Are the Clemson Tigers officially ‘back?’ They sure looked like it Saturday in Death Valley.
No. 19 Clemson scored six touchdowns on its first seven possessions, and quarterback Cade Klubnik turned in another explosive performance as the Tigers routed rival NC State, 59-35, in the ACC opener for both teams.
Clemson football won its 800th game in program history, the 14th FBS program to do so and the first in the ACC. The Tigers also improved to 61-30-1 in the 92nd edition of the Textile Bowl.
Before the game was over, ABC broadcasters Sean McDonough and Greg McElroy could be heard laughing that Clemson was using its backup punter when sophomore Jack Smith came in to kick for Aidan Swanson early in the fourth quarter.
Why not? This contest was a laugher.
Indeed, the game wasn’t as close as an already lopsided final score might indicate, with Clemson racing out to a huge lead early and having essentially put the game out of reach by the second quarter. NC State’s 21 fourth-quarter points came with the outcome long since determined.
Setting aside whatever the defense’s second-half failures might have been, Saturday’s contest was a statement victory from a Clemson football team and program that was so maligned after its 34-3 loss to the top-ranked Georgia Bulldogs in Week 1.
The statement? The Tigers are still very much for real in the ACC.
For all the talk of the gap between Clemson and college football’s elite programs after Week 1, and all subsequent talk of the Miami Hurricanes having passed Clemson as the cream of the conference crop, there was Dabo Swinney’s team on Saturday.
Facing NC State, another ACC program that some preseason prognosticators thought had also passed Clemson, the Tigers scored 45 points in the first half — just one game after scoring 56 in the opening half of their Week 2 win over Appalachian State.
With Klubnik leading the way, the Tigers had 408 yards of total offense by intermission. Klubnik finished the day 16-of-24 for 209 yards and three touchdown passes after a four-yard toss to Adam Randall early in third quarter. Clemson led, 52-7, at that point.
The junior quarterback’s day was done after that, paving the way for backup QB Christopher Vizzina. Klubnik accounted for four touchdowns just two weeks after being good for seven against App State.
Perhaps no better example of Clemson’s mentality in Saturday’s performance came from the Tigers’ head coach.
Late in the first half, with Clemson already ahead by five touchdowns and NC State just looking to get to halftime and regroup, Dabo Swinney showed Dave Doeren’s team no mercy. Armed with three timeouts, Swinney used two of them to force NC State to punt after the Wolfpack took just 28 seconds off the clock.
Clemson took over at their opponent’s 27-yard line and drove all the way to the 3-yard line before settling for a chip shot Nolan Hauser field goal.
How’s that mindset for being “washed?”
There will be some things to criticize in Clemson’s performance, particularly on defense. Even with the game out of reach, the Tigers’ defense (mostly backups) still gave up four second-half touchdowns against freshman quarterback CJ Bailey and backup Lex Thomas.
Swinney and defensive coordinator Wes Goodwin will probably talk about getting a full four-quarter effort going forward. But that’s a problem Clemson will happily take after such a dominant performance against NC State.
After Week 4, the Tigers are very much still a threat in the ACC. And that’s no laughing matter.