Total control: Clemson goes to Boston College, dominates Eagles in ACC clash
Taking care of business is easier said than done.
But Clemson football has pulled it off two weeks in a row, blowing out Boston College 41-10 on Saturday to generate some additional momentum after a poor start.
The Tigers never trailed, led by 24 at halftime at Alumni Stadium and got huge nights from quarterback Cade Klubnik and wide receiver Bryant Wesco Jr. and some key defenders as they improved to 3-3 (2-2 ACC).
Following last week’s 38-10 win at UNC, it was the second week in a row Clemson’s game was essentially decided by halftime — a luxury Clemson’s often afforded when facing weaker ACC opponents, but the sort of result this 2025 team struggled to reach in its first four games.
But after a historically bad 1-3 and 0-2 ACC start, Clemson is now at .500 for the first time since Week 2, winners of back-to-back games for the first time this season and blowing out the teams it should blow out — teams like Boston College (1-5, 0-4 ACC).
In other words, while this remains an overwhelmingly disappointing season and a stunning six-game start for the preseason No. 4 team, the sky’s not falling just yet.
Clemson’s 41 points and 504 yards of total offense were both season highs.
The only concern was a potential injury to Klubnik, who left the game after a hard hit near the goal line with an ankle injury and did not return.
“Back-to-back games, they’ve really played well ... starting to play like the team I know I can be, so really proud of that,” coach Dabo Swinney said postgame. “Now we’ve got a little momentum. That’s really what we wanted to get out of this game.”
Game recap
It wasn’t a trick play touchdown pass like last week’s opening play, but Clemson started with the ball vs. Boston College and got points on the board with a 46-yard Nolan Hauser field goal.
That was a sign of good things to come.
With Klubnik playing efficiently, the offensive line blocking well and skill players breaking off big gains, the Tigers kept their offensive groove from the UNC game going and scored on all six of their first-half possessions against Boston College.
Running back Adam Randall’s rushing touchdown in the first quarter gave Clemson a two-score lead (10-0) and made him only the fourth player in program history to score a touchdown in each of his team’s first six games of the season — and the Tigers kept rolling from there.
“It just shows us the power of starting fast and guys doing their job,” said Klubnik, who was 22 of 30 for 280 yards and a TD and ran for 48 yards and another score.
Touchdowns from defensive tackle Peter Woods (2-yard rush as a fullback) and Klubnik (6-yard rush) gave Clemson a 24-10 lead with 5:31 remaining in the first half before some big plays by the Tigers’ defense and iffy decision-making by BC coach Bill O’Brien blew the game open.
Boston College and QB Dylan Lonergan had been moving the ball well after an opening drive three-and-out and had driven to Clemson’s 30 — trailing 24-10 and in position for a third straight scoring drive — when Lonergan was strip-sacked by Clemson LB Sammy Brown.
Wesco made Boston College pay with a highlight-reel 38-yard touchdown pass on a beautiful ball from Klubnik two plays later (31-10), and Clemson earned one final shot when Boston College couldn’t convert on a fourth and 6 from its own 43.
The Tigers had 12 seconds and zero timeouts, but Klubnik got Clemson into field goal range with a short completion to receiver Tristan Smith and Hauser nailed a 50-yarder — his longest make of the season — for a 34-10 Clemson halftime lead.
“That was just good execution,” Swinney said.
“Really, the turning point was the strip sack,” O’Brien added.
The Tigers’ offense didn’t do much from there. Klubnik threw a bad interception on the team’s first drive of the third quarter (his fifth this season) and backup QB Christopher Vizzina was picked off on fourth and goal with a 34-10 lead on the next offensive drive (after he subbed in for an injured Klubnik).
Clemson receiver Wesco also muffed a fourth-quarter punt, although Swinney said Boston College essentially pushed a Clemson player into Wesco to cause that muffed punt and described it as a “tough break” instead of a true muff.
But Clemson’s defense held things down, allowing zero total yards and shutting out BC in the third quarter when the Eagles were trying to get something going. Lonergan was ultimately pulled for Boston College third-string QB Shaker Reisig.
Safety Ricardo Jones picked off Lonergan in the end zone on fourth and goal to prevent a TD that would have cut the deficit to 34-17. And even after Clemson subbed out its starters, the defense held strong and got another turnover on downs.
Clemson’s defense limited BC to 10 points, 221 total yards and 3.6 yards per play while recording five sacks and seven tackles for loss. Boston College scored zero points after the 9:10 mark of the second quarter.
Clemson ended the game with a garbage-time rushing touchdown by backup RB Keith Adams Jr. with 24 seconds remaining in the game. The goal of that drive was likely to get Vizzina (the backup QB) some momentum going forward.
Saturday’s end result: A no-sweat win with an almost identical score of last week’s UNC game and some additional good vibes. Clemson blew out the Tar Heels 38-10 and Boston College 41-10 and now heads back home to host SMU.
“They won earlier today as well, so they’ll be nice and rested,” Swinney said of SMU. “We’ve got a long ride, and we’ve got to do a good job getting our guys recovered. ... And we’ve got to carry the momentum into playing in the Valley.”
Clemson football schedule: Next game
- Who: Clemson (3-3, 2-2 ACC) vs SMU (4-2, 2-0 ACC)
- Where: Memorial Stadium in Clemson
- When: 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 18
- TV: ACC Network
This story was originally published October 11, 2025 at 10:50 PM.
