Football

NO.22 CLEMSON UNLEASHES HISTORIC OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION IN 66-20 ROUT OF APP STATE

2024-09-08 04:50:20
0

By Trevor Groves

CLEMSON, SC - Wow, what a difference a week makes! I spent all week talking panicky Clemson fans off the ledge after a bad second half against No.1 Georgia last week. Like Dabo, I was encouraged by what I saw and had no doubt that the Tigers would show the country how good they really are in their home opener on Saturday night. I predicted a 41-13 rout, but not even I expected the offensive perfection we witnessed in Death Valley in the first half! After all, it was a historic half: the most points in a first quarter (35) in program history, the most first-half points (56) under Dabo and the most first-half yards (525) in program history. That should put to bed all the criticism we've been hearing all week about Cade Klubnik, Garrett Riley, the receivers and the offense! The Tigers scored touchdowns on all eight of their offensive possessions in the first half, and the first six scores were all by different players. This is after scoring just no touchdowns and just 3 points a week ago in Atlanta. I kept telling people not to draw conclusions from that because (a) it was the opener and (b) UGA arguably has the best defense in the country. I told people all week to relax and see what the offense did against App State on Saturday night, and boy was I right and then some.

Cade arguably played the best half of football by a quarterback in ACC history. In fact, according to ESPN, he is the first quarterback in at least 25 years to pass for 5 TD's, rush for 2 and complete 90 percent of his passes in a game. Cade did it in one half! He was 24-26 for 378 yards with 7 total touchdowns in the first half, and his night was done. Cade showed his leadership after the loss last week, telling his teammates in the locker room not to give up on him because he will never give up on them or himself. Well, he talked the talk and walked the walk on Saturday night. He finally put it all together for the first time since his MVP performance off the bench in the ACC Championship as a true freshman two years ago. It all began on the third play from scrimmage. On 3rd and 11, true freshman WR Bryant Wesco, who I reported would be making his first career start, got behind the secondary on a seam route, and Cade delivered a strike to Wesco in stride for a 76-yard touchdown, the first of his career, and just his second career catch. That play sent the Death Valley crowd into an absolute frenzy, and the flood gates burst open from that point on. It was like a chain reaction. On the next possession, the Tigers scored on just 6 plays. On the next, 3 plays again. I said at the end of the Georgia game last week that aside from the Tigers, no one was as upset about the outcome than App State because they knew that they were going to get an angry Clemson team in a night home opener after a week of hearing how bad they are. I even said that I felt sorry for App next week.

Briningstool had a monster game with 100 reception yards and 2 scores. Antonio Williams had another great game and also scored, and true freshman WR TJ Moore scored his first career touchdown like his classmate, Wesco. Both of the freshmen got into the Georgia game last week late and made their first career catches, and they proved tonight that they are ready for the bright lights. Mafah had an 83-yard touchdown run, the longest TD run for the Tigers since 2019, and Jay Haynes averaged 9.8 yards on his 5 carries.

Dabo and the Tigers started the day with heavy hearts after hearing the news that Diondre Overton tragically lost his life. Overton was a wide receiver on the 2016 and 2018 national championship teams, and I had the privilege to interview him many times. I even covered him in his high school Shrine Bowl along with Cornell Powell, who was on hand tonight with other members of the 2018 team. The Tigers paid tribute to Overton by having the two players wearing his #14 run down The Hill before the rest of the team. Dabo told us after the game that he is still in shock. Please send your prayers to the family and loved ones of Diondre!

He must have been smiling down on the Tigers tonight. This shot in the arm was just what the doctor ordered going into the bye week. And better still, the team won't get complacent, thinking that they are unbeatable because of what happened in Atlanta last week. Dabo could have scheduled a much easier opponent than App State, like an FCS team, for the opener instead of No.1 Georgia, and everyone would be talking about how great Clemson is with 2 blowout wins going into the bye. Instead, Dabo sought the challenge of playing the best team in the country away from home, and that exposure has made and will continue to make this team better.

The Tigers are relatively healthy going into the bye week. Peter Woods was shaken up on a cut block that Dabo thought was illegal, but Woods appeared to be alright. Tyler Brown rolled his ankle but should be fine. OG Marcus Tate, who was banged up last week, could have played tonight, but they held him to be safe. I asked Dabo about Trent Howard's status, and Dabo told me that he is day to day.

The Tigers' next game is NC State at home in two weeks, and I cannot wait to see if Cade and the offense can capitalize on the confidence and momentum from this game. I'll have more analysis in a bit. In the meantime, post-game interviews, highlights and notes are below!

WITH THE WIN...

Clemson earned its 799th all-time win to pull within one victory of becoming the 14th FBS program (and first ACC program) ever to win 800 games.
Clemson won its 21st consecutive home opener, further extending its school record past the previous mark of 17 from 1944-60.
Clemson improved to 99-17-8 all-time in home openers.
Clemson improved to 6-0 all-time against Appalachian State.
Clemson kept Appalachian State among the five programs against which Clemson has an undefeated all-time record with a minimum of five games played (6-0 vs. Appalachian State, 8-0 vs. Louisville, 6-0 vs. Newberry, 5-0 vs. South Carolina State and 5-0 vs. Western Carolina).
Clemson improved to 4-0 all-time in home openers against Appalachian State, including a 40-7 win in 1984, a 34-0 win in 1991 and a 23-12 win in 1997. Appalachian State is one of 44 different opponents Clemson has faced in a home opener all-time.
Clemson improved to 12-0 all-time in games against Sun Belt squads. It was Clemson’s first game against a Sun Belt team since 2018, a 38-7 win against Georgia Southern.
Clemson faced Appalachian State Head Coach Shawn Clark for the first time and improved to 164-73-3 all-time (and 47-7 since 2011) when facing a coach for the first time.
Clemson improved to 66-3 at Death Valley in the College Football Playoff era. Clemson trails Alabama by a half-game for the best home winning percentage in the nation in that span.
Clemson improved to 132-18 against AP-unranked teams under Dabo Swinney and is now 109-8 in those games since the start of the 2012 season.
Clemson improved to 40-4 in non-conference home games under Dabo Swinney. Clemson is now 30-1 against non-conference opponents in Death Valley since 2013.
Clemson improved to 50-11 in night games since 2015, including a 29-8 mark since 2018.
Clemson won its 21st consecutive night game in Death Valley, a streak that dates to the middle of the 2013 season. Clemson's 21-game home winning streak in night games is the second-longest active streak in the country.
Clemson improved to 24-3 under Dabo Swinney in night games in Death Valley.
Clemson improved to 35-9 in games following a loss under Swinney, including season openers following a loss in the previous season finale.
Clemson improved to 35-6 in games in which it ranks lower in the AP Poll than it did in its previous contest.
Clemson improved to 95-13 in regular season play since the start of the 2015 season.
Clemson improved to 43-8 in regular season non-conference games since 2011.
Clemson improved to 42-21-2 in games prior to regular season open dates since joining the ACC in 1953. Clemson is now 15-2 directly preceding regular season open dates since 2012.
Clemson has now won 115 of its last 120 games when leading at halftime.
Clemson improved to 136-4 since 2011 when leading after three quarters.
Clemson is now 81-6 when scoring first since 2015.
Clemson improved to 79-4 when winning the turnover margin since 2011.
Clemson is now 82-3 when rushing for 200+ yards under Dabo Swinney.
Clemson is now 62-1 when both passing and rushing for 200+ yards under Dabo Swinney. Overall, Clemson is 112-1-1 in program history when reaching those marks.
Clemson now had a 132-8 record when totaling more first downs than its opponent since 2011.
Clemson did not allow a sack and has now won 41 consecutive games when not allowing a sack since 2011.
Clemson improved to 39-1 since 2015 when intercepting multiple passes in a game.
Clemson has now won 114 of its last 115 games when holding teams under 23 points (dates to 2010).
Swinney (170) earned his 171st career win to match the career win totals of College Football Hall of Famers Wallace Wade (171-49-10) and Mark Richt (171-64).
Swinney improved to 38-5 all-time against teams from the state of North Carolina.

GAME NOTES

Clemson reached 700 yards of total offense for the seventh time in team history and for the first time since a 702-yard performance against Wofford in 2019.
Clemson’s 712 yards of offense were the sixth-most in school history. Its 460 passing yards also ranked sixth in school history.
Clemson’s 66 points tied for the 14th-most in school history. It was Clemson’s 25th game with 60 or more points all-time and its ninth such game under Dabo Swinney.
Clemson scored a touchdown on its first eight offensive possessions. Clemson was not held out of the end zone until the first drive of the second half.
It was the first time on record Clemson scored a touchdown on eight consecutive drives in a half. Clemson scored seven straight touchdowns to open the 1981 Wake Forest game before its eighth drive of the game was terminated only by the clock running out in the first half.
According to Stats Perform, Clemson’s performance marked the 17th time since 2012 that an FBS team scored a touchdown on eight consecutive drives against an FBS opponent.
Clemson reached 450 passing yards and 250 rushing yards in a game for the second time on record, joining its performance against SC State in 2014 (467 passing, 268 rushing).
Clemson recorded both 250 passing yards and 250 rushing yards in a game for the 23rd time since 1954 and the first time since last year’s Charleston Southern game. It was Clemson’s 16th such game under Dabo Swinney.
Clemson’s 56 first-half points were the program’s most on-record, surpassing its modern record of 52 set against Georgia Tech in 2020.
Clemson scored 35 points in the first quarter, setting a Clemson record for the most points in a first quarter and tying the school record for the most points in any quarter, tying the second quarter against Wake Forest in 1981, the third quarter against North Carolina in 2011 and the second quarter against Georgia Tech in 2020.
Clemson gained 525 yards in the first half, setting the record for the most yards gained in any half in school history. It surpassed the previous record of 487 set in the first half against Duke in 2012.
According to Stats Perform, Clemson’s 525 yards were the most by an FBS team against an FBS opponent since Utah State had 557 yards in a half against New Mexico on Oct. 27, 2018.
Clemson averaged 9.8 yards per play, the eighth-best mark in school history, its fifth-best mark under Dabo Swinney and its most since averaging 11.0 yards per play against Wofford in 2019. It was Clemson’s most against an FBS opponent since averaging a school-record 11.6 yards against Louisville in 2018.
Quarterback Cade Klubnik only played the first half but finished the contest having completed 24-of-26 passes for a career-high 378 yards and five passing touchdowns in addition to scoring two rushing touchdowns.
Klubnik finished with a pass efficiency rating of 277.9, breaking Tajh Boyd’s school record for a single game with a minimum of 20 attempts (261.9 vs. Syracuse in 2013).
Klubnik’s 378 passing yards were the most by a Clemson quarterback in a half since Trevor Lawrence’s 391-yard first half at Georgia Tech in 2020.
Despite playing only one half, Klubnik’s 378 passing yards tied for the 19th-most in a game in school history. It was the most by a Clemson quarterback since Trevor Lawrence’s 400 passing yards against Ohio State to end the 2020 season.
Klubnik’s five passing touchdowns set a career high, passing his previous high of four set twice last season. It was the first five-touchdown passing game by a Clemson quarterback since DJ Uiagalelei’s five passing touchdowns at Wake Forest in 2022.
Klubnik became the first Clemson quarterback to be responsible for seven combined passing and rushing touchdowns since Tajh Boyd’s ACC-record eight-touchdown performance against NC State in 2011. (Note: Lamar Jackson later tied Boyd’s ACC record against Charlotte in 2016).
Klubnik’s seven combined passing and rushing touchdowns were a career high and marked the most touchdowns for which a Clemson quarterback was responsible since Deshaun Watson’s six-touchdown performance (all passing) against South Carolina in 2016.
Klubnik became the first ACC quarterback to record at least four passing touchdowns and multiple rushing touchdowns in a single half since Louisville’s Lamar Jackson in 2016, according to ESPN Stats & Info. Klubnik finished with five passing touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns in the first half.
Klubnik recorded multiple passing touchdowns and multiple rushing touchdowns in a single game for the first time in his career. He became the first Clemson quarterback to accomplish the feat since Deshaun Watson against Virginia Tech in the 2016 ACC Championship Game.
Klubnik completed his first 13 passes of the game, the longest streak of consecutive completions in his career.
According to ESPN Stats & Info, Klubnik became the first FBS quarterback in the last 25 years with five or more passing touchdowns, multiple rushing touchdowns and a completion percentage of 90.0 percent or better.
With his fourth career 300-yard passing game, Klubnik tied his former offensive coordinator Brandon Streeter for the fifth-most career 300-yard passing games in Clemson history.
With his fourth touchdown pass of the game, Klubnik (26) became the 11th player in Clemson history to throw 25 career touchdown passes.
During the game, Klubnik (26) passed Steve Fuller (22 from 1975-78), Bobby Gage (24 from 1945-48) and Tommy Kendrick (24 from 1969-71) for the 11th-most career passing touchdowns in school history.
With the performance, Klubnik (4,061) passed Tommy Kendrick (3,893 from 1969-71) for 12th on Clemson's all-time leaderboard for career passing yardage. He became the 12th Clemson player to record 4,000 career passing yards.
With 383 yards combined passing and rushing yards, Klubnik (4,370) entered the Top 15 in Clemson history in career yards of total offense. He passed DeChane Cameron (4,226 from 1988-91) and Kelly Bryant (4,311 from 2015-18) to move into 14th in school history.
On his 17th pass attempt of the game, Klubnik (609) became the 12th player in Clemson history to throw 600 career pass attempts.
Wide receiver Bryant Wesco Jr. caught three passes for 130 yards with a touchdown.
By accruing those numbers in his second career game, Wesco tied Artavis Scott, Justyn Ross and Cole Turner for the fewest career games needed to record a 100-yard receiving game in Clemson history (two).
Clemson opened the scoring on a 76-yard touchdown pass from Klubnik to Wesco.
The 76-yard pass was a career-long for Klubnik and the longest pass completion by the Tigers since an 83-yard touchdown pass from Trevor Lawrence to Amari Rodgers at Georgia Tech in 2020.
The 76-yard reception by Wesco was the longest by a Clemson freshman since Tee Higgins’ 78-yard touchdown reception against The Citadel in 2017.
Wesco’s 76-yard touchdown was Clemson’s first of the season. It was the longest season-opening touchdown by Clemson since C.J. Spiller’s 96-yard kickoff return against Middle Tennessee State in 2009. It was Clemson’s longest season-opening touchdown from scrimmage since an 80-yard touchdown reception by Perry Tuttle against Wofford in 1981.
Klubnik finished Clemson’s second scoring drive of the game — a six-play, 84-yard drive — with a two-yard touchdown run.
Running back Phil Mafah rushed 10 times for 118 yards and a touchdown.
The 100-yard rushing game was Mafah’s first of the season and third of his career. Clemson is now 64-4 when having a 100-yard rusher since 2011.
Mafah recorded a career-long 83-yard touchdown run on Clemson’s third drive.
Mafah’s 83-yard rush was Clemson’s longest since a 90-yard touchdown run by Travis Etienne in the 2019 season opener against Georgia Tech.
Mafah’s 83-yard run tied his position coach C.J. Spiller for the 11th-longest touchdown run in school history. Spiller had an 83-yard touchdown run against Auburn in 2007.
Clemson has now scored at least one rushing touchdown in a national-best 79 of its 84 games since the start of the 2018 season.
Clemson has now rushed for a touchdown in 54 consecutive home games, the nation’s longest active streak. The last team to hold Clemson without a rushing touchdown in Death Valley was Troy in 2016.
With multiple rushing touchdowns Saturday, Clemson has also rushed for multiple touchdowns in a national-best 66 games in that span.
Tight end Jake Briningstool caught seven passes for 100 yards with two touchdowns.
The pair of Briningstool and Wesco became the first Clemson duo to reach 100 receiving yards each in a game since Cornell Powell (161) and Amari Rodgers (134) reached the century mark at Notre Dame in 2020.
Briningstool scored on a 41-yard touchdown pass from Klubnik on Clemson’s fourth drive.
Wide receiver Antonio Williams scored his first touchdown of the season on Clemson’s fifth drive, catching a 29-yard touchdown pass from Klubnik.
The touchdown was Williams’ seventh of his career. By virtue of an injury that cost him the majority of the 2023 season, it was his first touchdown since a two-touchdown effort against Charleston Southern in Week 2 of last season.
Klubnik capped Clemson’s sixth drive with a three-yard touchdown run. It was the first game of his career with multiple touchdown runs and the first such game by a Clemson quarterback since DJ Uiagalelei’s two rushing touchdowns against NC State in 2022.
Wide receiver T.J. Moore scored Clemson’s seventh touchdown of the game on its seventh drive, scoring on a 33-yard touchdown reception from Klubnik.
The touchdown was the first of Moore’s career.
Briningstool recorded his second receiving touchdown of the game on a 17-yard touchdown reception from Klubnik on Clemson’s eighth drive.
Briningstool’s second touchdown of the game was the 12th receiving touchdown of his career. He tied John McMakin (1969-71), Dwayne Allen (2009-11), Brandon Ford (2009-12) and Davis Allen (2019-22) for the second-most career receiving touchdowns by a tight end in school history.
During the contest, Briningstool (976) passed former teammate Davis Allen (951) for the sixth-most career receiving yards in Clemson history.
On his seventh reception, Briningstool (88) tied Allen (88) for the fourth-most receptions by a tight end in Clemson history.
Clemson recorded a 100-yard rusher (Mafah) and at least one 100-yard receiver (Wesco & Briningstool) in a single game for the first time since the 2021 Wake Forest game (Kobe Pace & Will Shipley rushing; Beaux Collins receiving).
It was Clemson’s first game with a 300-yard passer (Klubnik), 100-yard rusher (Mafah) and at least one 100-yard receiver (Wesco & Briningstool) since the 2020 ACC Championship Game against Notre Dame when the trio of Trevor Lawrence, Travis Etienne and Amari Rodgers accomplished the feat.
Clemson recorded its first game with a 300-yard passer (Klubnik), a 100-yard rusher (Mafah) and two 100-yard receivers (Wesco & Briningstool) since 2012 against NC State when Clemson had a 300-yard passer (Tajh Boyd), two 100-yard rushers (Andre Ellington and Tajh Boyd) and two 100-yard receivers (Sammy Watkins and Brandon Ford).
Quarterback Christopher Vizzina entered the game at the start of the second half and completed 7-of-11 passes for 78 yards and rushed six times for 31 yards and touchdown.
Vizzina recorded the first touchdown of his career on a five-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, capping a seven-play, 61-yard drive.
Clemson recorded its first takeaway of the season when safety Peter Nearn recovered a fumble in kickoff coverage.
The fumble was forced by linebacker Fletcher Cothran. It was the first forced fumble of Cothran’s career and the first fumble recovery of Nearn’s career.
Safety Ricardo Jones recorded an interception in his collegiate debut, picking off a wide receiver pass in the fourth quarter.
Defensive end Levi Matthews recorded his first career interception in the fourth quarter for Clemson’s third takeaway of the game.
Clemson won the turnover margin for the first time this season and the 99th time in Dabo Swinney's tenure. Clemson is now 93-6 in Swinney's tenure when it wins the turnover margin.
Cornerback Avieon Terrell recorded a career-high four pass breakups, one shy of Perry Williams’ school record set in 1985.
Defensive tackle Stephiylan Green recorded his first career sack in the third quarter.
Linebacker Barrett Carter played his 40th career game.
Clemson scored in a 282nd consecutive game to tie the 1980-2004 Texas Longhorns for the 16th-longest streak of games without being shut out in FBS history.
Unofficially, 105 players played for Clemson in the contest. It tied for the third-most players played in a game under Dabo Swinney and marked the fifth time Clemson has played 100 players in a game in his tenure.
Captains for the contest were tight end Jake Briningstool, defensive end Cade Denhoff, offensive lineman Marcus Tate and defensive tackle Tré Williams.

MORE CLEMSON FOOTBALL COVERAGE HERE

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