Clemson wins against former offensive coordinator Tony Elliot’s Virginia team 48-31. It was a dominant performance by the Tigers, especially in the second half. This moves the Tigers to 6-1 overall and 5-0 in the ACC sitting at the top of the conference. Clemson has won all five conference games by at least two touchdowns. Now the Tigers ride the momentum into one more bye week for the regular season before the final five-game stretch.
Offense Still Rolling
The Clemson offense has performed beyond expectations since the loss to Georgia. After years of struggling to find anything explosive, the unit has become a big play machine. Against Virginia, the offense put up a total of 539 yards. Cade Klubnik struggled some in the first two drives throwing a bad interception to end the first quarter. He was able to find his rhythm quickly though and began to make plays for the offense. Klubnik finished the day completing 25 of 35 pass attempts for 308 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception.
Klubnik was not the only one to have a big day for the Tiger offense though. Other key veterans stepped up when called upon too. Antonio Williams did a little bit of everything including catching passes, throwing passes, and taking handoffs. He was truly a swiss army knife for the Tigers. Williams finished the game with three receptions for 44 yards, a completed pass attempt for 34 yards, and one rush for a 36-yard touchdown.
Phil Mafah also had a good day running the ball. He ran the ball 18 times for 78 yards and two touchdowns. Mafah helped finish two early drives that gave Clemson the lead after being down a score in the second quarter. When all the key players on offense can get going it is hard to stop this offense. The momentum they have built will need to continue for Clemson to finish the season strong.
Defense Looking Good
The defense looked very good once again, but still not as dominant as expected. They made some big plays when needed with four sacks and six tackles for loss. They also gave up 346 total yards to the Cavalier offense though. Anthony Colandrea was able to make some plays early in the game. He threw a touchdown and gained 23 yards on the ground in the first half. This made Colandrea the Cavs leading rusher for that half.
The defense did a better job containing Colandrea in the second half. Although he did hit a big play on a 44-yard touchdown pass to Malachi Fields to start the fourth quarter. The sophomore finished with only 159 passing yards and minus seven rushing yards after taking two big sacks.
Clemson’s run defense did a great job giving up only eight rushing yards in the second half. Kobe Pace did not get a warm welcome back to the Valley only running for 35 yards on his 10 carries. Examples like this show glimpses of how good this Tigers’ defensive unit can be. It has still yet to put together a completely dominant game though. The talent shows, but something is missing keeping the unit from truly being its best.
One More Bye
Following this win, Clemson gets one more bye week to figure out how to keep this momentum going. Since the Tigers last bye week, they have won five straight games. The last bye week, Clemson had to figure out what was working for them and what was not. This bye week the Tigers know what works and who they are.
Now they will have the chance to fix the little things that can take this team to the next level, especially defensively. If the defense can do what is needed to dominate for a full 60 minutes, this team will have the potential for a deep postseason run. All of this team’s goals are right in front of them. This bye week should be about ironing out some wrinkles and preparing for a run at a conference championship and a playoff berth for the first time since 2020.
