TALLAHASSEE, FL - Clemson gave Florida State their worst home loss in history at Doak Campbell Stadium this past Saturday with a 59-10 thumping of the down-trodden Seminoles.
Late in the second quarter, Christian Wilkins got a chance to come into the game as a running back and score the first rushing touchdown in Clemson history for a defensive lineman.
"It was a lot of fun. We worked on that all week. It was a fun experience. I'm glad I got to do that definitely."
"Definitely wanna thank Trevor. That was a nice hand-off too. I was a little nervous about that. But it was a nice move, easy hand-off. I definitely wanna thank the other running backs too. I potentially took a touchdown away from them and they were all happy for me and they were all excited."
"I'm the sixth string running back right now. I was able to get it done. I wasn't really surprised. I was ready for it once we started getting closer cause I knew we might have to go with it but I'm glad I got the chance."
Wilkins finished the game with a one-yard rushing touchdown, two tackles (0.5 tackles-for-loss) and one quarterback hurry. He became the first defensive lineman in Clemson history to score a rushing touchdown.
"I did not know that. I'm definitely honored to be the first. That's cool."
In Wilkins career at Clemson, he has now caught a touchdown pass and rushed for one score, leaving him just a touchdown pass away from the offensive 'cycle.'
"I know this was kinda for coach to shut me up cause I been in his ear a lot about playing quarterback or getting on offense. I'm still gonna be at him next week and the week after and the week after that until he lets me play quarterback. But I was definitely happy for this one though for sure."
Wilkins is known for being the first guy on the field after every Tiger touchdown to celebrate with his teammates and 'Simba' them as he would call it. He was asked about the celebration after his score.
"I'm just having fun and celebrating with my guys...I was thinking about dunking the ball on the goalpost but [Dexter Lawrence] grabbed me before I got a chance to so I was a little upset about that. But Dex did show me some love and all the guys were definitely happy for me."
On the defensive side of the ball, Wilkins didn't rack up a ton of numbers but the Tiger's defense was still abundantly successful in almost every aspect.
"Personally, I wasn't expecting it to get like this. Obviously, I thought we had done well and performed and expected to get a win. But Florida State is a good team with a lot of good talent so it's definitely a surprise that we were able to win the way we did. But we put a lot of preparation in each week. We put in a lot of time and work really hard and we challenge each other every day."
"We definitely did a good job defensively. Guys were locked in. Other than the field goal and the touchdown, I feel like the second unit did really well in their time out there and it's just good for guys to get experience and see some of the younger guys make plays."
A media member would ask him later about some comments that Florida State head coach Willie Taggert made in his postgame press conference about players 'quitting' during the game and if Wilkins noticed that or had any sense of what the Seminoles were going through at the time.
“I was just so caught up in what we were doing and the success we were having, cheering on the guys who were getting an opportunity that I really didn’t focus on that. I didn’t pay attention that much. But I’m just excited for the guys who got the opportunity that don’t necessarily get as much on a regular basis. Just enjoying this cause this doesn’t happen a lot. For myself and the other group of seniors, for this to be our fourth win against Florida State in a row, which has never been done before, I’m definitely just honored and it speaks volumes of our program. The special guys we have and the special group of seniors we have.”
Earlier in the week at ACC Operation Basketball in Charlotte, NC, we sat down with an FSU basketball player, Terance Mann, who told us that he was close friends with Wilkins from their days playing AAU basketball together. At one point in the interview he predicted a Florida State win against the Tigers so I asked Christian what he thought about that...
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