NCAAF

Virginia Cavaliers at Clemson Tigers

· NCAA - Football
4-3, 2-1 Away
Final
31 - 48
6-1, 4-0 Home

No. 10 Clemson, Klubnik get past Virginia and former Tigers' assistant Elliott with a 48-31 victory

Cade Klubnik completes 4th-and-1 for 40-yard TD

Early on, Clemson's quarterback looked out of sorts with an awful interception that Virginia turned into a touchdown and a 10-3 lead, the first time the 10th-ranked Tigers had trailed at home in four games this season.

Soon enough, though, Clemson and Klubnik were off and running for a 48-31 victory over the Cavaliers on Saturday.

“Sometimes, you just don't have as good of a game as you do others, and that's OK,” said Klubnik, who finished 23 of 35 passing for 308 yards. “That's why you get to have peace after the game knowing we put up 500 and something yards and however many points.”

Tight end Olsen Patt-Henry had two TD catches and Phil Mafah ran for two short scores as the Tigers (6-1) improved to 5-0 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, won for the 11th time in 12 games and defeated the Cavaliers (4-3, 2-2 ACC) for a seventh straight time.

The only downside for the Tigers is that the victory came at the expense of former Clemson receiver and Dabo Swinney's longtime offensive assistant in Cavaliers coach Tony Elliott, who returned to Death Valley for the first time since taking the Virginia job three seasons ago.

When it ended, Swinney and Elliott shared a long hug before heading to the locker room.

“It was great to see a ton of people” from his former life at Clemson, he said. “As I told the guys last night, my job is stay focused and focus on being the best version of myself to help this football team. Unfortunately, I've got to do a better job to have them execute at a high level.”

Elliott's team accomplished something no other team had done in three previous home games this season — holding a lead on the Tigers after Klubnik's third interception of the season.

That's when the Tigers got rolling, scoring 35 straight points to put things away. Mafah tied things with a 1-yard run, then put Clemson in front for good from three yards out.

Patt-Henry had an 11-yard scoring catch on Clemson's first drive of the second half, then was wide open for a 40-yard TD run down the left sideline as the Tigers went for it on fourth-and-1 two drives later for a 38-10 lead.

“That was just us believing in each other and we're all going to ride behind (Klubnik) no matter what,” Patt-Henry said. “It comes with the hours of hard work, all the preparation in just being able to trust each other.”

Klubnik has a career-best 20 touchdown passes this season, surpassing the 19 he threw last year in his first year as a starter.

Clemson receiver Antonio Williams completed a pass for a second straight week. He had a 28-yard TD throw to Jake Briningstool in a 49-14 win at Wake Forest on Oct. 12. This time, Williams' completion to Troy Stellato for 34 yards finished at the Virginia 3 and set up Mafah's second score.

It was the first time a non-quarterback at Clemson completed passes in back-to-back games. Virginia's Elliott did it as a Tigers receiver in 2002 in games against Florida State and Virginia.

Swinney called Elliott about an hour or so after the game to let him know. “You can't make that up,” Swinney said.

Williams' added a 36-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.

The takeaway Virginia: Elliott had plenty of insight into Swinney through his 11 seasons on staff and looked as if he found ways to frustrate his former program with three fourth-quarter TDs. But Elliott still has work ahead in landing the five stars he used to coach at Clemson.

Clemson: It was not the sharpest game for the Tigers, but they did more than enough to dominate another ACC opponent. Clemson finished with 500 or more yards for a fifth time this season.

Bad day for Dabo's coaching tree It wasn't a good Saturday for the coaches Swinney entrusted for so long to lead his offense and defense. Along with Elliott's 48-31 loss to the Tigers, Clemson's defensive leader for 10 seasons from 2012-21 now Oklahoma coach, Brent Venables, lost at home to Clemson's state rival South Carolina 35-9.

Big day for Spiller Ex-Clemson tailback and current running back C.J. Spiller was inducted into Memorial Stadium's ring of honor. The school unveiled his name on the facing of the upper deck in a ceremony just before kickoff. Spiller was a former ACC player of the year who holds the league record with 7,588 all-purpose yards.

Up next Virginia returns home to take on North Carolina next Saturday.

Clemson has its second week off before starting the final stretch of the regular season against Louisville.

—-

How To Watch

How can I watch Virginia Cavaliers vs. Clemson Tigers?
  • TV Channel: Cavaliers at Tigers 2021 College Football, week 8, is broadcasted on ACC Network.
  • Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.

Matchup Prediction

Tigers: 89.2%
Cavaliers: 10.8%
*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Scoring Summary

CLEM FG 1st Period 7:56 Nolan Hauser 29 Yd Field Goal
UVA FG 1st Period 0:53 Will Bettridge 20 Yd Field Goal
UVA TD 2nd Period 12:26 Dakota Twitty 8 Yd pass from Anthony Colandrea (Will Bettridge Kick)
CLEM TD 2nd Period 7:38 Phil Mafah 1 Yd Run (Nolan Hauser Kick)
CLEM TD 2nd Period 3:42 Phil Mafah 3 Yd Run (Nolan Hauser Kick)
CLEM TD 3rd Period 9:23 Olsen Patt-Henry 11 Yd pass from Cade Klubnik (Nolan Hauser Kick)
CLEM TD 3rd Period 4:31 Antonio Williams 36 Yd Run (Nolan Hauser Kick)
CLEM TD 3rd Period 1:30 Olsen Patt-Henry 40 Yd pass from Cade Klubnik (Nolan Hauser Kick)
UVA TD 4th Period 14:53 Malachi Fields 44 Yd pass from Anthony Colandrea (Will Bettridge Kick)
CLEM FG 4th Period 8:22 Nolan Hauser 22 Yd Field Goal
UVA TD 4th Period 2:11 Sackett Wood Jr. 8 Yd pass from Tony Muskett (Tony Muskett Pass to Kobe Pace for Two-Point Conversion)
CLEM TD 4th Period 1:54 T.J. Moore 34 Yd pass from Cade Klubnik (Nolan Hauser Kick)
UVA TD 4th Period 1:39 Ethan Davies 65 Yd pass from Tony Muskett (Two-Point Pass Conversion Failed)

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/ncaa/500/258.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originUVA https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/ncaa/500/228.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originCLEM
20 1st Downs 28
5-13 3rd down efficiency 9-15
0-0 4th down efficiency 2-2
346 Total Yards 539
278 Passing 345
21/33 Comp/Att 25/37
8.4 Yards per pass 9.3
68 Rushing 194
29 Rushing Attempts 38
2.3 Yards per rush 5.1
6-61 Penalties 10-97
1 Turnovers 1
1 Fumbles lost 0
0 Interceptions thrown 1
25:57 Possession 34:03

Game Information

Memorial Stadium (Clemson, SC)

Location: Clemson, SC
Attendance: 80,100 · Capacity:
Full Standings

College Football News

At Wrigley Field, No. 2 Ohio State looks to stay on playoff path against Northwestern

At Wrigley Field, No. 2 Ohio State looks to stay on playoff path against Northwestern

No one needs to remind coach Ryan Day what's at stake for No. 2 Ohio State.

No. 21 LSU and Florida are both hoping for a bounce-back following a beatdown

No. 21 LSU and Florida are both hoping for a bounce-back following a beatdown

— No one at LSU and Florida can be happy about what happened last weekend.

No. 3 Texas wary of ex-Southwest Conference rival Arkansas as they meet for first time in SEC play

No. 3 Texas wary of ex-Southwest Conference rival Arkansas as they meet for first time in SEC play

— Texas appears to be in prime position to clinch a spot in the College Football Playoff with three regular season games left.

No. 19 Washington State aims for fifth straight win this season vs resurgent New Mexico

No. 19 Washington State aims for fifth straight win this season vs resurgent New Mexico

— On paper, No. 19 Washington State would seem to have an enormous advantage over New Mexico on Saturday.

No. 1 Oregon, Wisconsin have gone in different directions since their last matchup

No. 1 Oregon, Wisconsin have gone in different directions since their last matchup

— When Oregon and Wisconsin last faced off in the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day of 2020, the two programs legitimately could have considered themselves on...