The Tigers 45-10 victory over the Paladins makes them bowl eligible for the 26th consecutive season
129 years ago, Clemson played their first ever football game, facing off against the Furman Paladins. The Tigers won 14-6 in what was considered an upset at the time, as Furman had seven years of experience under their belt. Clemson’s highlight of the day came when their end (whose names been lost to history) snuck the ball under his sweater, faked an injury, limped to the sideline, then took off for the end zone. Garret Riley could never.
This past Saturday, of course, was far from an upset. The starters played less than half the game, and Cade was taken out with twelve minutes left in the second quarter. Klubnik went 9-15 for 159 yards and two touchdowns in his final home game, and received a standing ovation upon his exit. Antonio Williams was pulled at the same time, ending the day with a pair of touchdowns.
The first half concluded with Clemson leading 31-3, and essentially every member of their first team out for the remainder of the match. In limited play, a slew of Tigers were still able to shine. Gideon Davidson turned nine touches into 70 yards, and TJ Moore hauled in three catches for 50 yards. Sammy Brown grabbed his first career interception, along with a TFL and a sack. Will Heldt logged both a sack and two tackles for loss as well.
The second half was incredibly uneventful, as Clemson was playing a rather conservative game deep in their depth chart. Sixteen different players caught a pass, with no one earning more than three receptions, as the Tigers cruised through the final thirty minutes. The second and third team was relatively uninspiring, but Chris Denson looked incredible in his ten minutes of play. He rushed for over a hundred yards and scored two touchdowns, one in the air and one on the ground.
With Cade getting pulled so early, Vizzina was able to get more reps in as the signal caller. In all honesty, he struggled. His accuracy was subpar, but his inability on timing routes was more daunting. He went 9/15 for 52 yards and a touchdown, but could’ve easily earned a much more favorable completion percentage. While the outing wasn’t necessarily horrible, you would hope to see more out of our potential future quarterback.
The Tigers take on an equally non-competitive South Carolina rival next week against the Gamecocks in Columbia. Carolina is currently outside outside the top 14 in the SEC, which wasn’t even possible two years ago.
Additional Notes
- Clemson is now 28-4 on Military Appreciation day, winning their last eighteen matchups
- Clemson is 45-10-4 all time against Furman, with their last loss coming in 1936
- Backup punter Robert Gunn had a five yard punt, trying his hardest
- Ian Schieffelin entered the game briefly, with the entire student section chanting his name. He got a goal line fade, but Vizzina overthrew him by a few inches. He came back in and was able to haul in a first down reception
- Adam Randall saw just two carries, with Davidson getting a majority of the first team reps
- The defensive starters re entered with twelve minutes left in the game,
