TONY ELLIOTT RETURNS TO DEATH VALLEY, CJ SPILLER GOES INTO RING OF HONOR AND NO.9 CLEMSON CRUISES TO 48-31 WIN OVER UVA
- 2024-10-20 13:09:40
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CLEMSON, SC – It was a historic day in Death Valley, as a tearful CJ Spiller went into the Ring of Honor with his RB Coach predecessor, Tony Elliott, applauding on the opposite sideline. I remember watching CJ's commitment live on my computer in 2006, and just like Dabo, I knew it was a turning point for the Clemson program. His freshman season was my first year in the MBA program at Clemson, so I was able to see every one of his games in Death Valley in person. Dabo said it best: "Why did Clemson choose CJ for the Ring of Honor? Because CJ chose Clemson." Video of the moment is below!
For the second straight week, it was a slow start
offensively for the Tigers. I guess they don’t like noon games because they’ve
started slow in all three nooners this season and started incredibly fast in
the rest. The defense forced a three and out to start the game, and the offense
had a touchdown negated on its first possession because Blake Miller was called
for ineligible player down field on the TD pass to Mooore. The Tigers had to
settle for a field goal, and a terrible interception by Cade led to the Hoos’
first touchdown, giving them a t 10-3 lead. It was all Tigers after that, however.
They scored 28 unanswered points to take a 31-10 lead.
The defensive backups played well at Wake last week but took
a step back today, with busted coverages, big plays and scores late in the
game. Dabo called off the dogs with the big late lead, but Tony Elliott is a
fierce competitor, and he was going to fight until the end. On a busted
coverage to start the fourth quarter, the Hoos scored on a 65-yard touchdown
pass and then converted the two-point conversion to make it a 16-point game. They
had a chance to recover the onside kick, but Hanafin was able to jump on the
loose ball after it bounced off Patt-Henry’s hands. Dabo tipped his cap to his protégé
and responded by bringing Cade back in for a quick touchdown strike to TJ Moore
to make push the lead to 23. However, the defensive reserves for the Tigers
allowed another quick touchdown to make it 48-31. This time, Patt-Henry was
able to secure the onside kick, and that effectively ended the game. It was a
breakout day for the backup tight end, who scored a pair of touchdowns with two
great plays.
For the third straight game, the defense was outstanding
against the run. They gave up a couple big runs to the quarterback but held the
Hoos to just 68 yards on the ground with an average of 2.3 yards per carry.
They had 4 sacks, and Wade Woodaz had another great game with a sack-fumble
recovered by Tre Williams. For the first time in their six-game win streak, the
Tigers did not win the turnover margin, but they broke even.
The Tigers were without the services of Bryant Wesco and Tyler Brown for the second straight game, but they still had plenty of play-makers with Antonio Williams, TJ Moore, Troy Stellato. Olsen Patt-Henry and Jake Briningstool. For the second straight game, Antonio Williams completed a big pass on a trick play. Last week it was a double pass to Brinny for a TD, and today it was a reverse pass to Stellato at the 2 yard line. It would have been another touchdown pass for Antonio, but he floated it, and Stellato had to wait for it to get to him. To Stellato’s credit, he knew he was going to take a big hit but held onto the ball to set up the score by Mafah. Stellato took another big hit later in the game and held onto that ball as well. I used to hold my breath every time he took a big hit, given his first couple injury-prone years, but he has proven to be pretty darn durable over his last dozen games. Antonio scored on a handoff today, so in the past two games, he has caught, run and passed for touchdowns! Ironically, he is the first Tiger non-quarterback to complete a pass in consecutive games since Tony Elliott in 2002. The Tigers were 2-2 on fourth downs, using the jumbo package with Peter Woods for the second straight game on the first. The second was a fantastic play call by Riley on a play action pass, leaving both Patt-Henry and Brinny wide open. Cade almost blew it with a low throw, but Patt-Henry made a tremendous shoestring catch while keeping his feet for the long TD run. Cade also missed a wide open Brinny in the end zone for a TD and was off on a couple other throws but played extremely well overall.
The Tigers have their second bye coming up at a perfect time
before the final third of their season with a home game against a good
Louisville team to follow and then tough road games at VA Tech and Pitt.
I’ll have more in a bit. In the meantime, post-game
interviews, highlights and notes are below!
WITH THE WIN...
- Clemson has now started 5-0 in conference play for the eighth time under Dabo Swinney (2011, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2022). It marks Clemson's 16th such start since joining the ACC in 1953.
- Clemson joined Army as the only teams in the country to have earned at least five conference wins this season.
- Clemson improved to 28-22-2 all-time against head coaches who were formerly Clemson assistants or head coaches.
- Clemson also improved to 9-3 all time against former Clemson players in head coaching roles.
- Clemson improved to 166-73-3 all-time (and 49-7 since 2011) when facing a coach for the first time.
- Clemson improved to 41-8-1 against Virginia all-time. Virginia moved into sole possession of fifth place on the list of Clemson’s most-defeated opponents all-time, one ahead of North Carolina.
- Clemson has now won six consecutive games against Virginia for the first time since opening its all-time series against the Cavaliers with a 29-game winning streak across the 1955-89 seasons.
- Clemson improved to 22-3-1 all-time against Virginia at home. Among teams it has hosted at least 25 times, Clemson’s current .860 home winning percentage against Virginia is its best all-time against an FBS opponent and trails only Furman (.929) and Presbyterian (.872) among all opponents.
- Clemson improved to 69-3 at Death Valley in the College Football Playoff era, tying Alabama for the best home record in the country in that span.
- Clemson extended its active home winning streak to eight games. Clemson's eight-game home winning streak is the ACC's longest active streak.
- Clemson improved to 43-21-2 in games prior to regular season open dates since joining the ACC in 1953. Clemson also improved to 16-2 in those games since 2012.
- Clemson improved to 137-18 against AP-unranked teams under Dabo Swinney and improved to 114-8 in those games since the start of the 2012 season.
- Clemson earned its 100th regular season victory since the start of the 2015 season. Clemson is now 100-13 in regular season play in that span.
- Clemson has now won 120 of its last 125 games when leading at halftime.
- Clemson improved to 85-6 when scoring first since 2015.
- Clemson is now 141-4 since 2011 when leading after three quarters.
- Clemson now has a 135-8 record when totaling more first downs than its opponent since 2011.
- Clemson has now won 42 consecutive games when not allowing a sack since 2011.
- Clemson is now 72-2 since 2015 when outscoring opponents in the “Middle Eight,” defined as the final four minutes of the first half and the first four minutes of the second half.
- Head Coach Dabo Swinney (176-44) tied the career win total of College Football Hall of Famer Frank Kush (176-54-1).
- Swinney improved to 6-0 as a head coach against Virginia. Virginia is one of four ACC schools against whom Swinney is undefeated as head coach, a list that also includes Wake Forest (16-0), Louisville (8-0), and Virginia Tech (6-0), all teams on Clemson’s 2024 schedule.
GAME NOTES
- Clemson produced a fifth 40-point game in a season for the ninth time in school history (10 in 2019, nine in 2018, eight in 2020, eight in 2013, eight in 2012, seven in 2015, seven in 2016 and five in 2007).
- Clemson has now produced five 40-point games in the first seven games of a season for the third time in school history (five in both 2019 and 2020).
- Clemson gained 539 yards, including 345 passing yards and 194 rushing yards.
- Clemson has now gained 500 yards in three straight games for the first time since an eight-game streak in 2019.
- Clemson has now recorded five 500-yard games in a single season for the first time since 2020 (five).
- Clemson has now recorded five 500-yard games in the first seven games of a season for the first time in school history.
- Clemson has now reached 400 yards in six straight games for the first time since reaching 400 yards in all 12 games in 2020.
- Clemson recorded four scoring drives of 10 or more plays in a single game for the first time since 2018 against South Carolina (five).
- Clemson averaged 7.2 yards per play and has now averaged 6.5 or more yards per play in six straight games for the first time on record.
- Clemson averaged 5.1 yards per rush and has now averaged 5.0 or more yards per carry in six straight games for the first time since 2006.
- Clemson has now rushed for 150 yards in six straight games for the first time since a 12-game stretch across the 2019-20 seasons.
- Clemson has now thrown for 300 yards as a team in back-to-back games for the first time since the final two games of the 2022 season against North Carolina and Tennessee.
- Clemson recorded 28 first downs and has picked up 28, 37 and 28 first downs over its last three games. Clemson’s 93 first downs in the last three games are its most in a three-game span in a single season since collecting 94 first downs against South Carolina, Virginia Tech and Ohio State in late 2016.
- Quarterback Cade Klubnik completed 23-of-35 passes for 308 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. He also rushed six times for 29 yards.
- Klubnik improved to 15-6 as a starter to become the 18th Clemson quarterback since World War II to win 15 career games as a starting quarterback.
- The 300-yard passing game was Klubnik’s career-high third of the season and the sixth of his career.
- Klubnik has now recorded consecutive 300-yard passing games for the first time in his career.
- Klubnik became the first Clemson quarterback with back-to-back 300-yard passing games since Trevor Lawrence in the final two games of the 2020 season.
- On his third touchdown pass of the game, Klubnik (41) tied Woodrow Dantzler (41 from 1998-2001) for sixth on Clemson's all-time leaderboard for career passing touchdowns.
- Clemson has now thrown multiple touchdown passes in six straight games for the first time since an eight-game streak in 2020. Individually, Klubnik became the first Clemson quarterback to throw multiple touchdown passes in six straight games since Trevor Lawrence in 2020.
- Running back Phil Mafah rushed 18 times for 78 yards with two touchdowns.
- Mafah became the first Clemson player to rush for multiple touchdowns in consecutive games since he accomplished the feat against NC State and Notre Dame last season.
- Mafah scored two second-quarter touchdowns, including runs of one yard and three yards. He moved his career total in rushing touchdowns to 26.
- Clemson has rushed for a touchdown in 57 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.
- Mafah recorded a career-long 22-yard reception in the second quarter.
- Tight end Olsen Patt-Henry caught two passes for a career-high 51 yards with two touchdowns.
- Including Patt-Henry’s two-touchdown game against Virginia and Jake Briningstool’s two-touchdown game against Appalachian State, Clemson has now had multiple tight ends produce a multi-touchdown game in a single season for the first time in Dabo Swinney’s tenure.
- Patt-Henry recorded his second touchdown reception of the season and of his career on an 11-yard pass from Klubnik on Clemson’s first possession of the second half.
- Patt-Henry added his second touchdown of the game on a career-long 40-yard reception on fourth-and-one in the third quarter.
- Wide receiver Antonio Williams recorded three receptions for 44 yards, scored a 36-yard rushing touchdown and completed a 34-yard pass.
- Williams completed a pass for a second straight game, connecting with Troy Stellato on Saturday for a 34-yard gain. A week earlier, Williams threw a 28-yard touchdown pass to Jake Briningstool.
- Williams became the first Clemson non-quarterback to complete a pass in back-to-back games since Saturday’s opposing head coach — Tony Elliott — did so as a receiver at Clemson in 2002 in games against Florida State and Virginia.
- Williams scored his first career rushing touchdown on a 36-yard scoring run in the third quarter.
- Including Williams’ 36-yard touchdown run on Saturday and Cole Turner’s 18-yard touchdown run against NC State, the 2024 season marks Clemson’s first in which multiple wide receivers have rushed for a touchdown since 2019 (Amari Rodgers and Tee Higgins).
- Williams joined C.J. Spiller (2008 and 2009), Jacoby Ford (2009) and Sammy Watkins (2012) as the only Clemson players since 2000 to record a passing touchdown, a rushing touchdown and a receiving touchdown in a single season.
- Wide receiver T.J. Moore caught four passes for a career-high 78 yards with a touchdown.
- Moore caught a 34-yard touchdown from Klubnik in the fourth quarter, his third of his debut season.
- Wide receiver Troy Stellato recorded team highs in receptions (seven) and receiving yards (74). His 74 receiving yards were a career high, surpassing his 72 a week earlier at Florida State, and his seven receptions matched his career high set at NC State last season.
- Clemson did not allow a sack, its second sack-free game of the season (zero vs. Appalachian State).
- Clemson has now surrendered one sack or fewer in six straight games for the first time since an eight-game streak in 2019.
- Clemson had only one giveaway and has now played nine consecutive games (dating to last season) with one giveaway or fewer for the first time since a 12-game streak across the 2019-20 seasons. Dating to last season, Clemson has six giveaways over its last nine games and has not had a multi-giveaway game in that span.
- Clemson recorded four sacks, matching its season high set against Stanford.
- Defensive end T.J. Parker recorded his fifth sack of the season in the second quarter. He is now a half-sack shy of his career high of 5.5 set last season.
- Cornerback Avieon Terrell recorded his first career sack in the third quarter.
- Linebacker Wade Woodaz his second sack of the season in the fourth quarter.
- On the sack, Woodaz forced a fumble that was recovered by defensive tackle Tré Williams. It was Woodaz’s third forced fumble of the season and the fourth of his career.
- The fumble recovery was Williams’ second of his career and his first since 2022 against Miami (Fla.).
- Linebacker Sammy Brown recorded his third sack of the season in the fourth quarter.
- The teams finished even in the turnover margin, 1-1, snapping Clemson’s five-game streak of winning that metric. In its last 12 games dating to last season, Clemson is now 11-0 when finishing even or better in the turnover margin and 0-1 when it finishes negative in that margin.
- Kicker Nolan Hauser opened the scoring with a 29-yard field goal on Clemson’s opening possession. Clemson’s opening possession covered 74 yards on 11 plays.
- Hauser added a 22-yard field goal in the fourth quarter.
- Clemson faced Virginia Head Coach Tony Elliott — a Clemson graduate, former Clemson player and former Clemson coach — for the first time.
- Elliott became the 15th head coach all-time to face Clemson after having previously coached at Clemson in either a head coaching or assistant coaching capacity. He joined John Heisman, Frank Dobson, J.P. “Rip” Major, Dizzy McLeod, Josh Cody, Jules Carson, Jess Neely, Art Baker, Tom Moore, Mike O’Cain, Bobby Johnson, Rick Stockstill, David Bennett and Gene Chizik.
- Elliott also became the fourth former Clemson player to face the Tigers as a head coach, joining Jules Carson (Wofford), Bobby Johnson (Furman) and Mike O’Cain (NC State).
- Prior to the contest, Clemson inducted C.J. Spiller into the Clemson Ring of Honor. Spiller became the eighth former football player to be inducted into the Ring of Honor, joining Banks McFadden, Steve Fuller, Jeff Davis, Fred Cone, Jerry Butler, Terry Kinard and Levon Kirkland. Coaches Frank Howard and Danny Ford, SID Bob Bradley and the 1981 national championship squad are also members of the Clemson Ring of Honor.
- Captains for the contest were linebacker Barrett Carter, offensive lineman Tristan Leigh, running back Phil Mafah, and defensive tackle Tré Williams.
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