BERKELEY, Calif. - Clemson didn’t exactly put on a clean show Friday night, but it did leave California with another win and a perfect start in ACC play.
The Tigers beat Cal 24-10 in a late-night grinder that featured turnovers, penalties and very little polish. Clemson is now 3-1 overall and 2-0 in the ACC after surviving a game that tilted heavily toward survival mode.
The numbers told the story of a team that controlled enough of the night to win anyway. Clemson finished with a 363-231 edge in total offense, ran 13 more plays and picked up 10 more first downs than the Golden Bears. Even with two turnovers and six penalties, the Tigers still found a way to pull away.
Quarterback Tait Reynolds had an uneven night. He threw an interception on Clemson’s first drive while trying a flea-flicker shot downfield, and later lost a fumble in the first quarter that Cal turned into a touchdown.
Reynolds completed 13 of 21 passes for 108 yards and added 28 rushing yards on 11 carries. He now has two interceptions in two career starts.
Clemson’s offense finally got rolling with a long second-quarter march, its first touchdown drive of the game. The Tigers put together a 17-play, 66-yard possession that included two Cal penalties and a fourth-down conversion. It was Clemson’s longest drive of the season and its second first-half touchdown this year, with the other coming against Georgia Southern after a muffed punt.
The night belonged in part to Gideon Davidson, who kept building on his breakout stretch. One week after posting his first 100-yard game and first career touchdown, he delivered his first multi-touchdown performance and first 150-plus yard game. His second score pushed the game out of reach.
Then came the play that broke Cal’s back. Bryant Wesco Jr. took a punt back 65 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter to give Clemson a 17-10 lead, and the Tigers never gave it back. For Wesco, it was a major moment after his season ended a year ago on a punt return against SMU.
It was also a rare special teams strike for Clemson. The return was the program’s first punt return touchdown in eight seasons.
Amari Rodgers was the last to do it, bringing one back 58 yards against Boston College on Nov. 10, 2018.
The span between those scores: 2,876 days.
Clemson’s defense did plenty of heavy lifting, too. Elliott Washington II intercepted Cal quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele twice, with the second pick coming in the fourth quarter to close the door.
Washington had also delivered a game-sealing interception the week before against North Carolina’s Billy Edwards Jr. Sagapolutele finished the first half 16 of 29 for 119 yards.
The Tigers also got pressure from London Merritt, the Colorado transfer, who recorded the first two sacks of his Clemson career. Ashton Hampton added three pass breakups.
There was sloppiness everywhere. The game featured 14 penalties for 130 yards combined, and Clemson’s offensive line was responsible for all three of the Tigers’ offensive penalties. Nolan Hauser, who had opened the year 10 for 10 on field goals, missed his first kick of the season in the fourth quarter.
Clemson also had to work around a few injuries. Defensive tackle Devarrick Woods and nickel back Corian Gipson were unavailable, with Darien Mayo and Donovan Starr stepping in on the opening drive.
Running back David Eziomume was carted off after going down on a kickoff in the first quarter with his leg in an air cast. Left guard Elyjah Thurmon also left the game, was replaced by sophomore Gavin Blanchard, and was later ruled out.
The trip itself was a bit of a project. Clemson flew out Wednesday morning and practiced at Diablo Valley College that evening around local kickoff time, part of a plan Dabo Swinney said was set up to help the team adjust to the time change.
The win also came in a setting Clemson hadn’t seen much of. Friday’s matchup was only the second all-time meeting between Clemson and Cal, with the first coming in the 1992 Citrus Bowl, a 37-13 Cal victory.
Clemson hadn’t played in California since beating Alabama in the 2019 national championship game at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. Before Friday, the Tigers had never won a regular-season game in California, with previous losses at Pacific in 1951 and at Southern California in 1966.
This one also stood out for another reason: it was Clemson’s first game of the season to start and finish without a delay. The Tigers’ first three games had all been slowed by weather, including a mid-game stoppage in the Week 3 win over North Carolina.
Clemson returns home next for an ACC matchup with No. 6 Miami on Oct.
- The kickoff time and TV channel will be announced after this weekend’s games.
Miami is undefeated to start 2026 and has opened with dominant wins over Stanford and Florida A&M behind receiver Malachi Toney and Duke transfer quarterback Darian Mensah. The Hurricanes also beat Wake Forest 33-20 in Week 3, when their defense shut the Demon Deacons out over four straight fourth-quarter drives.
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