Hello, goodbye: Clemson welcomes back Tony Elliott by blowing out Virginia

For the second week in a row, Clemson football didn’t look exactly like the No. 10 team in the country in the first quarter.

Luckily for the Tigers, they had three more quarters to work with.

Back in the friendly confines of Memorial Stadium, Clemson’s top-to-bottom talent bore out over the course of the game and the Tigers beat Virginia 48-31 in a relatively stress-free contest to move to 6-1 overall and 5-0 in the ACC.

After trailing 10-3 at the start of the second quarter, the Tigers rattled off 35 unanswered points and got big days from quarterback Cade Klubnik, running back Phil Mafah and wide receiver Antonio Williams to get past the Cavaliers.

Virginia coach Tony Elliott, the former Clemson player and assistant coach, had his squad ready early in a unique situation; It was Clemson’s first meeting with a former player now serving as an opposing team’s head coach in 25 years.

But the Tigers and coach Dabo Swinney squashed any dreams of a signature upset by playing clean football and shutting out Virginia (4-3, 2-2 ACC) for nearly two quarters before some late garbage-time scores made the game a little tighter.

Heading into their second off week, Clemson remains perfect in conference play and continues to control its own path to the ACC championship game in Charlotte — and, with a win, a likely automatic bid to the 12-team College Football Playoff.

Game recap

A pregame Ring of Honor ceremony for former star Tigers running back and current assistant coach CJ Spiller generated a lot of buzz at Memorial Stadium.

But early on, something just felt off for Clemson.

On the Tigers’ first offensive possession, they missed out on two touchdowns when receiver T.J. Moore couldn’t hang onto the ball on a short slant route (Klubnik’s throw was a little high). Then, a touchdown pass to Moore got nullified because of an ineligible man downfield.

Clemson had to settle for a short field goal (3-0) and then got gashed on consecutive defensive possessions, with poor tackling and pressure throughout.

Virginia went 14 plays and 80 yards for a game-tying field goal (3-3) in the first quarter — and got the ball shortly after when Klubnik threw an interception directly to a UVA linebacker (only his third interception of the year and first since Sept. 28 against Stanford).

Then, the Cavaliers put Clemson on the ropes. On third and 17 from Clemson’s 41, shifty UVA quarterback Anthony Colandrea got 20 yards on a QB draw and then threw a short touchdown pass.

Minutes into the second quarter, Virginia — a 21-point underdog — was up 10-3.

Four first-quarter penalties for a Clemson team that entered averaging just 4.7 total penalties per game didn’t help the cause either.

And when Klubnik overthrew tight end Jake Briningstool wide open in the end zone trailing 10-7 — against an upset-minded Virginia team that knocked off No. 10 UNC in Chapel Hill last year — there was reason for concern.

A methodical turnaround started soon after, though. After Klubnik’s overthrow, Clemson finished that drive with a Mafah rushing touchdown to tie the game (10-10), got a defensive stop and used a trick-play wide receiver pass to set up another short Mafah rushing score (17-10).

It wasn’t the Tigers’ best half of football by any means, as fans have gotten used to big leads at halftime around these parts. Not merely a touchdown.

But holding serve proved beneficial.

Clemson came out of the break looking steadier with an 11-play, 90-yard scoring drive — ending with a bulldozing catch and score by backup TE Olsen Patt-Henry — to go up 24-10 and provide breathing room against Virginia.

The Tigers ended up outscoring UVA 21-0 in that third quarter, with receiver Williams adding a rushing touchdown and Patt-Henry scoring a second touchdown (which came on a fourth-and-1 play near midfield and felt like a dagger).

Up 38-10 after three quarters, Clemson surrendered a long passing touchdown at the start of the fourth but was undaunted during a final 15 minutes that included a Virginia player getting ejected for unsportsmanlike conduct.

UVA had a late touchdown and two-point conversion against Clemson’s backups to cut the score to 41-25, and its kicker gave the Cavs a chance with a great onsides kick that initially bounced off a member of Clemson’s hands team.

But defensive back Ronan Hanafin, a former receiver, fell on the ball and Klubnik threw an insurance touchdown to Moore to wrap this one up.

The end result: Clemson remains spotless through five of eight ACC games and will head into its second off week with a few things to work on but a lot more to feel good about before a tougher conference stretch run (Louisville, Virginia Tech, Pitt).

Next Clemson game

Who: No. 10 Clemson vs. Louisville

When: Saturday Nov. 2 (time TBA)

Where: Memorial Stadium in Clemson

TV: TBA

Clemson football 2024 schedule

• Aug. 31: vs. Georgia in Atlanta, L 34-3

• Sept. 7: vs. App State, W 66-20

• Sept. 14: OPEN

• Sept. 21: vs. NC State, W 59-35

• Sept. 28: vs. Stanford, W 40-14

• Oct. 5: at Florida State, W 29-16

• Oct. 12: at Wake Forest, W 49-14

• Oct. 19: vs. Virginia, W 48-31

• Oct. 26: OPEN

• Nov. 2: vs. Louisville

• Nov. 9: at Virginia Tech

• Nov. 16: at Pitt

• Nov. 23: vs. The Citadel

• Nov. 30: vs. South Carolina