After a dismal showing offensively in the season opener against Georgia on Aug. 31, when Clemson mustered only three points and 188 total yards, Dabo Swinney issued a challenge to the offense ahead of Saturday night’s home opener against App State.
That challenge from the Tigers’ head coach was simple – “grow up.”
Not only that, but Swinney wanted to see the offense get off to a fast start against App State after the sluggish opener, and the unit certainly did just that in Clemson’s second game of the 2024 campaign.
Quarterback Cade Klubnik connected with freshman receiver Bryant Wesco for a 76-yard touchdown on the third offensive play, and the Tigers (1-1) never looked back, scoring touchdowns on each of their first eight possessions en route to a 66-20 win over the Mountaineers (1-1) at Memorial Stadium.
“Well, it was very important (to start fast),” Swinney said in a postgame interview on ACC Network’s ACC Huddle show. “I told them, I said, ‘I’m going to take the ball until y’all grow freakin’ up on offense. I’m going to keep taking the ball.’ We didn’t win the toss, but I got the ball anyway, so it worked out either way because they deferred. Last week (vs. Georgia) we take the ball and we miss a play on the first play that probably goes 25 yards.
“So, just challenging our offense to grow up, and you saw some dudes tonight.”
Plenty of dudes stepped up to make plays for the Tigers on Saturday night as they responded to Swinney’s challenge in resounding fashion – with Klubnik leading the charge and offensive explosion.
The junior signal-caller accounted for seven first-half touchdowns — five through the air and two on the ground — in leading Clemson to a program-record 525 yards of total offense and 56 points in the first half.
“Man, this quarterback, he played his tail off,” Swinney said of Klubnik. “I thought he saw the field well last week, but he just settled down and we put it together, and that’s what we can do. That was Clemson Football.”
Klubnik completed 24-of-26 passes for 378 yards, throwing touchdowns of 76, 41, 29, 33 and 17 yards in the first half, and both of his rushing attempts went for touchdowns. The Tigers finished with 712 yards of offense for the game, the sixth-most in school history, and averaged 9.8 yards per play. Running back Phil Mafah had 10 carries for 118 yards, including an 83-yard touchdown scamper on his fourth carry of the game, and both Wesco (130) and tight end Jake Briningstool (100) hit the 100-yard receiving milestone.
Talented redshirt sophomore receiver Cole Turner chipped in four catches for 49 yards on four targets, and along with Wesco, highly touted true freshman wideout T.J. Moore scored his first career touchdown.
After a 29-yard touchdown reception by Antonio Williams, Clemson led 35-0 at the end of the first quarter, setting a program record for most points in a first quarter and tying the school record for the most points in any quarter.
“We got the ball to everybody,” Swinney said. “Cole Turner was so bad last week (vs. Georgia) – it was only his fifth-ever college game. This was his sixth game of his life, and good to see a guy like that respond. And then Wesco, hey, right out of the gate – it’s hard to start any better. T.J. Moore, Antonio, Tyler (Brown) kind of rolled his ankle so he was limited so we just held him. But man, I’m really proud of all those guys. Mafah, I think he had 100 something yards. Brinny (Briningstool)… we’ve got a lot of weapons.”
The Tigers took a 56-13 lead into halftime following a first half that featured five Clemson touchdown drives of 70 or more yards.
Clemson reached 450 passing yards and 250 rushing yards in a game for the second time on record, joining its performance against SC State in 2014 (467 passing, 268 rushing).
It marked Clemson’s 25th game with 60 or more points all-time and its ninth such game under Swinney.
“Again, it’s just a start, and it’s going to get tougher as we go,” Swinney said of the offensive performance. “But hey, App State’s a really good football team. I wasn’t happy when I saw our schedule. I’m like, ‘Who scheduled App?’ Like, this is a tough opponent that has a lot of pride.”
Swinney made sure to credit an offensive line unit that more than did its part in the offensive onslaught, paving the way for 252 rushing yards and not allowing a sack.
“The biggest thing is, it starts with those guys up front, and they’re together,” Swinney said. “We didn’t play (starting left guard) Marcus Tate tonight. We were able to hold him. He was ready if we needed him, but we were able to hold him. So to see (Collin) Sadler in there, Harris (Sewell) in there, those guys continue to play, it was really good to see.”
–Clemson Athletic Communications contributed to this story
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