Getting by: Clemson football comes back, avoids major upset vs. Troy
Disaster avoided.
There’s no other way to describe the No. 8 Clemson football team’s 27-16 win over Troy on Saturday at Memorial Stadium.
Coming off a season-opening loss to No. 3 LSU, the Tigers and coach Dabo Swinney were the laughingstock of college football’s afternoon slate when they fell behind 16-0 at home to a Group of Five opponent at Death Valley.
Clemson, which closed as a 30.5-point betting favorite, trailed Troy 16-3 at halftime and was on the verge of one of the worst losses of the Swinney era.
But an electrifying burst of second-half touchdowns and turnovers — including two touchdown passes from QB Cade Klubnik to wide receiver Bryant Wesco Jr., and two key interceptions by Clemson defenders — eventually stopped the bleeding.
The Tigers (1-1) rattled off 17 straight points in the third quarter for their first lead of the game (17-16), took a two-score lead early in the fourth quarter (27-16) and held on with key stops to get past the Trojans (1-1).
But Saturday did little to inspire long-term confidence in a Clemson team that’s still trying to prove it’s the ACC favorite and a 2025 national championship contender.
The Tigers looked lost on offense at times in the first half, allowed a number of explosive plays and fell behind two scores against Troy, a team that went 4-8 last year, was picked to finish sixth out of seven teams in the Sun Belt East Division and was trailing an FCS team in the fourth quarter last week.
After a game that was far closer than most anticipated Swinney focused on the positives and praised his team for proving they’re “battle-tested.”
“Just about everything that could go wrong was going wrong with these guys” in the first half, Swinney said. “And obviously you’re coming off a really disappointing week and a lot of noise for these kids.”
Clemson’s 16-point comeback vs. Troy was tied for the sixth largest in program history and was Clemson’s third largest in a home game at Memorial Stadium.
“There’s a reason why there’s only three, because when you get down like that, you usually get beat,” Swinney said. “So just proud of the heart of our team and their courage and toughness and resilience to get it done.”
Game recap
On its opening drive, Troy marched right down the field on Clemson and scored on a 44-yard touchdown pass — after a blown coverage assignment by a Tigers defender.
That was the start of a baffling first half — baffling enough that a 90-minute lightning delay in the first quarter wound up taking a back seat to other storylines.
After a one hour, 32 minute weather delay, Clemson and Troy (they originally kicked off at 3:35 p.m.) resumed play at 5:20 p.m. … with 10:43 remaining in the first quarter.
Clemson’s best early chance at points was nixed when running back Adam Randall converted a 4th-and-2 on Troy’s side of the field — then lost the ball. Randall’s fumble was returned 53 yards and led to a field goal and 10-0 Troy lead.
Fans started entering panic mode a few drives later when Klubnik, backed up to his own 8-yard line, had a ball batted at the line of scrimmage and returned for a touchdown by a Troy defensive lineman.
Just like that, the Trojans were up 16-0 on the No. 8 team in the country.
Fans were booing. Swinney said he didn’t mind that one bit.
“I was booing with them,” he said. “It doesn’t bother me. Man, expectations are high here. We’ve gotta play better. This is a place that cares.”
Troy carried a 16-3 lead into halftime — and it could’ve been more, considering the Trojans missed an extra point, missed a 51-yard field goal right before halftime and had numerous self-inflicted wounds via personal foul penalties.
But Clemson did get on the board with a short field goal right before halftime, which wound up being the first of five consecutive scoring drives.
“I don’t think anybody felt panicked or anything,” said Klubnik, who was 18-24 for 196 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. “We know who we are.”
Clemson’s third-quarter flurry started with an inspired drive from Randall, the converted wide receiver who rebounded from his fumble and had five carries for 59 yards and a touchdown to start the third quarter and cut Troy’s lead to 16-7.
From there, the Tigers defense, which struggled to contain Troy at times but did force turnovers, came up big with interceptions on back-to-back drives.
Safety Ricardo Jones’ highlight-reel pick (which came after multiple deflections) resulted in a Klubnik to Wesco TD pass (16-14) and Clemson’s offense added another short field goal (17-16) after safety Ronan Hanafin’s subsequent pick.
“Coach Swinney talked about a street fight and a heavyweight fight last week against LSU,” Troy coach Gerad Parker said. “That’s all we wanted to do. ... But the third quarter proved costly and was a difference in the game. It flipped it on its head.”
Another key stop came when Clemson cornerback Avieon Terrell blew up a Troy fake field goal attempt early in the fourth quarter. The Trojans were trailing 20-16 and facing a 4th and 5 on Clemson’s 22 — and they got zero points.
That drive directly preceded Klubnik’s second TD pass to Wesco (27-16).
Wesco had a huge game with seven catches for 118 yards and two touchdowns, while Randall had a career-high 21 carries for 112 yards and a touchdown (5.3 yards per carry) and a team-best 165 all-purpose yards.
A mishandled snap and third-down sack helped Clemson force a punt on Troy’s next possession and ultimately run out the clock on a tighter-than-expected game.
That was the only drive after Klubnik’s pick six the offense didn’t score on.
“Great second half,” Swinney said. “Great first half last week (vs. LSU) and we didn’t quite finish offensively. So now we’ve just gotta put four quarters together. That’s really the next step for this team.”
Next Clemson football game
Who: No. 8 Clemson (1-1) at Georgia Tech (2-0)
When: Noon Saturday, Sept 13
Where: Bobby Dodd Stadium in Atlanta
TV: ESPN
This story was originally published September 6, 2025 at 8:10 PM.
