The UVA Football team (4-2, 2-1 ACC) will play in front of 80,000 fans at #10 Clemson (5-1, 4-0 ACC) down in Death Valley.
The game kicks on Saturday in the noon ET broadcast window on ACC Network.
Vegas has Clemson as a 20.5-point favorite with a 57.5 over/under, which would seem to presume a final score in the range of Clemson 38, Virginia 17.
I have a feeling Tony Elliott, in his first game back at Clemson since leaving there to take the job at Virginia in December 2021, will have his guys ready to go to make it closer than that.
Details
Series: Clemson leads series, 40-8-1
Last meeting: Clemson, 41-23 (2020)
ACCN: Chris Cotter (play-by-play), Mark Herzlich (analyst), Coley Harvey (sideline)
SiriusXM Radio: SiriusXM 138 / SiriusXM 193 / SiriusXM 371
SiriusXM App: SiriusXM 371 / SiriusXM 955
UVA Football this week
- Weekend Preview: What UVA Football fans need to know about #10 Clemson
- UVA Football: Injury reports on McKale Boley, Antonio Clary, Trell Harris, Chris Tyree
Fast-moving first quarter
After one quarter down in Death Valley, we’re all knotted up at 3-3.
Virginia went three-and-out on its first possession after getting a 7-yard Kobe Pace run on first down.
Clemson went 74 yards on 11 plays on its first possession, but the drive stalled out in the red zone due to a penalty that wiped out a Cade Klubnik TD pass.
Nolan Hauser was good from 29 yards to put the Tigers on top.
Virginia then drove to the shadow of the Clemson end zone, but the drive stalled when Anthony Colandrea had to throw the ball away to evade a rush on a third-and-1 at the Clemson 2.
Will Bettridge was good from 20 to tie the score at 3-3.
Kam Robinson picked off a Klubnik pass in plus territory on the final play of the quarter to set up the offense with the ball at the Clemson 34.
And that’s where we stand after one.
Third-down pickup leads to TD pass
Anthony Colandrea picked up a third-and-17 on a QB draw, and three plays later, he connected with Dakota Twitty on an 8-yard TD pass in the left flat.
The score puts UVA on top, 10-3, with 12:26 to go in the second quarter.
TWITTY TD‼️
We take a 10-3 lead over Clemson early in the second quarter. pic.twitter.com/CW7ZdJ3YIS
— Virginia Football (@UVAFootball) October 19, 2024
Clemson answers, aided by Virginia penalties
The Virginia D helped Clemson out with a pass interference penalty that got the ball into plus territory, and a chop-block penalty that gave the Tigers a fresh set of downs inside the 10.
Phil Mafah converted with a 1-yard TD run.
The scoring drive was 11 plays, 80 yards.
All tied up at 10-10, 7:38 to go in the second quarter.
Clemson retakes the lead with quick-strike drive
After Virginia flubbed its way to a three-and-out, with a holding penalty wiping out a screen pass that would have picked up a first down, Clemson struck quickly.
A reverse-wide receiver pass got the ball inside the UVA 5, and Phil Mafah scored from 3 yards out.
Clemson leads 17-10, 3:42 to go in the first half.
Half: Clemson 17, Virginia 10
Clemson is dominating statistically, with a 219-128 advantage in total offense, but Virginia converted a short field after an INT into a TD, and got a big stop in the red zone, to keep it at 17-10 at the half.
No sacks allowed, and the run game has gained 59 yards on 17 attempts, though most of that is QB Anthony Colandrea, who has 29 yards on six runs.
Colandrea is 9-of-18 for 67 yards and a TD, an 8-yarder to backup tight end Dakota Twitty.
Clemson has run for 60 yards on 13 attempts, and Klubnik is 11-of-16 for 130 yards and the INT through the air.
Jonas Sanker and Corey Thomas have five tackles each to lead the D, and Kam Robinson has four tackles, and the INT.
Clemson adds to lead
The Clemson offense drives 90 yards on 11 plays on the opening series of the second half.
The scoring play was a Cade Klubnik-to-Olsen Patt-Henry 11-yard TD pass, aided by a missed tackle by Jam Jackson.
Clemson leads 24-10 with 9:11 to go in the third.
Clemson is pulling away
Clemson got bailed out. Cade Klubnik was guilty of intentional grounding, but the flags also flagged Ben Smiley for roughing the passer on the play, for a light shove.
What should have been third-and-20 was back to second-and-5, and on the next snap, Antonio Williams took a jet sweep 36 yards for a TD.
It’s 31-10 Clemson, with 4:31 to go in the third.
Fourth-and-1 TD
The rout is on.
After an Anthony Colandrea fumble, Clemson scored on a 40-yard pitch, catch and run to tight end Olsen Patt-Henry.
It’s 38-10 with 1:30 left in the third.
Dominant third quarter for Clemson
Clemson outgained UVA 202-44 in the third quarter.
Virginia gets back on the board
Malachi Fields got behind the D for a 45-yard TD pass from Anthony Colandrea on the first play of the fourth quarter.
That’ll make it look a little better.
It’s 38-17 Clemson.
D holds in the red zone; pyrrhic victory
A second short Nolan Hauser field goal makes it 41-17 with 8:22 to go.
The scoring drive was 14 plays, 70 yards, taking 6:31 off the clock.
The not-good ACC Network announce crew of Chris Cotter and Mark Herzlich are doing their best to keep casual fans watching.
Memo to ACCN: there were never any casual fans watching this one.
Tack-on score to make it look better
Backup QB Tony Muskett connected with backup tight end Sackett Wood on an 8-yard TD pass to cap a nine-play, 65-yard garbage-time drive.
Muskett was 5-of-6 for 54 yards on the drive.
Muskett hit Kobe Pace in the flat for the two-point conversion.
Makes it 41-25 with the two-minute timeout and then some kneeldowns to come.
I stand corrected
Clemson should have kneeled down.
Virginia went backups on its last offensive possession. Dabo Swinney left his starters on the field, and Cade Klubnik threw a 34-yard TD pass to TJ Moore to make it 48-25.
What a classy guy that Dabo Swinney twerp is.
Muskett strikes again
The second-team offense scored another garbage-time TD, on a 65-yard pass from Tony Muskett to Ethan Davies.
The two-point try: no good.
It’s 48-31 with 1:41 to go.
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Chris Graham
