After consecutive blowout wins against Appalachian State and NC State that featured explosive first halves by the offense, the Clemson Tigers find themselves in a much tighter game against a Stanford Cardinal team after one half of football.
At halftime, the 15th-ranked Tigers lead Stanford, 17-7, in their Week 5 ACC matchup. Here are some of the first-half highlights.
For the second straight week, quarterback Cade Klubnik got Clemson on the board first by using his legs. On the Tigers’ first drive, Klubnik rolled out on a 3rd and 10 and took off for a 34-yard touchdown run and a 7-0 lead.
After Avieon Terrell picked off a pass from Stanford quarterback Ashton Daniels deep in Clemson territory, Klubnik wasted no time going back to work. He threw a deep ball to freshman Bryant Wesco, who ran underneath it for a 70-yard gain and a first-and-goal at the 10.
The Tigers settled for a 21-yard Nolan Hauser field goal and a 10-0 lead with 5:48 to play in the opening stanza.
It looked like the offense might be on their way to another explosive first half, but things stayed quiet until late in the first half. The Tigers took over at their own 46-yard line with 4:10 left and proceeded to march down the field. Phil Mafah’s 26-yard run gave Clemson a first-and-goal at the 5-yard line.
After the two-minute timeout. Klubnik threw a quick pass to tight end Jake Briningstool, who found the end-zone from four yards out to give the Tigers a 17-0 lead with 1:49 until halftime after Hauser’s extra point.
But as they’d done throughout much of the first half, Stanford continued to move the ball. They found the end-zone with under a minute to play when Daniels led the Cardinal on a seven play, 75-yard drive that ended with a 19-yard touchdown pass to Elic Ayomanor.
At halftime, Stanford has 230 yards of total offense and 12 first downs vs. 227 yards by Clemson and nine first downs.
Klubnik is 8-of-16 for 141 yards while Daniels is 7-of-15 for 64 yards and two interceptions.