For a little while at least, the impossible looked attainable. After a quarter and a half against No. 8 Clemson, Virginia was behind just 14-7, and had stopped the Tigers on four consecutive drives. After forcing a turnover on downs, the Cavaliers got the ball back with eight minutes to go in the half and a chance to tie the game.
Instead, Virginia (2-7, 0-5 ACC) sophomore quarterback David Watford threw an interception, and the turnover awoke the dormant Tigers (8-1, 6-1 ACC). Clemson senior quarterback Tajh Boyd led three consecutive touchdown-scoring drives to end the period, and in the process, wiped out any hopes Virginia had to pull off the upset. Even after pulling its starters, Clemson continued to pile on the points en route to a 59-10 win.
“Obviously, Clemson is an excellent football team,” coach Mike London said. “They took advantage of a lot of things that we couldn’t capitalize on. They have outstanding perimeter players, their defense is a fast, athletic defense. They played well. We didn’t play well enough, we didn’t coach well enough.”
Boyd was deadly against the Cavaliers, throwing for 377 yards and three touchdowns on 24-of-29 passing in a homecoming game of sorts for the Hampton, Va. native. He added a rushing touchdown just before halftime, and by the third quarter, he was pulled for junior backup Cole Stoudt after building a 42-10 lead. Boyd had 143 yards passing in the second quarter alone as he pushed the halftime lead to 35-7.
“Tajh Boyd is as-advertised,” London said. “You almost have to play a perfect game in order to play with an excellent team like Clemson. I was proud of the guys in that first quarter, but toward the latter part of that second quarter, things started to unravel for us.”
Virginia was without starting cornerbacks junior Demetrious Nicholson and sophomore Maurice Canady, and Clemson took advantage of the depleted secondary. Boyd and Tiger junior wide receiver Sammy Watkins targeted Cavalier freshman cornerback Tim Harris repeatedly, and the strategy paid dividends as Watkins finished with 169 yards and two touchdowns on eight receptions. Clemson had 435 passing yards in total.
“Obviously, [Harris is] dejected,” London said. “You’re out there on display and everyone sees it when a guy gets behind you. But we’ve seen Sammy [Watkins] get behind a lot of people. The only thing you can do is keep coaching and teaching this young man that better days will come for him.”
Even in the rare instances when the Cavaliers slowed the Tigers, they were unable to stop them. After pinning Clemson to a third-and-15 on its own 4-yard line early in the third quarter, Boyd found Watkins for a 96-yard touchdown pass to put Clemson in front 42-7.
“It’s tough,” sophomore defensive tackle David Dean said. “But we have a motto saying ‘You just have to forget it and move on.’ We had to go out there the next drive and try and stop them again.”
Watford had a career day last week against Georgia Tech, finishing with a program-record 43 completions, but he seemed far less confident against Clemson, finishing just 16-of-35 for 130 yards and an interception. After combining for 23 catches and 270 yards against the Yellow Jackets, senior Tim Smith and junior Darius Jennings were largely absent from the passing game against Clemson, combining for just 13 yards on three receptions.
“A lot of not being able to execute falls on my shoulders,” Watford said. “Coach [London] had a great plan, and after seeing what we were able to do last week, we came out ready to go. They disguised a lot of coverages and caught me making errant passes and forcing certain things I shouldn’t have.”
If there was any bright spot for the offense, it was freshman wide receiver Keeon Johnson, who finished with 77 yards on five receptions. Since being made a starter a month ago, Johnson has performed consistently well, and he amassed more than half of Virginia’s total receiving yards Saturday. He was not expected to be a large part of the passing game entering the season, but he has embraced his expanded role.
“I am more comfortable now than my first appearance,” Johnson said. “I write out every play we practice at night to make sure I know them, kind of like homework.”
Even after Boyd left the game with his team leading 42-10, Clemson continued to score. Stoudt did not prove very effective as his replacement, but third-string redshirt freshman Chad Kelly scored on a 38-yard rushing touchdown, and led another touchdown-scoring drive late in the game to put the finishing touches on the 59-10 win.
“They ran some good stuff out there, they ran some good schemes, but we also need to be more consistent,” junior safety Anthony Harris said. “Guys were missing tackles, including myself, which led to two scores. Guys have to be more consistent with knowing our assignments and coverage.”
For the Cavaliers, the loss was their sixth straight and the biggest since another 59-10 loss against Oregon in the second game of the season. Against two top-10 teams, Virginia has failed to provide many answers.
“[Clemson is] really similar, almost exactly the same [as Oregon],” junior linebacker Henry Coley said. “Oregon probably spreads you out a bit more than Clemson does. They hit you in the same kind of ways — perimeters, perimeters, perimeters.”
Virginia now hopes to end its six-game skid when it travels to Chapel Hill, N.C. to face North Carolina (3-5, 2-3 ACC). The Cavaliers will look for their first ACC win of the season against the Tar Heels as they hope to avoid finishing winless in conference play for the first time since 1981.
“We have no choice but to keep our confidence up,” Coley said. “There are still three more games to play.”
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