Clemson, S.C. — Lots of scoring is not something that would come to mind when you think about the No. 25 Clemson Tigers. After all, they put up just three points against No. 1 Georgia. On Saturday night Cade Klubnik threw for a career-high 378 yards and five touchdowns as Clemson cranked up offense routed Appalachian State 66-20 on Saturday night.
“It’s electric,” Klubnik said. “It’s what we’ve been doing all fall camp and we got to do it now. It’s really fun, kind of let that ball fly. We’ve got a lot of dudes who can do it.”
The Tigers offense got going early with Klubnik’s 76-yard bomb down the left seam to Bryant Wesco Jr. less than two minutes into the game. On the very next drive, Wesco’s 52-yard catch took the ball to the one and Klubnik followed with the first of two rushing scores.
Things continued went Clemson’s way, the rest of the half as the Tigers scored touchdowns on all eight of their first-half drives for a 56-13 lead.
“I’ve seen a lot of dudes come through here,” coach Dabo Swinney said. “We never, ever, ever had a half like that.”
Bryant Wesco Jr. had two catches for 131 yards and Phil Mafah ran for an 83-yard touchdown — Clemson’s longest since Travis Etienne ran for a 90-yard score in 2019. The highly touted freshman made a lot of noise in this one.
“We never flinched the whole week,” Klubnik said of the Georgia aftermath. “We came back hungry. We’ve learned a lot last year and learned how to respond.”
Appalachian State (1-1) typically has Power Four programs on high alert, splitting its last six matchups against the bigger boys. In part by how they earned the moniker the “Giant Killers”. The Mountaineers win over Michigan in 2007 will live on in the anna ls of football related triumph until the end of time.
And the Mountaineers came in as favorites to win the Sun Belt Conference this season and perhaps the College Football Playoff’s Group of Five bid. But, they could not slow down Clemson and fell to 0-6 all-time against the Tigers.
Appalachian State coach Shawn Clark said his team gave up some uncharacteristic mistakes. But like Clemson’s Dabo Swinney said after Georgia, this loss won’t define the Mountaineers going forward.
“Right now, we’re going to turn this page,” Clark said.
Clemson piled up 712 yards, including 525 yards over the first two quarters for the program’s first half of 500 or more yards.
Klubnik, who had not thrown a touchdown pass his previous three games, finished 24 of 26 passing and added scoring runs of 2 and 3 yards in the first-half barrage. He was replaced by backup Chris Vizzina in the third quarter. Tight end Jake Briningstool had touchdown catches of 41 and 17 yards.
Joey Aguilar, picked as Sun Belt preseason offensive player of the year, was swarmed by Clemson’s defensive line much of the game. He ended 18 of 41 passing for 214 yards and a touchdown.
The win was Clemson’s 799th in program history, moving it one away from becoming the first in the ACC with 800 victories.
Both of Clemson’s stellar freshmen receivers in Wesco and T.J. Moore caught their first college touchdowns against Appalachian State. The two were the talk of fall camp, yet barely played in the season opener against Georgia. Wesco got his first start Saturday and showed the game breaker he can be with his first two catches going for 76 and 52 yards.
Moore joined in with three catches for 44 yards, including a 33-yard touchdown in the second quarter. On defense, five-star linebacker Sammy Brown led Clemson with nine tackles.
Clemson remembered former receiver Diondre Overton, who died at age 26 on Saturday. Tigers coach Dabo Swinney paused at Overton’s captain’s plaque on the team’s entrance to Memorial Stadium. Before the national anthem, fans held a moment of recognition for Overton, whose image was posted on stadium’s video board. Overton was a reserve on two national championship teams (2016, 2018) during his four seasons.
