Klubnik guides No. 10 Clemson past Virginia

CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) — Cade Klubnik threw for 308 yards and three touchdowns as No. 10 Clemson overcame a slow start to win its sixth straight with a 48-31 victory over Virginia on Saturday.

Tight end Olsen Patt-Henry had two TD catches and Phil Mafah ran for two short scores as the Tigers (6-1) improved to 5-0 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, won for the 11th time in 12 games and defeated the Cavaliers (4-3, 2-2 ACC) for a seventh straight time.

The only downside for the Tigers is that the victory came at the expense of former Clemson receiver and Dabo Swinney's longtime offensive assistant in Cavaliers coach Tony Elliott, who returned to Death Valley for the first time since taking the Virginia job three seasons ago.

When it ended, Swinney and Elliott shared a long hug before heading to the locker room.

Elliott's team accomplished something no other team had done in three previous home games this season — holding a lead on the Tigers.

Virginia led 10-3 early in the second quarter, cashing in after a Klubnik interception with Anthony Colandrea's 8-yard scoring pass to tight end Dakota Twitty.

That's when the Tigers got rolling, scoring 35 straight points to put things away. Mafah tied things with a 1-yard run, then put Clemson in front for good from three yards out.

Patt-Henry had an 11-yard scoring catch on Clemson's first drive of the second half, then was wide open for a 40-yard TD run down the left sideline as the Tigers went for it on fourth-and-1 two drives later for a 38-10 lead.

Clemson receiver Antonio Williams completed a pass for a second straight week. He had a 28-yard TD throw to Jake Briningstool in a 49-14 win at Wake Forest on Oct. 12. This time, Williams' completion to Troy Stellato for 34 yards finished at the Virginia 3 and set up Mafah's second score.

Williams' added a 36-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.

The takeaway

Virginia: Elliott had plenty of insight into Swinney through his 11 seasons on staff and looked as if he found ways to frustrate his former program with three fourth-quarter TDs. But Elliott still has work ahead in landing the five stars he used to coach at Clemson.

Clemson: It was not the sharpest game for the Tigers, but they did more than enough to dominate another ACC opponent. Clemson finished with 500 or more yards for a fifth time this season.

Big day for Spiller

Ex-Clemson tailback and current running back C.J. Spiller was inducted into Memorial Stadium's ring of honor. The school unveiled his name on the facing of the upper deck in a ceremony just before kickoff. Spiller was a former ACC player of the year who holds the league record with 7,588 all-purpose yards.

Up next

Virginia returns home to take on North Carolina next Saturday.

Clemson has its second week off before starting the final stretch of the regular season against Louisville.

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