Stanford Cardinal quarterback Ashton Daniels (14) sprints for a first down past the Clemson Tigers linebacker Barrett Carter (0) and defensive tackle Payton Page (55) at Memorial Stadium in Clemson on Sat Sep 28, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Daniel Dullum

Quarterback Cade Klubnik ran for one touchdown and threw for four more for Clemson Saturday night, as the No. 17-ranked Tigers rolled to a 40-14 Atlantic Coast Conference football win over visiting Stanford.

The Cardinal (2-2 overall, 1-1 ACC) saw their two-game winning streak get snapped. Clemson (3-1 overall, 2-0 ACC) rolled up 405 yards in total offense.

Klubnik completed 15 of 31 passes for 255 yards. Bryant Weesco Jr. caught two of those passes for 104 yards. Phil Mafah was the Tigers’ top rusher with 58 yards on 10 carries.

Micah Ford was the top Stanford ballcarrier with 122 rushing yards on 15 attempts. Quarterback Ashton Daniels was next with 87 yards on 11 carries. Daniels completed 9 of 19 passes for 71 yards and was picked off three times. Justin Lamson was 4 of 8 passing for 54 yards.

Clemson jumped to q 10-0 lead in the first quarter on a 34-yard rushing touchdown by Klubnik at 12:19 and added a 20-yard field goal by Hauser Nolan. With 1:49 to play in the second quarter, Jake Briningstool caught a 3-yard scoring pass from Klubnik giving the Tigers a 17-0 lead.

The Cardinal got on the board with 39 seconds remaining in the first half on a 19-yard touchdown pass from Daniels to Elic Ayomanor, cutting the Stanford deficit to 17-7 at halftime.

Clemson scored 10 more points in the third quarter before blowing the game open for good in the fourth. Hauser booted a 33-yard field goal at 10:06 and 9 minutes later, Klubnike connected with Cole Turner for a 43-yard score, putting the Tigers up 27-7.

Clemson wasn’t finished yet, as the Tigers added two more touchdowns in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter. Bryant Wesco Jr. caught a 34-yard scoring strike from Klubnik 50 seconds into the fourth, and at 10:36 to play, Klubrik’s fourth TD pass of the night was a 2-yard scoring toss to Olsen Patt-Henry.

With 2:31 to play, Lamson completed a 22-yard TD pass to Emmett Mosley V to complete Stanford’s scoring.

Next week, the Cardinal return home to host Virginia Tech on Saturday, October 5, at 12:30 p.m. Pacific.