CLEMSON — Clemson made quick work of Furman on Saturday, with the Tigers cruising to a 45-10 victory over the Paladins on Saturday.

The victory marks the second straight at home for a Clemson team that hasn’t had the best results on its home turf this season.

Defense Paves Way

Regardless of the opponent, this defense can benefit from the kind of performance we saw in this one. When the starters came out in the third quarter, the Paladins had been held to well under 150 yards of offense. The Paladins only managed 27 rushing yards before all the starters were taken out.

It’s the kind of outing that can lead to a confidence boost, and after the way this unit has played at times this season, it can use all the confidence it can get before heading to Columbia next week.

However, once the staff went deep into the bench, Furman was able to move the ball much more easily. It got to the point where Davo Swinney inserted most of his defensive starters back into the game early in the fourth quarter.

Klubnik Says Goodbye

Cade Klubnik has played his final game inside Death Valley. Dabo Swinney added a nice touch by calling a timeout to let Klubnik exit to a standing ovation. It was a pretty memorable moment with Klubnik visibly choked up.

The senior finished his last home game, completing 9-of-15 for 159 yards with two touchdowns.

The Tigers ended up playing four quarterbacks in the game, with fans finally getting a look at how dynamic true freshman Chris Denson is with his legs.

Back to Reality for Vizzina

Backup quarterback Chris Vizzina was up and down after relieving Klubnik early in the second quarter. To be frank, you’d like to have seen him play better against an FCS team.

The redshirt sophomore was off-target on multiple throws down the field and finished up just 9-for-15 for only 59 yards. Not quite the impression you want to leave if you are trying to prove you are worthy of the starting job in 2026.

Vizzina was able to make a couple of plays in the running game, with his longest rush going for 15 yards.

Why Was Lawson In So Late

With the Tigers up four touchdowns, Jahiem Lawson was still in the game with 10 minutes left in the third quarter and it might have cost Clemson. Lawson went down with an injury and was not able to put weight on his right foot as he headed to the injury tent. Lawson was on crutches when he came out of the tent and went straight to the locker room. With the rival Gamecocks up next, why have one of your best ends still in the game at that point? Especially when players like Cade Denhoff, Darien Mayo, Ari Watford (who made his debut in this game) and Zaire Patterson are behind him in the rotation. Losing Lawson in a game that was already over would be huge.

That came after starting tight end Olsen Patt-Henry left early in the first half with a knee injury. Patt-Henry was on the sidelines in the second half in street clothes, walking with the help of crutches and wearing a brace on his right knee.

Photo by Bart Boatwright