No. 10 Clemson looking for 6th straight win as Virginia and familiar face Tony Elliott pay a visit

CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) — It’s a first for Clemson coach Dabo Swinney, facing an opponent who knows how he thinks, prepares and plans for each game on the the 10th-ranked Tigers schedule.

But Swinney is just as familiar with the habits of his one-time receiver and long-time assistant, Virginia coach Tony Elliott.

“When you have that type of relationship, he knows exactly how I think,” Swinney said with a smile. “I know how he thinks, too. Don’t think he’s one step ahead.”

Not yet, anyway.

No. 10 Clemson (5-1, 4-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) face the Cavaliers (4-2, 2-1) on Saturday for the first time since Elliott took over there three seasons ago.

Swinney has served as a friend and mentor for Elliot t from the time they met in 2003. Elliott was a fifth-year receiver at Clemson and Swinney was the newly hired receivers coach under Tommy Bowden.

Swinney hired Elliott as an offensive assistant in 2011 and Elliott rose to offensive coordinator and main play caller for national title teams in 2016 and 2018. That’s a lot of talks, meetings and successful game planning the two have shared over the years.

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Elliott has steadily built a program devasted at the end of his first season when three team members were shot and killed on campus. Two students, including a fourth player, were wounded that day in November 2022.

The Cavaliers have steadily found some footing this season. Elliott looking to go 3-1 in the ACC for the first time since 2019 when Virginia won the defunct Coastal Division and lost to Clemson in the league championship game.

Part of that continuing process for winning, Elliott said, was ignoring the texts and calls from Clemson friends this week to focus on his team.

“I have a responsibility to this football program to be laser focused,” Elliott said. “And that’s one of the things that I learned from where I came from (in Clemson) is just how to block out the noise.”

He knows there will be some hurt feelings from his old pals. “This is one of those weeks where some people are mad at me right now,” Elliott said. “But I promise you, I love you. I just need to focus.”

Difficult stretch

Virginia starts one of the roughest stretches of the season, with four of its next five games against ranked opponents. After returning home next week to play North Carolina, the Cavaliers go to No. 20 Pittsburgh and No. 12 Notre Dame. They close the run at home against No. 22 SMU.

Clemson’s offense

The Tigers have won five straight games led by a revived offense under offensive coordinator Garrett Riley and quarterback Cade Klubnik. Clemson is second in the ACC with 41 points and 482 yards per game. The team averaged 26.8 points and 402 yards a game in 2023.

Klubnik has thrown for 1,528 yards and 17 touchdowns against just two interceptions. He said the team stayed focused despite early struggles againsgt Wake Forest in what was a 49-14 victory.

“When stuff might not be going our way, everybody’s calm-minded and ready to go to the next one. That’s a new mindset and expectation for sure,” Klubnik said.

Virginia’s Sanker

Clemson’s offense might face one of its biggest challenges in Virginia safety Jonas Sanker, who was named ACC defensive back of the week after his team’s last two games. Sanker also had the Cavaliers first fumble-return touchdown since 2019 with his 40-yard romp to the end zone in a win over Boston College.

Staying perfect

Clemson’s game with Virginia continues a run where Swinney attempts to stay perfect against four straight opponents. Swinney moved to 16-0 against Wake Forest last week. He’s 5-0 since taking over against Virginia. Swinney is 8-0 against Louisville, who Clemson faces on Nov. 2, and 6-0 against Virginia Tech, where the Tigers play on Nov. 9.

Honoring C.J.

Elliott is not the only former Clemson player in the spotlight this week. ACC player of the year and current Tigers running back coach C.J. Spiller will have his name installed in Memorial Stadium’s ring of honor on Saturday. Spiller is a College Football Hall of Famer who holds the NCAA mark with seven kickoff return TDs. His 7,588 all-purpose yards remain the ACC record and are third in the NCAA.

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