The Clemson Tigers (5-1, 4-0 ACC) return to Death Valley today with a matchup against the Virginia Cavaliers (4-2, 2-1 ACC). The Tigers look to continue their success after a dominating 49-14 win over Wake Forest. The Cavaliers look to bounce back after falling short of a stunning win against Louisville, 24-20.
Clemson is currently favored by 20.5 points, but that does not mean they can overlook Virginia. The Cavaliers are one of the surging teams in the ACC, as they have already pulled off an impressive 24-14 upset over a great Boston College team.
Coach Swinney will be facing off against one of his former assistant coaches, Tony Elliott. Elliott had a long tenure as a Tiger, playing at the receiver position for Tommy Bowden with Dabo Swinney as an assistant coach before moving to coach under Swinney for 11 years.
“He’s gone from being a father figure when he was coaching me as a player, to being a mentor as a young coach in the business, and then a colleague.
“It’s going to be fun to compete, and it’s a great test for our program to see where we are. That program has been the standard in the league for a very long time, and they’re back playing at a very, very high level. And it looks like it’s going to be you gotta go through them to win the league, with the way that they’re playing,” Elliott said on his relationship with Swinney and the upcoming matchup against Clemson.
Elliott played as a receiver for the Tigers from 2000-2003; a handful of years later, Swinney hired him as a running backs coach despite his unfamiliarity with the position.
“That was honestly one of the coolest moments I’ve had as a coach was being able to sit at the kitchen counter, me and Kath and Tony and Tamika. And he had no idea that I was going to offer him a job,” Swinney recalled. “In fact, he thought that since it was a running backs job that he couldn’t get the job.
He just couldn’t believe it. And when he said, ‘Coach, I don’t know anything about…’ I said, ‘We can teach you all of that. I’m not hiring you because you’re a great running backs coach. I’m hiring you because of who you are. … You’ve got everything you need. We’ll teach you that.’ I’d say it worked out.”
Elliott went on to work his way up to offensive coordinator, helping the Tigers win national championships in 2016 and 2018.
While there is love between the two former colleagues, once their players are between the lines that love will turn into fierce competition.
Virginia is led by its sophomore quarterback, Anthony Colandrea. He has thrown for 1,490 yards with nine touchdowns and four interceptions. While he shows great efficiency through the air, he has also proven to be a threat in the run game. In his last outing, he rushed for 84 yards on 15 carries, despite coming up short against Louisville.
To complement its quarterback play, Virginia has a lethal weapon in the receiving core. Malachi Fields, a 6-foot-4, 220-pound receiver, has 541 yards on 37 catches with three touchdowns mid-way through the season. With his large stature, Fields is a matchup nightmare for any opponent who lines up across the line of scrimmage. With the size of a tight end and athleticism of a receiver, Clemson will have its hands full trying to contain the senior.
Former Tiger Kobe Pace will also be returning to Death Valley for the first time since announcing his transfer to the Cavaliers in 2022.
Thankfully for Clemson, their defensive prowess has been nothing short of exceptional. The Tigers have held their past three opponents to 14 or fewer points, and rank 23rd among FBS teams in passing defensive efficiency, with a 114.77 rating.
With defensive backs such as Avieon Terrell, Jeadyn Lukus, Shelton Lewis and others, it will be intriguing to see how defensive coordinator Wes Goodwin’s game plan will fare against the duo of Colandrea and Fields.
