Coming up short: Clemson football drops home game to SMU, falls to 3-4
Another Clemson home game. Another Clemson home loss.
The Tigers and coach Dabo Swinney are losing at Memorial Stadium at a historically bad rate, and they have a losing record to show for it after Saturday’s 35-24 loss to SMU, which dropped a floundering Clemson team to 3-4 (2-3 ACC).
The Tigers have now lost a stunning five consecutive home games against power conference teams dating back to October 2024 and are 1-3 at home this season, with the only win coming against Sun Belt school Troy.
Clemson trailed 29-17 with 12 minutes, 30 seconds remaining in the game before backup quarterback Christopher Vizzina (in for injured starter Cade Klubnik) threw a miraculous fourth-and-21 TD pass to transfer receiver Tristan Smith to get the score to 29-24.
But defensive coordinator Tom Allen’s unit, loaded with NFL talent, couldn’t get a stop when it needed to, and SMU marched down the field for another TD (35-24) to officially put the brakes on a late Clemson comeback.
Facing a third-and-10 at Clemson’s 35 with 2:29 to go, SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings threw for 26 yards and a first down. And SMU RB Chris Johnson Jr. put his team up for good with a rushing TD on a third-and-6 with 1:03 to go.
Had Clemson gotten a stop there, SMU likely would’ve settled for a field goal, gone up eight and given Vizzina and the offense a chance (albeit a slim one) to get a game-tying drive and two-point conversion with about 25 seconds left.
But they never got the chance.
It’s now been a calendar year since Clemson last won a home game against a P4 team (Virginia on Oct. 19, 2024). The Tigers have lost five straight games to power conference teams for the first time since losing six straight over the 1970-71 seasons.
Presented with that stat, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said it was “jarring.”
“Jarring,” he said postgame. “Disappointing.”
The country’s preseason No. 4 team now faces an uphill battle to reach a bowl game after another crushing loss. Clemson is off this upcoming week before hosting Duke.
“We’re gonna fight our butts off to the end, and then we’ll count them all up and we’ll see,” Swinney said. “It’s a season, and right now it’s not been anywhere near the season that we want. ... We just can’t seem to quite put it together and get out of our way. But it’s football. We’ll keep going. We’ll bounce back. We’ll pick ourselves up.”
Game recap
Klubnik was labeled a “game-time decision” pregame Saturday, but the heavy tape and brace on his right ankle during initial pregame warmups said it all.
Klubnik didn’t even dress, missing his first start in 34 games.
His backup, Vizzina, got off to a rough start, throwing some passes high and wide. Clemson coach Swinney and offensive coordinator Garrett Riley didn’t appear to have much early confidence in their backup quarterback.
SMU, meanwhile, took an early 7-0 lead on quarterback Kevin Jennings’ 70-yard touchdown pass to receiver Jordan Hudson on a deep crossing route. It was the longest play Clemson’s defense had allowed in a game this season.
The Mustangs added a 51-yard field goal — a career long for their kicker — for a 10-0 lead early in the second quarter before the Clemson offense finally got going with a touchdown pass from Vizzina to wide receiver T.J. Moore.
But SMU ended the half on a 6-0 scoring run, with kicker Sam Keltner (who entered Saturday 4 for 7 on field goals and 1 for 4 on field goals past 40 yards) nailing two field goals from 48 yards. Both came after SMU stalled in Clemson territory.
With Clemson’s defense giving up some big plays but holding firm on a few third-and-longs to force field goals, SMU and Jennings took a 16-7 lead into halftime.
“We were kind of in our own way offensively,” Swinney said.
Defense can’t get a stop in second half
Moore’s second touchdown catch of the game, which he snagged one-handed down the sideline for 62 yards, brought Clemson within two points (16-14) and snapped the Tigers out of a post-halftime offensive funk.
Clemson never got any closer.
SMU put up 19 points in the second half, and every drive felt like it came at a key moment. A rushing touchdown to go up nine in the third quarter (23-14). A wide-open TD pass to go up 12 in the fourth (29-17). And, of course, a final, demoralizing drive that chewed 5:41 of clock and put the game out of reach.
Jennings, SMU’s star quarterback, bounced back from a first-quarter ankle injury and finished 23 of 43 for 290 yards passing with two touchdowns and one interception and led the Mustangs (5-2, 3-0 ACC) to points on 7 of 14 drives.
Jennings had completions of 15, 17, 22, 25, 26 and 70 yards against Clemson’s defense, and SMU also had rushes of 18, 30 and 35 yards. SMU had the most points (35) and passing yards (290) of any Clemson opponent this season, and their 429 yards of total offense were just short of Syracuse’s 433.
That production largely offset some good vibes generated from the Clemson offense, which got a career game from Vizzina in his first start (29 of 42, 317 yards, three touchdowns, one turnover) and great efforts from WRs Moore and Smith.
After Smith’s touchdown catch with 6:44 to go, though, Clemson’s offense never got the ball back in a position to tie or win the game because its defense, under new coordinator Tom Allen, couldn’t get SMU off the field.
“When we needed a stop, we couldn’t get it,” Swinney said, adding that Clemson “didn’t deserve to win the game” for that reason and many others.
A lack of complementary football continues to be the story of the season for Clemson, which has four losses already, its most under Swinney since 2011.
Reminder: There are still five games to go.
“There’s not much I can say other than ‘Let’s go back to work,’” Swinney said. “This is a tough year to this point, but the year’s not over. ... We’ll try to fight our way and finish this thing the very best that we can.”
Clemson football: Next game
Who: Clemson (3-4, 2-3 ACC) vs. Duke (4-3, 3-1 ACC)
When: Saturday, Nov. 1 (time TBA)
Where: Memorial Stadium in Clemson
Channel: TBA
This story was originally published October 18, 2025 at 7:06 PM.
