Big days from Cade Klubnik, Tyler Brown power Clemson football past Syracuse
Quarterback Cade Klubnik is growing up, and the Clemson football team is trending upward after starting the 2023 season with back-to-back ACC losses.
Klubnik threw for 263 yards and two touchdowns, rising star receiver Tyler Brown had 151 receiving yards and a couple of Tigers defenders provided winning plays Saturday as Clemson beat Syracuse, 31-14, for its first conference win of the year.
Leading 24-14 in the fourth quarter at the JMA Wireless Dome, Clemson (3-2, 1-2 ACC) also got a big break when a Klubnik pass to running back Phil Mafah on third-and-11 was ruled an incomplete forward pass instead of a backward pass, which would’ve been a fumble.
A Syracuse defender picked the rolling ball off the ground right near Clemson coach Dabo Swinney’s feet and returned it for a wide-open touchdown — no Tigers players pursued him — but referees whistled the play dead.
Syracuse coach Dino Babers and the Orange sideline were upset at the ruling, which referees declined to review and Babers didn’t challenge trailing by 10 points.
A score there would’ve made it 24-21 Clemson with roughly seven minutes to go in the game and tons of momentum in the direction of Syracuse (4-1, 0-1 ACC). Instead, Clemson punted up 10, intercepted star ‘Cuse quarterback Garrett Shrader and scored a play later to run away with Saturday’s game by 17 points.
With the win, Clemson is now 1-2 in the ACC following losses to No. 17 Duke and No. 5 FSU earlier this year and keeps its slim hopes of qualifying for the conference championship game alive.
“It’s good to win a game,” Swinney said. “It’s not easy to win ever. It’s not easy to win on the road, certainly not up here. It’s not easy to beat an undefeated team as well.”
The Tigers also extended their nation-best streak of regular-season games without back-to-back losses to 159 games, which dates back to November 2011, behind 21 points off turnovers, an excellent third down rate (7 of 14) and touchdowns from four separate offensive players.
Game recap
Swinney spent all week pointing to Clemson’s turnovers and points given up off those turnovers as the main reason the team was 2-2 and not 4-0.
But the Tigers on Saturday got a taste of their own medicine — in a good way — with two huge takeaways leading to fourth-quarter touchdowns.
Defensive end Justin Mascoll lit up Shrader on the game’s opening possession, forcing a fumble recovered by defensive tackle Payton Page that led to a 14-yard touchdown pass from Klubnik to wide receiver Troy Stellato.
That play was a significant moment of growth for both Klubnik, who dodged a defender and delivered a perfect throw on the run, and Stellato, who scored his first career Clemson touchdown and continues to come on after two injury-filled seasons.
Later in the first quarter, defensive end Xavier Thomas recovered a fumble off a Syracuse backward pass and returned it 20 yards to set up a short Will Shipley rushing touchdown. That gave Clemson 14 points off turnovers — a critical boost in a conference game.
But Shrader, a veteran dual-threat quarterback who’s actually the ACC’s active career leader in rushing touchdowns, wasn’t going to let Clemson off the hook that easily.
His 28-yard touchdown pass to tight end Dan Villari (a one-time Michigan quarterback) brought Syracuse within a touchdown and made for a tightly contested second quarter ... for a stretch.
The Orange’s best chance to tie the game came around the 6-minute mark after the defense stuffed Shipley on a third-and-short and sacked Klubnik on a fourth-down pass in the red zone. (The fact Clemson’s offensive line couldn’t get the push needed for a couple yards in a critical goal-line scoring situation is another story.)
But Syracuse stalled, thanks in part to some bend-don’t-break defense from Clemson, and its kicker was way short from 57 yards to put Clemson in excellent field position.
Klubnik took advantage of that opportunity and dropped a 47-yard dime to receiver Beaux Collins for his second touchdown pass of the day to put Clemson up 21-7. Kicker Jonathan Weitz also missed a 42-yard field goal at the halftime buzzer that could’ve added to the lead.
The second half ended up being a showcase for a Clemson defense that held Florida State to 17 points in regulation (excluding a fumble return touchdown) last weekend.
The Tigers had three sacks in the third quarter alone and got contributions from their entire defensive line all day, with true freshman end T.J. Parker (two sacks) leading a group of six players who got to Shrader at least once.
Clemson’s lock-down defense helped offset a few forgettable possessions for the Clemson offense, which only got on the board in the period with a 38-yard Weitz field goal (which wasn’t insignificant, given he’d missed two in a row before that).
Leading 24-7 in the fourth quarter, the Tigers briefly reverted to bad habits when tight end Jake Briningstool fumbled the ball and Syracuse recovered it. It could’ve been a touchdown had defensive back Jayden Bellamy not lost his balance while bending over to grab it.
Syracuse took advantage with a 6-yard touchdown pass (Shrader to running back LeQuint Allen) and, trailing 24-14, got the ball again with 7:31 remaining after a long Clemson drive stalled. (That drive included the aforementioned controversial incomplete pass ruling.)
After Tigers linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Jr. picked off Shrader with 6:45 remaining, fans at the JMA Wireless Dome started heading for the exits and Mafah formally put the game away with a 32-yard rushing touchdown (31-14).
Clemson, which was a seven-point betting favorite, won a sixth straight game against Syracuse and has now won 10 of 11 meetings since the Orange joined the ACC in 2013. The Tigers played the game without starting slot receiver Antonio Williams (ankle) and cornerback Nate Wiggins (knee), neither of whom traveled with the team to Syracuse.
Next Clemson game
Who: Clemson (3-2, 1-2 ACC) vs. Wake Forest (3-1, 0-1 ACC)
When: 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 7
Where: Memorial Stadium in Clemson
TV: ACC Network
This story was originally published September 30, 2023 at 3:29 PM.
