Christopher Vizzina had as good a debut as a starting quarterback as he could have hoped for. It still was not enough.
The defense struggled for Clemson football, and despite Vizzina’s gutsy effort, the Tigers’ slide continued as SMU avenged last season’s ACC championship game loss by pulling away to a 35-24 victory in front of a impatient Death Valley crowd.
Early on, Clemson’s defense played well. The Tigers held the Mustangs off the scoreboard on their first two drives. But on their third trip, quarterback Kevin Jennings connected with Jordan Hudson on a 70-yard pass with 3:52 to play in the first quarter. It was the Mustangs’ first and only lead, one they never relinquished.
SMU upped the lead to 10-0 early in the second on a 51-yard Sam Keltner field goal, his first of three on the day.
The Clemson offense would finally respond on the ensuing drive when Vizzina found a streaking T.J. Moore down the right sideline for a 32-yard touchdown, the first of their two scoring connections on the day. The momentum was fleeting.
Keltner banged home fields goals of 48 yards each on the Mustangs’ next two possessions to take a 16-7 lead into halftime.
Clemson gathered back some momentum with 8:48 left in the third when Christopher Vizzina found Moore again on the right side, with T.J. making a one-handed circus catch for the 62-yard touchdown with the Nolan Hauser point after trimming the Tigers’ deficit to 16-14.
“(Vizzina) made a great through to Wesco and he dropped it. That can be really frustrating,” said Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney. “But I thought he showed a lot of grit coming back a couple plays later and he makes a beautiful throw to T.J.”
Dabo Swinney
Derrick McFall would come right back, ripping off a 35-yard touchdown run to re-up the SMU lead to 23-14 as the Mustangs began to gash a tiring Tigers’ defense. Hauser answered with a 28-yard field goal to cut the lead to 23-17, but Jennings connected with tight end Matther Hibner on a 22-yard score the following drive to give the Mustangs their largest lead at 29-17.
Clemson’s last score came with 6:44 on the clock, when Vizzina found 6-foot-5-inch Tristan Smith on a jump ball int he endzone on third and long to make it a 29-24 game. Needing only one stop, with three timeouts and the two-minute break in their pocket, all the Clemson defense needed was one stop to have a chance at the win.
The Tigers would never get the ball back.
SMU salted away nearly six minutes before finally delivering the dagger with 1:03 to play on a Chris Johnson Jr. six-yard scoring run right up the middle and through several missed tackles.
It was a microcosm of the Tigers’ day.
“We’re going to try to fight our way and finish this thing the very best that we can,” stated Swinney. “And then we’ll start over just like we do every year. You know, that’s what we do every year. We have a great year, we have a tough year, you know, we start over and then you go back to work.”
Dabo Swinney
Christopher Vizzina finished the game with 317 yards passing, three touchdowns, and no interceptions filling in for the injured Cade Klubnik. Following the game, Vizzina was upbeat about his performance despite Clemson not being able to climb out of its early hole.
“What an amazing atmosphere we had today,” Vizzina said. “I’m sorry to those (fans) who came out. Disappointed in how the game turned out. But, that first touchdown, that meant a lot because especially this game, we didn’t start out very hot. To get that rolling, we started rolling on offense after that. But it was pretty special.”
Christopher Vizzina
Moore finished with five catches for 124 yards to go with his two scores, but once again the Tigers’ running game faltered with Clemson rushing for only 35 yards on 30 carries with Adam Randall being the leading ball carrier, notching 29 yards on 10 attempts.
Jennings competed 23 of 43 passes for 290 yards and two scores for SMU while Jordan Hudson had a career day of seven catches for 131 yards. Johnson Jr. led the Mustangs’ ground game with 59 yards. SMU outgained Clemson on the afternoon 429 to 352 in total yardage.
SMU vs Clemson Game Highlights | 2025 ACC Football
Clemson falls to 3-4 overall and 2-3 in the ACC. The Tigers have lost three out of four games at home. SMU improved to 5-2 and remain unbeaten in the ACC at 3-0.
Despite another demoralizing loss, Swinney remains optimistic for the future.
“We’ll win more championships. We’ll win more championships. All right? I promise you that. May not happen this year, but we’re going to win more championships. That’s all I can say. And I think we have a track record that demonstrates that,” he said.
