CLEMSON — Coastal Carolina disguised itself as Appalachian State for a brief moment Saturday, before receding to the look Clemson expected — a traditional homecoming opponent.

After a lethargic opening quarter, the Tigers got on track to rout the Chanticleers, 49-3, on Halloween at Death Valley.

“Do you have a chance to beat Clemson? I don’t know,” said David Bennett, the Coastal coach and former Clemson graduate assistant under Danny Ford.

“It would be more of a miracle than Appalachian State beating Michigan.”

With a pivotal ACC Atlantic contest looming next week against Florida State — the Seminoles (4-4, 2-3 ACC) trail the Tigers (5-3, 3-2) by a game — the Tigers’ goals were simply to remain focused and healthy in picking up a win against a Football Championship Subdivision opponent.

Instead, about the worst possible scenario for the Clemson developed minutes into Saturday’s game.

During Clemson’s first defensive position, following the first of two Kyle Parker interceptions, Da’Quan Bowers had to be helped off the field, favoring his left knee.

Bowers is perhaps the Tigers’ most valuable defensive player. He left for the training room and reappeared on the sideline in the second half aided by crutches.

The team says Bowers has a sprained PCL (posterior cruciate ligament).

“He’s OK,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said. “He’s fine. We got a real good report back on him. He probably could have gone back in and played.

“We’ll be a healthy football team going into (Florida State) this week. It’s good in that regard. We were able to rest C.J. (Spiller), rest Jacoby (Ford) and a lot of those other guys in the second half.”

The margin allowed Clemson to rest C.J. Spiller, who entered with Heisman hopes and a hurting toe, touching the ball just five times from scrimmage for 27 yards and a touchdown.

The margin also allowed Swinney to play his reserves, including back-up quarterback Willy Korn.

Korn played in his first extended action of the season, registering his first passing and rushing touchdowns of the season.

And even without Bowers, the Tigers, as expected, dominated a Coastal line that had struggled pass protecting against FCS opponents.

Ricky Sapp and company limited Coastal quarterbacks Jamie Childers, a Wando product, and Zach MacDowall, a Wake Forest transfer, to 3 of 14 passing for 12 yards and two interceptions.

Even without Bowers, Coastal didn’t score until Justin Durham hit a 31-yard field goal with 4:02 to play.

The Chanticleers (3-5) entered having already been shut out by Kent State, 18-0, this season and losing two straight to Liberty and Stony Brook.

Nine of Coastal’s possessions ended with punts or turnovers.

While Swinney said he liked the overall energy of the team, he noted the Tigers were sluggish early.

The Tigers struggled to move the Chanticleers off the line of scrimmage in the first quarter, rushing for a middling 42 yards on 10 carries.

Rather than recording first down after first down with ease against an FCS foe, the Tigers faced seven third-and fourth-down situations in the first quarter, needing a CCU off-sides penalty on fourth-and-one to extend a drive and record their first score of the game a Jacoby Ford 36-yard pass from Parker.

“We have to have a better week of preparation,” said Parker, who complete just 7 of 16 passes for 70 yards and two touchdowns. “We need to focus more.”

Clemson went on to score touchdowns on seven of its next nine possessions, including three touchdowns in a 3:20 span during the second quarter to give the Tigers a 28-0 lead.

Seven different Tigers scored in the game.

The Tigers rushed for a season-best 252 yards, and they might need similar results next week. Florida State scored 45 points in a victory against N.C.

State on Saturday, and FSU quarterback Christian Ponder continued his outstanding play.

“Florida State is scoring a lot of points,” Swinney said. “They’re as good an offense as we’ll see all year, and they have as good a quarterback as we’ll see.”

 

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