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It took a lightning delay, a bizarre bounce, and a backfield spark from Adam Randall, but No. 8 Clemson clawed out a 27–16 win after spotting Troy a 16–0 lead on an eerie afternoon in Death Valley.
Troy opened with a 75-yard, five-play march to go up 7–0, and Clemson answered with a three-and-out before a one-hour, 32-minute lightning delay. The funk lingered. A red-zone pick-six had the Tigers down 16–0 late in the second quarter; a Nolan Hauser 25-yarder finally put Clemson on the board at 16–3 at halftime.
The reset came from Randall. On Clemson’s first series of the third quarter, the converted wideout ripped a 30-yard burst to key an eight-play, 75-yard drive he finished with a 1-yard plunge, trimming it to 16–10. The next Troy snap turned surreal: safety Ricardo Jones snagged a deflected pass that pinballed off the backside of corner Ashton Hampton and then a Trojan receiver. Cade Klubnik cashed it in one play later, hitting Bryant Wesco Jr. for a 26-yard strike and Clemson’s first lead, 17–16. A Ronan Hanafin interception set up a Hauser 30-yard field goal, and Klubnik and Wesco later closed the door with a 34-yard touchdown with 9:41 left.
Randall finished with 165 all-purpose yards (career-best) — 112 rushing, plus four catches — embodying the Tigers’ second-half identity shift.
After the game, head coach Dabo Swinney had high praise for Randall’s performance.
“Got Adam Randall going. What a gutsy game for him too. 21 for 112, and 165 all-purpose yards. I was really proud of Adam, and just thought he made some tough, tough runs.”
Swinney framed the day with two themes — resilience and courage — after a frustrating week and a chaotic first half.’
“There are a lot of things that win football games, but two of the things that you’ve got to have a good season, is you got to have resilience, and you’ve got to have some courage. You've got to have some freaking courage,” he said.
Swinney singled out Klubnik’s response after the pick-six: “That’s what champions do. That’s what resilience looks like. They went five straight scoring drives. Five straight scoring drives, 27 unanswered points after that pick six.”
Klubnik finished 18-for-24 for 196 yards and two scores, both to Wesco (7 catches, 118 yards). Defensively, Clemson logged three interceptions and four sacks; Wade Woodaz posted 11 tackles and Will Heldt had a team-high two TFLs. And yes, the moment everyone will remember: “That ball bounced right off Ashton’s butt. Bounced right up off his tush and Ricardo’s hustling to the ball to get it picked off,” Swinney cracked.
For a team that needed a jolt, Randall was the lightning. His downhill runs, paired with timely defense and special-teams execution, turned a flat, stormy start into 27 unanswered and a vital early-season escape.
Up next, Clemson opens ACC play at Georgia Tech next week at noon.
