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CLEMSON -- Being severely short-handed didn't prevent Clemson from delivering a swift and crushing backhand to the face of severely overmatched opposition.

No suspense was expected, and none delivered in the Tigers' 61-3 mauling of The Citadel on Military Appreciation Day at Memorial Stadium.

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This was about getting well and getting big-play confidence for the next two weeks in Columbia and Charlotte.

And getting the stars of the future in on the deep ball fun doesn't hurt, either.

A matchup against a struggling FCS team came at an ideal time as the Tigers were able to rest a large cluster of important players including Dexter Lawrence, Mitch Hyatt, Kendall Joseph and Tre Lamar.

The Tigers, who reached 10 wins for the seventh consecutive season, will be significant favorites in the regular-season finale against South Carolina. They'll also be favored to take care of Miami and bring home their third consecutive ACC title.

But this team has been battered with bumps, bruises and tweaks -- particularly on defense. Getting a weekend of rest means Brent Venables' group will have a better chance of playing in the backfields of the Gamecocks and Hurricanes.

Of equal importance Saturday was getting Kelly Bryant and the passing game some confidence and momentum. Bryant has been more successful this year than most everyone envisioned, but some of the misfires and tentativeness in recent weeks needed to be resolved.

The goal was quite evident from the beginning: Go deep early and often.

On the first drive, Bryant had Deon Cain open over the middle on an intermediate route but chose to chuck it deep into coverage. The ball fell incomplete.

On third-and-20, Cain managed to get behind the defense and Bryant found him for a 53-yard strike that began the scoring.

That was the theme of the day, for the starters and the backups. Zerrick Cooper and Hunter Johnson came out chucking, too, and the beneficiaries were Cain and freshman Tee Higgins. They combined for 318 of the Tigers' 467 receiving yards and three of the five touchdowns through the air.

Bryant wasn't perfect -- still off on a few throws -- but he was crisp overall while playing for most of the first half.

"Great rhythm, great tempo, good decisions," Dabo Swinney said of Bryant. "Between our run and pass game, he executed the offense very well."

Where in different circumstances Bryant might've exited earlier, on this day he he was in for five possessions before giving way to Cooper with 2:54 left in the first half and the score 31-0.

The offense produced 285 yards when Bryant was in, and 230 came through the air on a 17-of-22 clip. He hit Hunter Renfrow for a slip-screen score for 12 yards in the first quarter, T.J. Chase for a 13-yard strike in the second quarter, and he might've added another had D.J. Greenlee not slipped and fallen on a play intended for him in the second quarter. Bryant took a sack on that play and the Tigers settled for a field goal.

Coming in, the Tigers ranked 103rd nationally in passing plays of 20 yards or more with just 24. After totaling five such plays over the past three games, they had six through three quarters Saturday -- three by Cain, and three by Higgins.

Cain, who had some drops against Florida State and N.C. State, looked like an elite playmaker in totaling five catches for 140 yards.

Higgins looked like an elite playmaker of the not-too-distant figure in totaling 178 yards and two touchdowns on six catches. The first was a 32-yarder with five seconds left in the first half, after the underthrown ball by Cooper was batted twice by defenders in the end zone.

Higgins' second score came on a one-handed catch-and-run for 78 yards in the third quarter on a beautiful ball thrown by Johnson. Receivers coach Jeff Scott said Higgins had been making those types of plays in practice for a while now, and the coaches were frustrated he hadn't yet broken through in a game.

Until Tee Time came in the 11th game.

"It's one thing to do it in practice," Scott said. "It's another to come into games and do it."

Swinney: "It's just a matter of time before he does what y'all saw today. It's just a matter of time."

Johnson, the freshman from Indiana, was the third quarterback off the bench behind Bryant and Cooper. But he looked crisp, confident and accurate while completing seven of eight passes for 144 yards. His other big one came to Cain, hitting him in perfect stride for a 41-yard gain.

The Bulldogs totaled 216 yards and 10 first downs on 62 plays. Venables said he's optimistic about the injured guys returning to their normal selves after the time off.

"Going into next week, I think we'll really be pretty healthy," he said.

Clemson had 662 yards, and its three quarterbacks combined to complete 31 of 41 passes for 479 yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions.

So now there are bigger fish to fry -- and, the offense hopes, more big plays in Columbia and Charlotte.

"Our goal today was really to create some momentum," Swinney said. "We talked a lot about finishing strong. It's all right there."

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