Clemson Rallies Past Troy After Stormy Start
It was one of those nights in college football that had just about everything—lightning delays, early mistakes, and then a furious comeback that turned the whole game around. Clemson, ranked eighth in the nation, found itself in real trouble against Troy at Memorial Stadium. By halftime, the Tigers were trailing 16–3, and the home crowd was restless. But what happened next was the kind of second-half surge that Clemson fans won’t soon forget.
The night started off rocky. On Troy’s opening drive, quarterback Goose Crowder connected on a 44-yard touchdown strike, putting the visitors up quickly. Before Clemson could respond, lightning in the area forced a one-hour-and-thirty-two-minute delay. That break may have thrown both teams out of rhythm, but Troy certainly handled it better in the first half. They tacked on a field goal, then capitalized on a Clemson turnover when TJ Thompson grabbed an interception and pushed it into the end zone. By the time the second quarter wound down, Troy had built a 16–0 lead. Clemson finally got on the board with a field goal from Nolan Hauser, but the Tigers trudged into the locker room still down by 13.
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If the first half belonged to Troy, the second half was all Clemson. Running back Adam Randall set the tone, charging down the field on a drive where he carried six times for 59 yards. He capped it with a one-yard touchdown run that trimmed the deficit to 16–10. From that point on, the Tigers never looked back.
Clemson’s defense came alive, intercepting three passes in the second half alone. Safety Ricardo Jones snagged one right after Randall’s touchdown, and quarterback Cade Klubnik wasted no time, tossing a 26-yard strike to Bryant Wesco Jr. That gave Clemson its first lead at 17–16, and Memorial Stadium erupted. On the very next Troy possession, Ronan Hanafin picked off another pass and set up a field goal to stretch the lead. Then came the dagger: Klubnik hit Wesco again, this time for 34 yards, to put the game firmly in Clemson’s hands at 27–16.
By the final whistle, the Tigers had rattled off 27 unanswered points, turning what looked like a shocking upset into a commanding win. Klubnik finished with 196 yards and two touchdown passes, while Randall totaled 165 all-purpose yards. Wesco was the top receiver with 118 yards and two scores. On defense, Wade Woodaz led with 11 tackles, while Will Heldt and T.J. Parker made key plays in the trenches to shut Troy down.
In the end, the storm that once delayed the game mirrored Clemson’s own stormy start. But just like the skies eventually cleared, so too did the Tigers’ path forward. With the win, Clemson evened its record at 1–1 and now shifts focus to opening conference play against Georgia Tech in Atlanta. For fans, this one was a reminder that games aren’t decided in the first half—it’s how you finish that counts.
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