CLEMSON, S.C. – All-America defensive tackle Christian Wilkins tossed doughnuts and showed off a victory cigar.
Thousands of roaring fans turned out Saturday on a chilly, overcast morning as the Clemson Tigers celebrated their second national football title in three seasons. Spectators stood seven or eight deep along the championship parade route.
Freshman quarterback Trevor Lawrence, who threw for 347 yards and three touchdowns in the College Football Playoff final against Alabama, rode a flat-bed truck with dozens of teammates.
The parade ended outside their stadium at the spot where players line up to run down the hill before games. Coach Dabo Swinney accepted the Cotton Bowl trophy – the Tigers topped Notre Dame 30-3 in that CFP semifinal – and the national championship prize in a mostly full Death Valley.
Wilkins, Clemson’s heart and soul this season, rode with a box of doughnuts, throwing some to the crowd along the way. He and fellow All-America defensive lineman Clelin Ferrell were caught on the stadium video board taking victory cigars from wrappers and putting the unlit stogies to their mouths as they broke out in conspiratorial laughter.