Clemson Tigers Football News: Preparing For 2021 Cheez-It Bowl Vs. Iowa State, Streeter On Phommachanh Entering Transfer Portal, More

The Clemson Tigers won’t be appearing in the final four this year, something the school and its fans simply aren’t accustomed to.

Instead, it’s the top ranked Alabama Crimson Tide, Cincinnati Bearcats, Michigan Wolverines and Georgia Bulldogs rounding out the College Football Playoffs. The Alabama-Cincinnati and Michigan-Georgia games will be held on New Year’s Eve.

Regression was expected following the departures of quarterback Trevor Lawrence and running back Travis Etienne, who were drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars at No. 1 and No. 25 overall, respectively.

But Dabo Swinney and company pieced together a mostly stellar 2021 campaign, finishing with a 9-3 record while placing 19th in the AP’s most recent Top 25 Poll.

Clemson will wrap up their 2021 season with a showdown against the Iowa State Cyclones for the 2021 Cheez-It Bowl. The game will be held Wednesday (5:25 p.m. EST) at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida.

The Cyclones finished the regular season with a 7-5 record. Their most previous outing was a blowout 48-14 win over the TCU Horned Frogs on Nov. 26. The Tigers are currently listed as a 1.5-point favorite against the Cyclones. College football fans can see Wynnbet for NCAAF Odds.

Brandon Streeter “Excited For” Taisun Phommachanh’s New Opportunity

Earlier this month, Clemson quarterback Taison Phommachanh officially entered the transfer portal, hoping to land a starting opportunity elsewhere.

Phommachanh served as the backup to DJ Uiagalelei, who finished the 2021 season with 2,059 passing yards and nine touchdowns against as many interceptions.

Tigers offensive coordinator Brandon Streeter only had nice things to say about Phommachanh regarding his decision to enter the transfer portal.

“Well, you know, in this day and age, with that transfer portal, you know, it’s not a surprise,” Streeter said,” per Zach Lentz of Sports Illustrated. “First off, I’ll say this about Taisun (Phommachanh), what an unbelievable young man he is. Comes from a great family, and he just felt like he needed another opportunity and another kind of re-start somewhere else. So, I’m excited for him to have another opportunity; my full support. He did some good things, there’s no doubt about it.”

In limited playing time, Phommachanh completed 11 of 19 pass attempts for 131 yards, one touchdown and an interception. He also posted 69 rushing yards on 11 carries as well as one rushing TD.

Clemson wide receiver Frank Ladson Jr. also entered the transfer portal earlier this month. In three years at the school, Ladson Jr. compiled 31 catches for 428 yards and six touchdowns.

Former Tigers Tee Higgins & Hunter Renfrow Have Monster Days In Week 16

A pair of former Clemson wide receivers had huge days for their respective NFL teams on Sunday afternoon.

In the Cincinnati Bengals’ Week 16 41-21 blowout win over the AFC North rival Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, Tee Higgins hauled in 12 receptions for 194 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Higgins, who was part of the 2018 Clemson national championship team, was drafted with the No. 33 pick by the Bengals in 2020. His teammate, quarterback Joe Burrow, had 525 passing yards in the win. That is the fourth-highest total ever in an NFL game.

<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>WHAT A GAME BY JOE BURROW 😤 <br><br>The fourth most passing yards in a game in NFL history. <a href=”https://t.co/3RgCcoPXXr”>pic.twitter.com/3RgCcoPXXr</a></p>&mdash; SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) <a href=”https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/1475217263615692800?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>December 26, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>

The 22-year-old Higgins has a team-leading 71 catches for 1,029 yards and six touchdowns.

Continuing his breakout year, Las Vegas Raiders wideout and Clemson product Hunter Renfrow reached a special milestone in his team’s 17-13 home victory against the Denver Broncos.

Renfrow caught three passes for 40 yards and a TD. He also notched his 90th reception of the season, becoming just the third Raider in history to reach the 90-catch plateau in a single year.

The other two? Hall of Famers Tim Brown and Jerry Rice.

Renfrow has already set career bests across the board in receptions (92), receiving yards (949), and touchdowns (six). He leads the Raiders in all three of those key receiving categories.

The Bengals moved to 9-6 on the season and control their own destiny for the AFC North division. As for the Raiders, they kept their slim playoff hopes alive by moving to 8-7 on the year with two games to go.

Needless to say, Higgins and Renfrow did their alma mater very proud again on Sunday.

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