Story by Nikki Hood
DEATH VALLEY: The Tigers spoiled Tony Elliott’s return to Clemson with a 48-31 win over his Virginia Cavaliers team Saturday afternoon in Death Valley.
With the win, Clemson improves to 6-1 overall and 5-0 in the ACC, while Virginia falls to 4-3 and 2-2.
Clemson offense amassed 540 total yards, while Virginia had 281 total yards.
Tigers’ quarterback Cade Klubnik completed 23-of-35 passes for 208 yards, three touchdowns and an interception. Phil Mafah led all rushers with 18 carries for 78 yards and two scores. Tight end Olsen Patt-Henry had two catches for 51 yards and two scores. Troy Stellato had seven catches for 74 yards. TJ Moore had four catches for 78 yards.
Clemson won the toss and deferred. After forcing a three-and-out on Virginia’s first drive, the Tigers got the ball on their own 15. Klubnik showed his continue growth on third down, scrambling in the pocket and keeping his eyes downfield to find Cole Turner for a 31-yard pickup and a first down. The Tigers had a touchdown taken off the board after a lineman was caught downfield, but Nolan Hauser put Clemson on the board first with 29-yard field goal. Clemson led 3-0 with 7:56 to play in the first quarter.
Aided by several Clemson penalties on the drive, Virginia answered with an 80-yard drive capped off by a 20-yard field goal to tie the game at 3-3 with 53 seconds remaining in the opening quarter.
Klubnik threw an interception – his third of the season – into quadruple coverage at the 34-yard line, and the Hoos cashed six plays later on an eight-yard pass from Anthony Colandrea to Dakota Twitty for a 10-7 Virginia lead with 12:26 to play before halftime.
Clemon’s offense responded behind Phil Mafah who caught a 22-yard pass and carried the ball four times, including the one-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 10-10 with 7:38 to play before halftime.
Clemson forced a three-and-out and took over on their own 39. After picking up a quick first down, the Tigers dialed up a little trickery. Klubnik took the snap, flipped to Mafah, who then flipped to Antonio Williams, who was crossing behind the line. Williams, for the second week in a row, threw a deep pass, this one to Stellato, who was stopped ay the three-yard line. Mafah did the rest with a rumble to the endzone for a 17-10 Tigers’ lead with 3:42 to play before intermission.
The Tigers received the opening kick of the second half and drove 90 yards in 11 plays. Patt-Henry caught a pass from Klubnik and bullied his way through defenders for an 11-yard touchdown and a 24-10 Clemson lead at the 9:23 mark of the third quarter.
On Clemson’s next possession, facing second-and-five on the 36, Klubnik handed Williams the ball on a jet sweep, and Williams did the rest out-racing the defense to the endzone for a 31-10 Clemson lead with 4:31 to play in the third quarter.
Defensive tackle Tre Williams recovered a fumble to set the Tigers up near midfield. On 4th-and-1, Klubnik found Patt-Henry all alone on the down the Clemson sideline. Patt-Henry caught the shoestring pass and raced 40 yards to the endzone for his second touchdown of the game and a 38-10 Clemson with just over a minute remaining in the third quarter.
Virginia scored on the first play of the fourth quarter on a 45-yard pass from Colandrea to Malachi Fields to cut Clemson’s lead to 38-17 with 14:53 to play.
Hauser added his second field goal on the day with a 22-yard kick for a 41-17 Clemson advantage with 8:22 to play.
Virginia added two late touchdowns and a two-point conversion. Klubnik added a 35-yard touchdown pass to Moore. Clemson has an off week before hosting Louisville on November
Final Stats
Brooks Thomason’s view from Death Valley
Clemson postgame
Dabo Swinney
Cade Klubnik
TJ Parker
Virginia postgame
Tony Elliott
