By : Sabri Haidar
(Photo/Sabri Haidar- The Mojo Network)
For more than a half, Clemson football looked like it was heading toward another stunning September setback. Instead, the Tigers steadied themselves, leaned on their defense, and rode Cade Klubnik’s second-half poise to escape with a 27-16 win over Troy at Memorial Stadium.
The No. 8 Tigers (1-1) entered the locker room down 16-3 after an anemic first half in which every drive ended in a punt or turnover until a late field goal. The boos inside Death Valley were real, but so was the turnaround. Clemson responded after the break with 24 unanswered points, sparked by a defense that forced two takeaways in the third quarter and a quarterback who refused to fold.
Klubnik’s rebound
Klubnik wasn’t flawless — his pick-six in the second quarter dug Clemson’s hole deeper — but he bounced back in a way that Swinney called “gutsy.” The junior finished 18 of 24 for 196 yards, two touchdowns and one interception, an improvement from his shaky opener against LSU.
“Just an incredible fight from our team and something that we can build on for sure,” Swinney said. “My favorite part of the game, five straight scores in four and a half minutes. We had a four-and-a-half-minute drive at the end to end the game. Get the ball with four and a half minutes and they can’t get it back. Just a lot of great things.”
Running back Adam Randall provided balance, topping 110 rushing yards to keep Troy’s front seven honest.
Swinney shoulders blame, praises grit
Troy (1-1) struck quickly, hitting a 44-yard touchdown pass from Goose Crowder less than three minutes in. Swinney pointed the finger at himself and his staff.
“You can’t spot a team like that two touchdowns, and that’s what we did,” Swinney said. “The first touchdown was 100 percent on us as far as coaches. Should have never happened and we did a poor job of recognizing they had a personnel that we hadn’t prepared for, and we put Anderson in a bad position there. That’s where we’ve got to be better in getting the timeout called and not letting that happen.”
Swinney admitted the first half had nearly everything go wrong — from weather delays to miscues on the field — but said the way his players handled it proved something bigger.
“There’s a lot of things that win football games, but two of the things that you’ve got to have… is resilience and you’ve got to have some courage. You’ve got to have some freaking courage,” he said. “About everything that could go wrong was going wrong for these guys. And obviously, you’re coming off a really disappointing week and a lot of noise for these kids managing disappointment. Then you step in there and all of a sudden it’s like craziness.”
Klubnik’s response to criticism
The defining moment came right after his interception return for a touchdown. Instead of folding, Klubnik led Clemson on an immediate scoring drive capped by a perfect strike to freshman tight end Christian Wesco.
“You kind of hang in there and battle around. Cade, put yourself in his situation. He’s just been crucified all week,” Swinney said. “Very disappointing you didn’t play well last week, and now you come into the game and a guy stops rushing and puts the ball up. You’ve got an easy little access throw and (instead), pick six. Crazy, but how you gonna respond?
“And as I told you last week, if the worst part of that game was that our best player played poor, sign me up for that. Because there’s one thing I got not doubt on, is what 2’s made of. It shines you up, or it grinds you up; it’s all about what you’re made of. I know what that kid’s made of. You saw that tonight.”
What’s next
With the scare behind them, Clemson shifts into ACC play. The Tigers visit Georgia Tech (2-0) next Saturday at Bobby Dodd Stadium (noon ET, ABC/ESPN). The Yellow Jackets are riding momentum after wins over Colorado and Gardner-Webb, and they already own a reputation as giant-killers after last year’s upset of Miami in Atlanta.
Swinney summed up the night best: “Just a crazy day. First of all, appreciate our fans hanging in there. Crazy day, weather, craziness in the first half, but I really do appreciate our fans just for hanging in there with us. When the guys needed it, they were there for them.”