‘Fun day in the Valley’: Clemson finishes out Military Appreciation Week with win over Furman

No. 6 Tyler Brown pushes through the Paladins’ defense with the ball at Memorial Stadium on Nov. 22. (Photo from Lillian Johnson)

The Clemson Tigers officially clinched bowl eligibility with a 45-10 victory over their South Carolina neighbors, the Furman Paladins, on Saturday night.

The game ended the Tigers’ home schedule for the 2025 season, and coincided with Senior Day and Military Appreciation Night.

Death Valley was jam-packed full of Clemson Orange and Regalia for the historic matchup. The Tigers moved to 6-5 on the season with the win, as well as 45-10-4 all-time against the Paladins. The win raised Clemson’s record against FCS opponents to 40-0 since 1978.

Furman, simply put, looked like no match for the Clemson Tigers under the lights. The Clemson defense laid down a massive beatdown on the field, and senior linebacker Wade Woodaz lead the charge with four solo tackles.

Redshirt junior safety Kylon Griffin had four solo tackles, rounding out a massive game from the secondary, with safeties Ronan Hanafin and Khalil Barnes adding big plays in the first half.

The defense led a steady shutdown of the Paladins in the first half, holding Furman quarterback Trey Hedden to just 88 passing yards.

Sammy Brown and Will Heldt stayed ferocious, each notching a sack on Furman quarterback Trey Hedden. To make the Paladins’ miseries worse, Brown added an interception.

Despite inconsistency from the Furman offense, kicker Ian Williams would miss two field goals in an attempt to seal the wounds that the Tigers punctured.

The game looked over from the very start, with the Tigers entering halftime up 31-3.

The Clemson offense dazzled with a flurry of three-minute drives and quick scores in both the passing and rushing game.

On the quaint Saturday night, wide receiver Antonio Williams was the man in the arena. Despite only recording two receptions, Williams tallied two touchdowns.

Cade Klubnik would begin the game with 159 yards and two touchdowns, looking to his most accurate and dominant game of the season. Before he was pulled at the start of the second quarter, Klubnik threw his arms up as he walked off the field, soaking in the moment as his Clemson family embraced him with a massive standing ovation.

Klubnik is now only four yards shy of tying Charlie Whitehurst for fourth place on Clemson’s all-time passing yard leaderboard. He needs 338 more yards to be the fourth Clemson quarterback to reach 10,000 career passing yards.

Coach Dabo Swinney believes Klubnik has truly made a difference in his Clemson career, stating the quarterback is “all in, all the time.”

Quarterback Christopher Vizzina took over duties for the majority of the second and third quarter. He would add 52 passing yards and a touchdown to tight end Christian Bentancur, who nabbed his third score of the season. Trent Pearman came in as the “next man up,” but mainly facilitated run plays and only attempted two throws.

The most unexpected part of the matchup was, by far, freshman quarterback Chris Denson. He took the field in the middle of the fourth quarter and made an instant impact with aggressive rushing plays, one of which was a 50-yarder to leave Clemson a few yards away from officially sealing the game. Denson was a part of the Tigers’ last two scores; one a short shovel pass to Logan Brooking for his first career score, and the other a 10-yard rush by Denson himself.

Denson’s late-game surge adds a lot of shakeup to the conversation of who will start under center for the Tigers next year. Denson affirmed that he never believed it to be a challenge to be patient for his chance to play, and that it is all “God’s timing.” Denson’s play showed flashes of a young Michael Vick to the excitement of Clemson fans.

Coach Dabo Swinney anointed the game as a “fun day in the valley” and said he was proud of the leadership of his seniors as they played their final home game at Clemson.

Swinney believes the senior class has “hit every goal at some point.” Swinney’s resilient philosophy has led the Tigers back to a winning record. The 2025 team is the 10th Clemson squad in the program’s history to start with one or fewer wins in the first four games to finish the season at .500 or better.

While the 2025 season has not been a pretty one for the Tigers, the team has continued to fight until the very end.

The Tigers play cross-state rival South Carolina on Nov. 29 in Columbia, South Carolina, hoping to affirm their bowl spot and end the regular season with a four-game win streak.

STORY ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN CLEMSON UNIVERSITY'S SCHOOL NEWSPAPER, THE TIGER.