No. 10 Clemson, Klubnik tops Virginia and former Tigers assistant Elliott in 48-31 win

CLEMSON, SC (AP) – Cade Klubnik threw for 308 yards and three touchdowns as No. 10 Clemson overcame a slow start to win its sixth straight with a 48-31 victory over Virginia on Saturday.

Tight end Olsen Patt-Henry had two TDs and Phil Mafah had two short scores as the Tigers (6-1) improved to 5-0 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, won for the 11th time in 12 games and defeated the Cavaliers (4-3, 2-2 ACC) for the seventh straight time.

The only downside for the Tigers is that the win came at the expense of former Clemson wide receiver and longtime offensive assistant Dabo Swinney to Cavaliers coach Tony Elliott, who returned to Death Valley for first time since taking the Virginia job three seasons ago.

When it was over, Swinney and Elliott shared a long hug before heading to the locker room.

Elliott’s team accomplished something no other team had done in three previous home games this season: hold a lead on the Tigers.

Virginia led 10-3 early in the second quarter, winning after a Klubnik interception on an 8-yard scoring pass from Anthony Colandrea to tight end Dakota Twitty.

That’s when the Tigers got rolling, scoring 35 straight points to put things away. Mafah tied things up with a 1-yard run, then put Clemson ahead for good from three yards out.

Patt-Henry had an 11-yard scoring catch on Clemson’s first drive of the second half, then was wide open for a 40-yard TD run down the left sideline as the Tigers made it fourth-and-1 two plays later for a 38-10 lead.

Clemson wide receiver Antonio Williams completed a pass for the second straight week. Had a 28-yard TD toss to Jake Briningstool in a 49-14 win at Wake Forest on Oct. 12. This time, Williams’ completion to Troy Stellato for 34 yards ended up at the Virginia 3 and set up Mafah’s second score.

Williams added a 36-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.

Takeaway food

Virginia: Elliott got a great look at Swinney during his 11 seasons on the staff, and he seemed to find ways to frustrate his old program with three fourth-quarter TDs. But Elliott still has work to do to land the five stars he used to coach at Clemson.

Clemson: It wasn’t the sharpest game for the Tigers, but they did more than enough to dominate another ACC opponent. Clemson finished with 500 or more yards for the fifth time this season.

Big day for Spiller

Former Clemson running back and current running back CJ Spiller was inducted into Memorial Stadium’s Ring of Honor. The school unveiled its name on the parapet of the upper deck in a ceremony just before the start. Spiller was a former ACC Player of the Year who holds the league record with 7,588 all-purpose yards.

Next

Virginia returns home to face North Carolina next Saturday.

Clemson has its second week off before starting the regular season finale against Louisville.

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