Physical Stanford challenges Clemson, but Tigers show they are ACC contenders

Clemson's past three performances coupled with Miami’s near loss to formerly hapless Virginia Tech, shows the Tigers absolutely can battle with anyone in the conference.

Ryan Kantor - Contributor - Monday, September 30 2024

Clemson had looked outstanding in two straight games against respectable programs having down seasons – Appalachian State and NC State. While Stanford isn’t a huge jump in competition, their homecoming visit to Clemson represented a significant level up in defensive toughness and perhaps overall physicality. Stanford entered with one of the country's best run defenses, which would further test Clemson’s emerging offense.

As Clemson did in their last two wins, the Tigers jumped on Stanford early. The Tigers recovered in plus territory after an excellent forced fumble by Wade Woodaz. Three plays later, a sea of green opened in front of QB Cade Klubnik and he sprinted 34 yards for a touchdown. Stanford responded with a long drive, gashing Clemson on the ground around the edge. Once in the red zone, they inexplicably decided to pass and threw an egregious interception in the end zone (Avieon Terrell).

Unlike App State and NC State, the Cardinal didn’t fold. They held Clemson to a field goal that made the score 10-0. Then Stanford again mounted a long drive only to make the same mistake by going away from their successful running game to throw another interception, this time at the 9-yard line to Clemson’s other starting cornerback, Jeadyn Lukus. With a chance to put the game away in the first half as they’d done the previous two weeks, Clemson went punt-interception-punt before the teams exchanged touchdowns to enter halftime with the score at 17-7.

Clemson remained in neutral, mostly benefitting from boneheaded plays from the Cardinal until the latter part of the third quarter. With just over a minute remaining in the third quarter and the game still in the balance (20-7), a long completion to T.J. Moore was wiped off the board after review. Recent Clemson teams would conservatively try a few runs or short passes after something like that, but Garrett Riley immediately dialed up another deep ball opportunity. Cole Turner used his speed to dash open for a 43-yard TD that extended the lead to 20 (27-7).

After a fourth down stop gave Clemson the ball back, Klubnik and Wesco connected for a 34-yard TD on the first play to turn the game into a blowout. They’d add another on the ensuing drive with a short pass to Olsen Patt-Henry to make it 40-7 before a late Cardinal score made the final 40-14. Despite floundering offensively for major portions of the game, three straight touchdown drives – fueled by explosive plays – quickly ended the worries.

A 40-7 win over a middle-of-the-pack ACC team is nothing to scoff at, but facing a tougher defense and a speedy quarterback exposed some things to work on. The most pressing was the inability of the defensive ends to set the edge. Stanford punished Clemson on outside runs as the defensive ends struggled immensely to set the edge, especially on QB runs. When Coach Rumph chose not to take a transfer (as Coach Swinney offered to him), he was counting on Peter Woods playing a major role. Woods (out with a lower-body injury since App State) is certainly missed and will give this group a major boost upon his return.

Offensively, the line didn’t open gaping running lanes like they did in the previous two contests, but that’s to be expected against a tougher defensive line, and they eventually found their footing. They only allowed one sack. For parts of the game, Klubnik looked more like the guy we saw last year and in the opener vs. Georgia than in the previous two superb outings. He threw an interception down the sideline when he had Olsen Patt-Henry wide-open in the middle of the field. On the 70-yard completion to Bryant Wesco, he left the ball at least five yards short, which allowed Wesco to be tackled at the 10 yard-line rather than walk into the end zone. The Tigers would settle for a field goal. Other times, he didn’t see open receivers or left balls a little short, which allowed the defense to contest the catch.

Still, in a 40-14 win, there were at least as many positives. Klubnik’s rushing touchdown on the opening offensive drive was a great improvisation and showed how he is utilizing his speed far more than a year ago. His TD pass to Cole Turner not only showed off his arm and decision-making but was a testament to his newfound moxie and aggressiveness to attack deep right after that TJ Moore reception was taken off the board.

Wade Woodaz and Barrett Carter played well at linebacker. Woodaz had the aforementioned forced fumble and added an interception later in the contest. Carter added 3.5 tackles for loss. Cornerbacks Terrell and Lukus made life miserable for a running QB who struggles to throw. Each had an interception and QB Ashton Daniels finished 9/19 with 1 TD and 3 INTs.

Clemson’s performance wasn’t as sterling as their last two. While the Tigers aren’t quite ready to battle with Texas or Alabama for a National Championship, their past three performances coupled with Miami’s near loss to formerly hapless Virginia Tech, shows the Tigers absolutely can battle with anyone in the conference for an ACC championship.