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RALEIGH -- They stood around under their tents or milled about in the gravel parking lots, listening to the radio and throwing a football. A lot of N.C. State's fans decided not to come back into Carter-Finley Stadium after halftime of the Wolfpack's game against Clemson.

They had seen enough.

The Tigers' offense was unstoppable in the first half and didn't slow down in the second, either, as Clemson dominated the Wolfpack 42-20. Saturday's victory moved the Tigers to 4-0 (2-0 ACC) for the first time since 2000. The loss showed that the Wolfpack (1-3 overall, 0-2 ACC), a preseason bowl hopeful, is actually squarely in the middle of rebuilding.

"We're not a very good football team," said first-year State coach Tom O'Brien. "It's pretty obvious after today."

And it could have been worse.

Clemson lost one touchdown when Jacoby Ford was ruled to be out of bounds on a catch in the end zone (replays appeared to show that Ford was in bounds). A 36-yard touchdown run by James Davis was called back due to holding. And the Tigers also intercepted a pass only to fumble it back to the Wolfpack at the State 11.

All of that and Clemson still managed to roll up 608 yards of total offense -- 340 of that on 50 carries -- and score on eight of 12 possessions.

For the Wolfpack, there was a sad sense of inevitability each time the Tigers had the ball. When Clemson wanted to flex its muscles, it ran James Davis up the middle, ripping off seven to eight yards at a time. When it wanted to confuse the Wolfpack, it used motion and shifts and invariably freed up a receiver for quarterback Cullen Harper to hit with an easy pass. When it wanted to use its speed, it ran C.J. Spiller around the ends or threw in a reverse to Ford, a sprinter/wideout.

"They could have done whatever they wanted to do today," O'Brien said. "We didn't tackle them. We didn't stop them."

Perhaps the most dispiriting drive was Clemson's last. With the game already in hand, the Tigers ran the ball 12 straight times. Even without the element of surprise, Clemson marched 72 yards, down to the State 8, before settling for a field goal

"It's the most frustrating feeling in the world," said Wolfpack linebacker Ernest Jones, who said the experience was like, "a bully that just keeps picking on you."

Things wouldn't have been quite so morose for State if it had shown any sort of a spark on offense. But with the exception of a 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Darrell Blackman and one second-quarter drive led by Daniel Evans, the Wolfpack was pretty much dormant on that side of the ball.

Quarterback Harrison Beck completed one of six passes and threw an interception before leaving the game with a right knee injury. O'Brien said the injury did not appear to be serious, adding that more would be known later today.

Beck's replacement, Evans, wasn't much better. Given a shot at perhaps regaining his starting position, he responded with that one drive (and another score when the game was already decided) and little else. One play in particular stood out. With John Dunlap open deep on a flea-flicker in the second quarter, Evans threw a fluttering pass that was short and well to the left. It fell into the waiting arms of Clemson safety Michael Hamlin.

"We need to get a better performance out of that position if we're going to be any good," O'Brien said of the quarterback play.

"Good" seems pretty far away for the Wolfpack right now. Still, Jones was able to find a silver lining in the defeat.

"I guess we're at the bottom right now," he said. "We can't really go down any further."

Contact Jim Young at 373-7016 or jyoung@news-record.com

Clemson 17 10 10 5 -- 42

N.C. State 7 7 0 6 -- 20

Clem--Spiller 11 pass from Harper (Buchholz kick)

NCSt--Blackman 99 kickoff return (Hauschka kick)

Clem--FG Buchholz 28

Clem--Spiller 44 run (Buchholz kick)

Clem--Davis 3 pass from Harper (Buchholz kick)

NCSt--A.Brown 17 run (Hauschka kick)

Clem--FG Buchholz 46, :00.

Clem--FG Buchholz 29

Clem--Davis 1 run (Buchholz kick)

NCSt--Blackman 9 pass from D.Evans (pass failed)

Clem--2-point defensive conversion by Hamlin

Clem--FG Buchholz 25

A--56,903.

Clemson N.C. State

First downs 32 15

Rushes-yards 50-340 23-55

Passing 268 147

Comp-Att-Int 25-39-0 19-34-3

Return Yards 42 18

Punts-Avg. 2-48.5 6-36.5

Fumbles-Lost 0-0 0-0

Penalties-Yards 8-65 4-26

Time of Possession 36:49 23:11

Individual Statistics

RUSHING--Clemson, Davis 24-166, Spiller 21-114, Ford 2-60, Harper 2-3, Team 1-(minus 3). N.C. State, A.Brown 19-66, Eugene 2-8, Beck 1-(minus 6), D.Evans 1-(minus 13).

PASSING--Clemson, Harper 25-39-0-268. N.C. State, D.Evans 16-25-1-123, Beck 1-6-1-9, Burke 2-3-1-15.

RECEIVING--Clemson, Kelly 8-95, Ford 4-48, Davis 4-13, Taylor 3-53, Spiller 3-34, Linthicum 2-19, Palmer 1-6. N.C. State, Stone 5-37, Blackman 4-39, Davis 3-20, Kushner 2-20, Dunlap 2-16, Bowens 1-19, A.Brown 1-4, Eugene 1-(minus 8).