After not appearing in back-to-back contests due to a toe injury, Adam Randall returned to game action with a bang on Saturday against Wake Forest.
The junior Clemson wide receiver scored his second career touchdown on a 9-yard pass from Cade Klubnik in the third quarter, and finished with three catches for 19 yards in the 10 th -ranked Tigers’ 49-14 victory over the Demon Deacons in Winston-Salem.
Following the game, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney discussed Randall’s speedy recovery and the fact he was back on the field Saturday despite undergoing surgery on Sept. 23 after suffering a stress fracture in his toe last month.
Swinney initially expected Randall to be out for a month with his injury. Although he didn’t come back until Saturday’s game vs. Wake Forest, the 6-foot-2, 225-pounder was ready to play if needed a week earlier in Clemson’s win over Florida State, but the Tigers were able to hold him out.
“Unbelievable. I’m telling y’all, it’s unbelievable,” Swinney said of Randall overcoming his injury so quickly.
Clemson wide receiver Adam Randall (8) celebrates with quarterback Cade Klubnik (2) after catching a TD against Wake Forest during the third quarter Saturday October 11, 2024 at Allegacy Stadium in Winston-Salem, N.C. Bart Boatwright/The Clemson Insider
“He literally had two screws put in the same foot. I’m thinking he’s going to be back open date (Oct. 26), and they come back and say, ‘Hey, we think he’s got a chance to play against Florida State.’ I’m like, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’ And he was ready to play, but we were like, ‘We don’t have to play him.’ And then he was able to practice this week. We put him on kind of a pitch count this week at practice just to not have any setback.”
Prior to sitting out the FSU game, and before that, being sidelined for the Stanford game on Sept. 28, Randall had a strong showing in Clemson’s victory over NC State on Sept. 21, when he recorded a team-high and career-high 69 yards on a career-high-tying five receptions with his first career touchdown.
The Tigers let Randall play in that game with his toe injury, as he was in a position where he wouldn’t make the injury any worse, and he went into that game knowing he would have surgery a couple days later.
“It shows, that kid, he’s unbelievably committed and he loves to play,” Swinney said. “He was MVP of the game for us in that (NC State) game, and going into that game, we knew we were going to do surgery on Monday. So, just really proud of him. He’s one of the best leaders we have on this team.”
Randall came out of the Wake Forest game feeling “great” from a health standpoint, according to Swinney.
“I asked him, I said, ‘How you feel?’ He said he feels great,” Swinney said.
Added Swinney, joking: “We should probably put him in a lab and study him. He’s got some great DNA, the only thing I can say.”
A former four-star prospect from Myrtle Beach, Randall has recorded 12 receptions for 119 yards and two touchdowns in four games this season.
A limited number of signed replica road signs from Cade Klubnik are available! Visit Clemson Variety & Frame or purchase online!
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