klubnik threw for 198 yards and three touchdowns while backup running back Jay Haynes scored twice on the ground as the Tigers moved to 39-0 all-time against FCS teams.
Clemson, which finished ACC play at 7-1 with last week’s 24-20 win at Pittsburgh, needs No. 11 Miami to lose at Syracuse next week to have a chance at playing for the league title for the eighth time in 10 seasons.
Clemson came out strong, looking more like the offense that had averaged more than 48 points during a six-game win streak earlier this season, instead of the one that had not scored more than 24 points in any of its last three games.
Page wasn’t the only defender to score. Clemson’s All-American senior linebacker Barrett Carter, playing his second-to-last home game, had a 4-yard touchdown run to end the scoring.
“I told Coach Swinney a while ago when I decided to come back, I needed an offensive touchdown,” said Carter, who played tailback in high school. “It was so surreal.”
And Page played a part in Carter’s touchdown, too, as he helped with blocking out of the backfield. “I blocked pretty good on that one, too.”
The Citadel (5-7), from the FCS Southern Conference, extended its 19-game losing streak to Clemson, which dates back to 1932.
Haynes got most of the work after starter Phil Mafah reached 1,000 yards rushing with three runs in the first quarter. Haynes had touchdown runs of 70 and 9 yards.
