Klubnik and Mafah lead Clemson's attack in a 29-13 win over Florida State

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Cade Klubnik had 235 passing yards and threw touchdown passes to Antonio Williams and T.J. Moore as No. 15 Clemson jumped to an early lead and cruised past Florida State 29-13 on Saturday night.

“I thought Cade played great,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said. “Gritty. Made some plays with his legs. He’s just been a difference maker for us in his recognition. He’s been much more opportunistic. Has really made some big plays.”

Klubnik completed 19 of 33 passes and ran for 62 yards on 11 carries. He threw a 57-yard touchdown to Williams and a 23-yard touchdown to Moore as Clemson built a 17-0 lead after one quarter.

“Really proud of the guys,” Klubnik said. “Obviously want to convert some of those field goals to touchdowns. I feel like we played an A-minus, B-plus game on offense in total and we still had 500 yards of offense.”

Klubnik now has 14 touchdown passes in five games.

Phil Mafah ran for 154 yards on 20 carries as Clemson (4-1, 3-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) finished with 265 rushing yards, averaging 6.6 yards per carry. The Tigers owned the line of scrimmage and won their first road game of 2024.

Coach Dabo Swinney picked up his 174th win at Clemson, breaking the record for victories at an ACC school — a mark held by Florida State’s Bobby Bowden, who won 173 games from the time the school joined the league in 1992 to his retirement in 2009.

“It’s a blessing,” Swinney said. “And I honestly think coach Bowden is probably smiling. Somebody has to break it. Somebody will break this record one of these days. It’s not ever anything I’ve ever dreamed about or cared about or thought about doing.”

While Florida State won the 2023 matchup in Death Valley, Clemson has won four straight games in Tallahassee.

Brock Glenn, making his third career start, completed 23 of 41 passes for 228 yards and touchdowns to Amaree Williams and Ja’Khi Douglas for Florida State (1-5, 1-4). He completed more passes than he had in his previous two starts plus mop-up time.

“I appreciated his energy,” Florida State coach Mike Norvell said. “He showed toughness throughout the course of the game. Made some really good plays.”

QB FRIENDSHIP

Klubnik caught up with Florida State quarterback DJ Uiagalelei after the game. The two were teammates at Clemson in 2022, which was Klubnik’s freshman year and Uiagalelei’s last year before transferring to Oregon State for the 2023 season. Uiagalelei did not play for the Seminoles on Saturday due to injury.

“We text every once in a while,” Klubnik said. “I told him I was praying for his hand. But more than anything I told him I was thankful for him and thankful for the time that we had together. It was great to see him.”

POLL IMPLICATIONS

Clemson is poised to move up, especially on a day when so many top 10 teams lost.

TAKEAWAYS

Clemson: The Tigers racked up 500 offensive yards, controlling the line of scrimmage for large portions of the game.

Florida State: The Seminoles didn’t have any rushing yardage through three quarters, finishing with 22 yards on 23 carries and lacking balance to support a redshirt freshman quarterback.

UP NEXT

Clemson plays at Wake Forest next Saturday.

Florida State has a bye and will next play at Duke on Oct. 18.

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The Associated Press