Clemson sophomore Tajh Boyd threw for 242 yards and three touchdowns in his first collegiate start, and the Tigers rallied from a halftime deficit to pull away for a 43-19 home win over Troy on Saturday.

After a 32-yard touchdown pass to Sammy Watkins on the second play from scrimmage, Boyd had a somewhat rocky time the rest of the first half. But he was solid after halftime, throwing a 55-yard touchdown pass to Dwayne Allen and a 5-yard scoring strike to Jaron Brown in the third quarter to put the Tigers ahead for good.

Andre Ellington, who entered as Clemson's all-time leader with 6.33 yards per rush, carried 18 times for 112 yards, an average of 6.2 yards per carry.

Clemson's defense also stiffened after halftime against a Troy team that has averaged at least 33 points per game in each of the past four seasons. After allowing a scoring drive that gave the Trojans (0-1) a 16-13 halftime lead, the Tigers (1-0) allowed only three points in the second half.

Troy quarterback Corey Robinson, last year's Sun Belt Freshman of the Year, was 22-of-40 for 259 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

Clemson improved to 6-0 against Sun Belt teams and has outscored those teams 255-89. This was the first meeting between Clemson and Troy.