Nov. 1—TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Clemson nearly tricked itself at the end, but the Tigers' Halloween trip to Tallahassee ended up being quite the treat.
The Tigers took down Florida State 36-24 on Oct. 31. Clemson led by 19 points in the fourth quarter before giving up back-to-back touchdowns and allowing the Seminoles to cut it to a one possession game. What had been shaping up to be a dominant win was turning into a nightmare no Halloween horror film could ever imagine.
Luckily for Clemson, it was at that moment freshman quarterback Tait Reynolds decided the night wouldn't end in a frightful defeat. Instead, he broke away for a 79-yard touchdown — the longest by a Clemson QB in program history — followed by an interception in the end zone by defensive back Elliott Washington II to seal the win.
Clemson heads back home 5-3 and 3-2 in the ACC.
"Our record isn't what we want it to be, but this team's getting better," Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said. "It might not always show up the way we want it to, but these kids are together."
'About time' Reynolds has his signature moment
It's been an up-and-down season for Reynolds in which every move he makes — like most QBs — has been criticized and analyzed to no end.
The difference between Reynolds and "most QBs" is he's a freshman and is playing his first football games in a year after missing his entire senior season of high school with a hamstring injury. He'd caught flak in recent weeks for not throwing a touchdown pass since a Sept. 19 win over North Carolina.
Reynolds silenced the would-be critics just a bit with two touchdown passes on Saturday, but more important was his record-breaking run.
Swinney and Reynolds met on the sidelines after the touchdown and exchanged some words. Surely, Swinney was telling Reynolds how proud he was for overcoming the critics, right?
Wrong.
"I told him it's about time," Swinney said. "He ran a quarterback sneak for 99 yards in high school. That's the play that's been in my mind since I — that's one of the reasons I said, 'Yeah, I want that guy.' ... Now you're seeing him run with some swagger."
Offense finally explodes
Reynolds has been saying for weeks that he was sure Clemson's offense was about to explode.
The numbers, which placed Clemson 122nd in scrimmage plays of 10-plus yards prior to the game, said otherwise.
Clemson defied statistics against the Seminoles and were aggressive in the vertical passing game. The Tigers picked up eight plays of 15-plus yards for 210 yards — 60 percent of Clemson's total yards gained. Swinney said he and offensive coordinator Chad Morris were intentional in attacking down the field but was quick to point out they left even more on the table.
Reynolds agreed with the notion there was more to clean up but said the team's first 30-plus point performance of the season against an FBS team was satisfying after preaching a breakthrough was coming.
"I think we can get better and better — that's the great thing about it," he said. "We're not there yet with our full potential."
Defense shuts down Daniels early, avoids late collapse
Clemson's defense played lights out for roughly 50 minutes of football. Unfortunately, football games are 60 minutes long.
The Tigers forced four turnovers and shut down the Seminoles on nine of their 13 drives. Quarterback Ashton Daniels was sacked four times and was flustered by the Clemson defense for most of the game. However, the Tigers allowed bursts of explosive plays that felt unsustainable despite the overall solid play.
Eventually, those chunk plays did create problems for Clemson. The Tigers gave up consecutive touchdowns, the latter a 41-yard pass to make it a five-point game with just over five minutes remaining.
"There's just really no excuse at the end there," Swinney said. "I'm frustrated with that."
Swinney's frustrations were short-lived after Reynolds' heroics and Washington's interception.
Offensive line holds up after Thurmon injury scare
There was a scary moment in the first half of the game. After a short run play, left guard Elyjah Thurmon was motionless on the ground. It wasn't apparent what happened at first, but replay revealed he'd been hit in the helmet during the commotion.
Thurmon was on the ground for six minutes before being carted off the field and taken by an ambulance to Tallahassee Memorial hospital. Swinney said Thurmon is responsive and moving and didn't show signs of anything more than a concussion. He was held at the hospital overnight.
Gavin Blanchard took over at LG for Thurmon. Clemson also had to replace center Harris Sewell with freshman Grant Wise before Sewell returned to take the victory formation snaps.
Clemson, which gave up four sacks in the game, didn't allow another after Thurmon's injury.
Keep flushing it
After losses to FSU, Miami and Virginia Tech, Swinney and company hammered home the idea of "flushing it" — moving on from a loss as quickly as possible and refocusing on the next game.
They were no doubt happy to get the win on Saturday, but the Tigers must flush it all the same.
Clemson turns around for a road trip to Syracuse against the red-hot Orange, which are on a two-game winning streak after starting 0-4 in the ACC. 'Cuse just took down No. 19 SMU at home over the weekend.
Syracuse's win also kept Clemson's slim ACC hopes alive, as only Miami (6-0 ACC) and Wake Forest (5-1) have less than two ACC losses this season. Clemson previously made the College Football playoff in 2024 after Syracuse beat Miami and opened the door for the Tigers to walk-off SMU in the ACC Championship Game.
But the Tigers can't think in the big picture like that. All that matters is what's ahead.
"I told them they deserve to win because of how they work, how they meet, how they prep, how they respond. They block out all the negativity and all the bull crap because they know what's true, they know what's real, and they just do the work, and they deserve to win," Swinney said. "But you got to go earn it, and they earned it tonight."
Reach Jackson Castellano at jcastellano@postandcourier.com . Follow him on X @jaxacastellano. Want the latest Clemson news delivered straight your inbox? Subscribe to The Tiger Take.
