Clemson football had control of the game against Virginia, holding a 41-17 lead midway through the fourth quarter. As is typical in such situations, head coach Dabo Swinney began substituting his starters for backup players.
Even with a significant gap in the score, Tony Elliott’s Cavaliers kept pressing. Virginia’s backup quarterback Tony Muskett threw a short touchdown pass, followed by a two-point conversion that cut Clemson’s lead to 41-25 with just over two minutes left. After the failed onside kick attempt, Swinney opted to bring his starters back in, deciding the game wasn’t over just yet.
“I’m trying to call the dogs out,” Swinney said. “But that is what I told those guys. When we put the subs in, they don’t call timeout and say, ‘Oh, they put the backups in, let’s put our backups in.’ They don’t do that.”
Starting quarterback Cade Klubnik returned to the field after the backups, led by Chris Vizzina, only managed a brief possession. The objective was to close out the game by extending the lead once more.
“(Virginia) went tempo, and they were no-huddle, and they are flying down the field and score on those guys. And then they onside it,” Swinney explained. “It’s 16 points. Technically, it’s a two-score game.”
Klubnik responded by hitting freshman receiver T.J. Moore with a 34-yard touchdown pass, widening the gap again to 48-25 and putting the game out of reach.
“So, I am like alright, we are going to go score again. And we did,” Swinney said. “Then we put the subs right back in.”
Virginia added a late touchdown against Clemson’s backups, making the final score 48-31, but the game was never in doubt. Swinney respected Virginia’s persistence despite the loss and commended Elliott’s decision to keep fighting until the end, even tipping his hat to his former assistant after Virginia’s last score.
“That was a good call,” Swinney said. “He went at our young corner out there and took a little shot and I saw him smiling over there. So I tipped my hat to him. They kept playing.”