Matt Connolly is the senior writer for ClemsonSports.com. He has covered college football in South Carolina for more than a decade, including spending the past 5-plus years on the Clemson beat. He previously worked at The State newspaper (Columbia, S.C.) and Herald-Journal (Spartanburg, S.C.). He placed in the top 10 in beat writing in the national Associated Press Sports Editors contest in 2019 and 2020.