Cade Klubnik threw for four touchdowns and Clemson pulled off a successful trick play to begin the game in a 38-10 romp past host North Carolina in a matchup between two teams that stumbled into Saturday afternoon’s meeting at Chapel Hill, N.C.
Klubnik, playing less than three quarters, was 22-for-24 for 254 yards as Clemson (2-3, 1-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) snapped a two-game skid. T.J. Moore gained 108 yards with one touchdown on five receptions, and Adam Randall scored on two pass plays.
The Tigers, who racked up four touchdowns in the first quarter, did all their scoring in the first half until Nolan Hauser’s 23-yard field goal with 13:20 remaining.
North Carolina (2-3, 0-1) has been blown out in all three of its games versus power conference opponents under first-year coach Bill Belichick.
Max Johnson, in his first start since suffering a serious leg injury in the 2024 opener, was 26-for-42 for 213 yards for North Carolina. The Tar Heels announced prior to the game that quarterback Gio Lopez, who started the first four games, was inactive because of an injury suffered two weeks earlier.
North Carolina scored on Rece Verhoff’s 35-yard, first-quarter field goal. He missed from 50 yards in the third quarter. Benjamin Hall ran 11 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Klubnik was 21-for-23 in the first half, which ended with Clemson holding a 35-3 advantage. The Tigers outgained North Carolina 367-78 in the half.
Clemson scored 11 seconds into the game with receiver Antonio Williams’ pass to Moore for a 75-yard touchdown play. Moore made the catch before sprinting the final 42 yards to the end zone.
After a North Carolina field goal, the Tigers posted their second touchdown in a six-minute span on Klubnik’s 35-yard pass to Randall.
It was 21-3 with 4:09 left in the first quarter after Klubnik’s 45-yard hook-up with Christian Bentancur. That made Klubnik 7-for-7. He tossed to Randall for a 23-yard scoring play in the final seconds of the opening quarter.
