CLEMSON -- In Tony Elliott's final act as Clemson's offensive coordinator, Clemson reached 40 points just twice against FBS competition in 2021.
The Tigers reached 40 just twice again last season, proving it wasn't all Elliott's fault.
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Times seem different now under second-year coordinator Garrett Riley.
No. 10 Clemson showed in Saturday's 48-31 stomping of Elliott's Virginia team that it can be far less than its best and still put up plenty of points.
Even with Cade Klubnik sloppy and jumpy at times, the Tigers reached 40 for the fifth time in 2024 as they improved to 6-1 entering next week's open date.
Elliott and his mentor Dabo Swinney shared a warm embrace after the game on the field where Elliott played as a Tiger and coached under Swinney from 2011 to 2021.
The Cavaliers dropped their second consecutive game and fell to 4-3.
The defense and Klubnik were wobbly at the same time early, but both recovered impressively as Clemson settled down and settled in to pull away from a 17-10 halftime advantage.
The Tigers jumped all over the Cavaliers with a 21-0 third quarter to make everyone feel a lot better about things on a sun-splashed afternoon at Death Valley.
Klubnik passed for 308 yards on a 23-of-35 clip with three touchdowns and an interception.
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The interception was a bad one -- a ball right into the arms of linebacker Kam Robinson on the final play of the first quarter that gave the Cavs the ball at Clemson's 34.
Virginia managed to convert a third-and-17 on a quarterback draw, and reached the end zone on a coverage bust that allowed for an 8-yard toss from Anthony Colandrea to Dakota Twitty.
Clemson was down 10-3. But the offense answered with an 11-play, 80-yard touchdown drive to tie it.
Then the defense answered by forcing a three-and-out, and the offense went right back to work when Antonio Williams went horizontal and then vertical with a 34-yard flick to Troy Stellato (Phil Mafah scored on the next play to give Clemson the lead for good).
The Tigers piled up long scoring drives including marches of 90, 80, 74 and 70 yards.
Meanwhile, the defense locked in after Virginia moved it for 114 yards and 10 points on its second and third possessions.
After that, Clemson held the Cavs to just 46 yards over their next five possessions before UVA struck for a deep-ball touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter to cut it to 38-17.
The Tigers had seven passing plays of 20 yards or more against a defense that has given up big plays through the air all year.
Clemson totaled 539 yards and averaged 7.2 yards a play while converting 9 of 15 third downs and amassing 28 first downs.
Virginia had 346 yards, but 215 of those were amassed on three touchdown drives on the Cavs' final four possessions. The Tigers yielded just 68 rushing yards on 29 carries.
Clemson was penalized 10 times for 97 yards.
Williams had three catches for 44 yards and a 36-yard scoring dash off a jet sweep that put Clemson up 31-10 late in the third quarter.
Troy Stellato had seven catches for 74 yards, and freshman TJ Moore had 78 receiving yards and a touchdown on four catches.
With Bryant Wesco and Tyler Brown out with injury, there were still plenty of options for Klubnik in the passing game.
Jake Briningstool and Olsen Patt-Henry combined for seven catches totaling 89 yards.
Both of Patt-Henry's catches were for touchdowns -- a 40-yard catch-and-run and an 11-yarder.
Klubnik was off at times, and not just on the interception that came off a poor decision.
He threw well high of his targets multiple times and didn't throw to open receivers running downfield.
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And yet 48 points were on the scoreboard when it was over.
This feels like an improvement over the last three years.
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