Recap: Stanford falls to No. 17 Clemson in Death Valley
On Saturday, Stanford football fell to No. 17 Clemson on the road by a final score of 40-14. Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik led the way for the Tigers going 15-31 for 255 yards, four touchdowns, and one interception while wide receiver Bryant Wesco Jr. had two receptions for 104 yards and one touchdown. Stanford freshman running back Micah Ford was the top performer for the Cardinal, rushing for 122 yards on 15 carries while wide receivers Emmett Mosley V and Elic Ayomanor both found the end zone.
Mosley had seven receptions for 48 yards to go along with his touchdown while Ayomanor had four receptions for 50 yards to go along with his trip to the end zone. Clemson improves to 3-1 overall and 2-0 in the ACC while Stanford falls to 2-2 overall and 1-1 in the ACC.
BOX SCORE: Stanford at Clemson-Saturday, September 28th
VIDEO: Postgame Press Conference: Clemson
Stanford got the ball to start the game and set up a 4th and 1, deciding to go for it. Stanford quarterback Justin Lamson came in for the short yardage gain and fumbled the ball, preventing Stanford from getting the first down despite running back Sedrick Irvin Jr. recovering. Clemson quickly took advantage as Cade Klubnik found the end zone on a 34 yard touchdown run as he took advantage of broken coverage. Stanford safety Jay Green fell down in the secondary while outside linebacker David Bailey wasn’t quite able to bring Klubnik down, nipping at his heels. 7-0 lead for Clemson with 12:19 to go in the 1st quarter. Green did not return to the game, going down with an injury.
Stanford would move the chains well in their next drive as Micah Ford had a 24 yard gain while quarterback Ashton Daniels had a 10 yard gain. The Cardinal got in the red zone with an opportunity to pick up points. Unfortunately for Stanford, Daniels threw an interception in the end zone to Avieon Terrell, killing the drive.
On the first play of the next drive Clemson struck quickly as Klubnik found Wesco Jr. for a 70 yard completion. Amazingly, the Stanford defense was able to hold Clemson to a field goal, making it a 10-0 game with 5:49 to go in the 1st quarter.
Stanford’s next drive was similar to their previous drive as Daniels and Ford each had 21 yard gains before Daniels threw another pick, this time to Jeadyn Lukus. To the credit of the Stanford defense, they would force a punt, giving the ball back to the Cardinal with 1:41 to go in the 1st quarter on their own 28 yard line.
Stanford’s drive would result in another punt, giving Clemson the ball on their own five yard line with 14:50 to go in the 2nd quarter. On the next Clemson drive, Stanford would force a turnover as cornerback Collin Wright got an interception, giving the Cardinal the ball on their own six yard line with 12:14 to go in the quarter.
The next three combined drives for both teams would result in punts. With 4:26 to go in the 2nd quarter with the ball on their own 46 yard line, Clemson would start their next scoring drive. The Tigers methodically marched down the field, finding the end zone on an eight play, 54 yard drive as Cade Klubnik found tight end Jake Briningstool for a three yard touchdown. It was now a 17-0 lead for Clemson with 1:49 to go in the half. Stanford would get the ball on their own 25 yard line following a touchback. The first play of the drive for the Cardinal would be a 26 yard gain by Micah Ford. The final play would be a 19 yard touchdown pass from Ashton Daniels to Elic Ayomanor. That made it a 17-7 game, which would be the halftime score.
Stanford was actually playing Clemson pretty tough as they had 230 total yards to Clemson’s 227. The issue was the turnovers. Stanford’s inability to take good care of the ball was preventing them from being down by single digits or possibly in the lead.
In the 3rd quarter, Clemson gained more separation from Stanford outscoring them 10-0. After chewing up a good amount of clock in their opening drive of the quarter, kicker Nolan Hauser made a 33 yard field goal for the Tigers, making it 20-7 with 10:06 to go in the 3rd.
Stanford just wasn’t able to get back into the game as their offense wasn’t able to do what it needed to do. Clemson in contrast was able to find the end zone in the 3rd quarter as Cade Klubnik found Cole Turner for a 43 yard touchdown. Up 27-7 at the end of the 3rd quarter, it was clear that Clemson would win.
In the 4th quarter, Clemson scored two more touchdowns to make it 40-7 with 10:36 to go as Stanford blocked an extra point. In the first drive of the 4th quarter, Ashton Daniels got injured for Stanford, ending his night. He was in a boot afterwards. To Stanford’s credit, they were able to find the end zone once more as Lamson found Mosley for a 22 yard touchdown. 40-14 would be the final score as Clemson walked out with a comfortable victory.
Starting quickly with Clemson, this was a good win for them. After the way Stanford upset Syracuse last week, they needed to take Stanford seriously and it’s clear that they did. They did a nice job of forcing turnovers and not allowing Stanford to finish drives. While some of that is due to Stanford shooting themselves in the foot, one still has to give Clemson credit. They played well the entire game and clearly had some extra motivation with it being homecoming and all.
As for Stanford, the biggest thought I have from this game is they have to take care of the ball. They actually moved the ball well for much of the night and showed they have the personnel to hang with a team of Clemson’s caliber. But you add a couple of poor interceptions into the mix, especially on the road, it’s really going to be hard to come out on top. My first key to the game was Ashton Daniels needing to make good decisions and unfortunately that didn’t happen. With his status for next week being in doubt, Justin Lamson needs to be ready to fill those shoes and make better decisions.
On that note, Stanford’s next game will be on Saturday, October 5th against Virginia Tech. Kickoff will be at 12:30 PM PT on ACC Network.
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