Clemson falls flat in rematch with SMU, drops to 3-4
CLEMSON — Death Valley used to be a place where opponents wilted under pressure.
Saturday, it felt more like a place searching for answers.
In a rematch of last year’s ACC Championship, Clemson fell flat in a 35–24 loss to SMU.
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It was a performance that said as much about where the program stands now as it did about the game itself.
The story entering the afternoon was Christopher Vizzina.
With Cade Klubnik sidelined by an ankle injury, the redshirt sophomore made his first career start. And while his final numbers looked impressive—29-for-41 for 317 yards and three touchdowns—they didn’t fully capture the uneven nature of Clemson’s day.
Vizzina wasn’t the problem, but he wasn’t the solution either.
The Tigers’ play-calling early was understandably conservative, designed to keep him upright and limit mistakes. His lone turnover—a first-half fumble—came on a missed block by Adam Randall against an SMU stunt.
But as the game wore on, he settled in.
Once Clemson opened up the offense, Vizzina found a rhythm with T.J. Moore, who turned in a breakout performance.
The sophomore wideout finished with five catches for 124 yards and two touchdowns, including a 62-yard highlight-reel grab that cut the deficit to two midway through the third quarter.
Antonio Williams added six receptions for 54 yards, while Tristan Smith hauled in a leaping 23-yard touchdown late in the fourth.
And for a brief moment, Clemson had a chance.
Down 29–24 with 2:39 to play, the defense forced a fourth-and-three with an opportunity to give its new quarterback the ball and a shot at a game-winning drive.
Instead, a pass interference call on Ronan Hanafin extended the possession.
Two plays later, a busted coverage left an SMU receiver wide open for a 26-yard completion to the nine-yard line.
A few snaps after that, Chris Johnson Jr. sealed it with a six-yard touchdown run.
It was another example of Clemson’s season-long struggle to play complementary football.
Each time the offense found momentum, the defense faltered. In fact, SMU scored on every single possession following a Clemson touchdown.
After Moore’s long grab made it 16–14, SMU answered in just four plays—a 75-yard drive capped by a 35-yard scoring run from LJ McFall.
Death Valley deflated.
The defense had its moments, particularly in the first half when it limited SMU to three field goals outside of one 70-yard strike to Jordan Hudson.
But the second half was a different story. SMU gashed Clemson for back-to-back 75-yard touchdown drives in the third quarter, both arriving right when the Tigers seemed poised to flip the game.
They briefly steadied with an interception, but that was quickly followed by the 13-play, 75-yard drive that ended it.
The run game offered little support.
Clemson finished with 30 carries for 35 yards — just 1.2 yards per attempt, or about two yards when adjusted for sacks. Randall led the team with 29 rushing yards.
For an offense trying to protect a new quarterback, that lack of balance made sustained drives nearly impossible.
It wasn’t a game decided by talent.
The numbers were nearly even—SMU totaled 429 yards to Clemson’s 352 and finished with just one more first down. But the Mustangs simply executed better when it mattered most.
Their quarterback, Kevin Jennings, battled through an ankle injury and still threw for 290 yards and two touchdowns on 43 attempts. He wasn’t perfect, but he was a warrior and that made all the difference.
Clemson now sits at 3–4 heading into its second open date. Bowl eligibility remains possible, but larger questions loom.
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Vizzina may have earned himself another look, and perhaps a head start on next year’s quarterback competition.
Yet this loss—like others this season—wasn’t about one player. It was about a team still searching for an identity.
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For the first time in a long time, Death Valley wasn’t feared. It was quiet—and that silence said plenty.
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