After suffering a loss to NC State last Saturday, No. 25 Clemson held on late to defeat Boston College 19-13. 

Ultimately, it was the Tigers’ defense that won the game for Clemson. Boston College trailed by six with under a minute to go. After driving down the field with ease, Eagles’ quarterback Dennis Grosel bobbled a snap that ended up being recovered by Clemson defensive end K.J. Henry, sealing the win for Clemson.  

“At the end of the day, God put [the ball] at the right place at the right time,” said Henry. 

Collectively, Henry and the Tigers’ defense forced Boston College to go 5-15 on third down and commit three turnovers.  

Boston College scored a touchdown in their opening second-half drive, but outside of that 4-play drive, Clemson kept the Eagles’ offense in check.  

Meanwhile, the Tiger’s offense continued to have difficulty putting drives together. Finishing the game 3-14 on third down, the offense never seemed to click consistently.   

“We just left a lot out there. We could’ve put that game away three or four different times,” said Head Coach Dabo Swinney. 

Clemson quarterback DJ Uiagalelei finished the game 13-28 for 207 passing yards, despite missing some throws, but Swinney said he thought Uiagalelei grew up Saturday night.   

When the offense did click, the running backs were often the ones that made the play. Led by sophomore running back Kobe Pace, who finished with 125 yards on 19 attempts, Clemson rushed for a season-high 231 yards.  

Contributing to that total was freshman running back Phil Mafah and Uiagalelei, who finished with 58 and 50 yards, respectively.  

Mafah, who came in as the backup running back, displayed his talent and perseverance throughout, even after committing a false start and upsetting Swinney.   

“Really proud of him and how he responded,” said Tony Elliot, Clemson’s Offensive Coordinator. “He just looked like the guy we all saw coming out of spring ball.”  

Moving forward, Clemson will have a bye week next week but will look to build on Saturday’s win when they play Syracuse on Oct. 15 at 7 p.m.