Clemson vs Virginia live updates: Tigers win, get ready for showdown with Miami
Clemson faces Virginia at 8 p.m. Saturday on the ACC Network. Follow our game and score updates here.
Final: Clemson 41, Virginia 23
Trevor Lawrence threw for 329 yards and three touchdowns and Travis Etienne had 187 total yards and two touchdowns as Clemson extended regular-season winning streak to 35 games.
Clemson hosts Miami next week in a battle of top-10 teams.
Poljan TD: Clemson 41, Virginia 23
Brennan Armstrong’s third TD of the game was a 5-yarder to tight end Tony Poljan with 1:11 left. The two-point conversion is no good.
Armstrong is 24-of-43 for 270 yards passing.
Mellusi TD: Clemson 41, Virginia 17
Running back Chez Mellusi scored on a 2-yard run with 5:27 left to cement another Tigers’ win.
Travis Etienne had a 27-yard catch to go over 100 yards receiving in the game.
Etienne TD: Clemson 34, Virginia 17
Running back Travis Etienne is having a big night catching the ball and scored on a 3-yard TD with 3:54 left in the third.
Etienne has four catches for 87 yards to go along with 70 yards and a TD on the ground. He has 65 career touchdowns, moving him to 13th all-time in NCAA history.
Thompson TD: Clemson 27, Virginia 17
Virginia answers right after Clemson’s field goal with Brennan Armstrong’s 3-yard pass to Keytaon Thompson with 6:05 left in third.
Virginia converted on a fourth-and-one to keep drive alive.
Potter FG: Clemson 27, Virginia 10
Clemson got on the board in the second half with a BT Potter 42-yard FG with 10:33 left in third.
The Tigers’ drive came after cornerback Andrew Booth made a one-handed interception in the end zone to end Virginia drive.
Jana TD: Clemson 24, Virginia 10
Virginia got its first touchdown late in the second quarter when Brennan Armstrong hit Terrell Jana on a 23-yard score. Cavs went 65 yards in just 38 seconds.
Rodgers TD: Clemson 24, Virginia 3
Trevor Lawrence connected with Amari Rodgers for the second time of the half on a 9-yard pass in which Rodgers leaped over a Virginia defender into the end zone.
The drive was set up by Nolan Turner’s interception which put the Tigers at the UVA 36.
Rodgers TD: Clemson 17, Virginia 3
Trevor Lawrence hit Amari Rodgers on a 27-yard touchdown pass on third-and-15 to give the Tigers a two-touchdown lead with 5:23 left in second.
It was Lawrence’s fifth touchdown pass of the year. Clemson is 7-of-9 on third-down conversions in the first half.
Delaney FG: Clemson 10, Virginia 3
Brian Delaney got the Cavs on the board with a 27-yard field goal with 9:38 left in the second.
It was Virginia’s best drive of the game and included the Cavs converting on fourth down and 1 at the Clemson 40.
Etienne TD: Clemson 10, Virginia 0
Travis Etienne scored on a 16-yard run to give the Tigers a 10-0 lead with 22 seconds left in the first quarter.
Etienne has scored a rushing or receiving TD in 38 career games, which ties an FBS record for most career games scoring a touchdown (by any means), held with Florida’s Tim Tebow and Louisiana Tech’s Kenneth Dixon.
Cavs burn their timeouts
Virginia used all of its three first-half timeouts before the first quarter ended. The last one was called with 30 seconds left in first quarter
Potter FG: Clemson 3, Virginia 0
Clemson scored on its opening possession when BT Potter hit a 47-yard field goal. Potter is now 4-of-4 on the season in the field goals.
The drive was aided by Lyn-J Dixon’s 53-yard kickoff return to Virginia 48.
Virginia missing players, coach
Virginia will also be without seven players as the Cavaliers announced that seven players are unavailable for the game following COVID-19 testing this week. One full-time Virginia coach also tested positive and is in isolation, the team said.
Tigers’ down 11 players for matchup
Clemson will be without 11 players on its roster when the Tigers host Virginia.
The Tigers announced before Saturday’s game that: OL Kaleb Boateng, LB David Cote, S Peter Cote, WR Hampton Earle, DE Justin Foster, WR Tye Herbstreit, LB Matthew Maloney, DT Ruke Orhorhoro, TE Luke Price, WR Justyn Ross and DE Xavier Thomas are inactive and will not play.
Clemson did not reveal specifics on why each player is out, as the Tigers have changed the way they are reporting injuries in 2020 due to COVID-19. Clemson is only announcing players as “available” or “not available” this year. While Clemson did not clarify why each player is out, some are likely due to issues related to COVID-19 — either a positive test or a quarantine because of close contact with an affected player.
Clemson revealed Friday afternoon that 14 people in its athletics department tested positive for the coronavirus this week, including eight student-athletes.
Foster, Orhorhoro, Price, Ross and Thomas were already expected to be out.
Tigers’ pre-game attire
Clemson players warmed up Saturday night in black shirts that read, “We need change.” Tiger players and coaches said they would be wearing things to highlight social injustice all season.
Against Wake Forest, the Clemson football team wore stickers on their helmets against Wake Forest as part of their efforts to spotlight social justice. Phrases include “Black lives matter,” “equality,” “love” and “put a stop to racism.”
This story was originally published October 3, 2020 at 6:46 PM.
