When Adam Randall finally found the end zone against No. 20 Louisville, it wasn’t just another Clemson touchdown. It was the payoff to a full night’s worth of frustration, fundamentals and flat-out stubbornness.
Randall had already lived the worst-case scenario for a skill player on a big stage: a dropped touchdown, then a dropped pitch on the very next drive. For a lot of guys, that’s a spiral. For Randall, it became fuel.
“Sometimes you don't look the ball in,” he admitted afterward. “I didn't look the ball totally in, and I'm looking up, trying to run before I have caught the ball. So… just going back and working on the fundamentals… making sure that you have your eyes to the catch and finishing it.”
That’s not excuse-making. That’s a player putting the blame squarely on himself in a game Clemson absolutely had to have.
From miscues to a 46-yard answer
The turning point, at least for Randall, came on the 46-yard burst that flipped the field and the momentum.
He broke it down like a coach in the film room: a five-man box, the point man handled, and then nothing between him and a game-changing play but a single safety.
“It was a five-man box and the point guy… they got up to the point guy really easily,” Randall said. “I just knew I had to beat the safety, and I knew I would have a long run. The safety kind of came in and dug his head. I was able to get a stiff arm on him. That was really it, I mean, simple football, really.”
There’s nothing simple about shaking off two straight mistakes, then hitting a crease and turning it into the kind of explosive play that swings a ranked matchup. That run was exactly what Clemson’s offense has been searching for: downhill, decisive, and backed by a mentality that says the last play – good or bad – is gone.
And that’s where Randall’s position switch comes into focus. Asked about the emotions of his new role and having plays like that, he didn’t talk about touches or stats. He talked about how it felt.
“It just kind of takes me back to when you're playing at Pop Warner,” he said. “Just the emotional roller coaster, just having to deal with that… I knew I had a big run, but I mean, just got to go to the next play and get the ball across the goal line. At the end of the day, the game of the game is points, not yards.”
In one answer, he summed up Clemson’s offensive identity quest this season. Style points are nice; real points win ranked games.
Goal-line mindset: “Do whatever you can”
The 46-yard dash was the highlight; the goal-line finish was the statement.
Randall didn’t sugarcoat what the mentality has to be inside the 10. He referenced one of the most physical quarterbacks of this generation to explain it.
“At the end of the day, you know, just Cam Newton said it best, do whatever you will in your power to get the ball across the line no matter what,” Randall said. “So that's just my mindset when I get on the goal line. And, you know, the guys up front, they did a great job, you know, getting some push and… just able to get in there.”
It’s a snapshot of why this game matters so much for Clemson’s offense. The Tigers didn’t just scheme something up and hope it worked. They leaned on a player who was willing to own his mistakes, run through a safety, and then trust his offensive line to finish the job when it got tight near the stripe.
You can’t fake that kind of edge in November against a top-20 opponent.
Living in the “ups and downs”
Randall’s night, and Clemson’s, wasn’t clean. That’s exactly why this win resonates.
“I mean, football is a game of ups and downs,” he said. “I had a drive where I had a drop touchdown, and the next drive I had a drop pitch. So… just keep playing and just continue to fight and just continue to just keep going. At the end of the day, football is a game of ebbs and flows. So if you're not willing to be in the up and down, you might as well not play it.”
That’s not a cliché when it’s backed by the game he just played. Clemson has been living in that tension all season – flashes of the old, dominant Tigers, mixed with self-inflicted wounds that keep opponents hanging around.
Randall became the embodiment of that roller coaster against Louisville: from what-could-have-been to has-to-be-better to the guy ripping off a 46-yard run and punching in a critical score.
For a team trying to reestablish itself in the ACC hierarchy, that mentality matters as much as any explosive play.
Trusting the defense, trusting the moment
Even when he wasn’t on the field, Randall’s comments revealed a calm confidence in what was happening around him.
On watching the defense from the sideline late, he refused to entertain panic.
“There’s no anxiousness,” he said. “What I've learned in college and growing up, I can only control what I control. If they happen to let up a field goal or a touchdown, when we have points or minutes on the clock we knew that we had to go down there, win the game. I mean, that's what offense is for. With the defense, they play their own.”
It’s the kind of line coaches love: control what you can control, trust the other side of the ball to do its job, and be ready when your number is called again.
Against a top-20 Louisville squad, that is exactly what Clemson did. The defense bent, the offense sputtered at times, and one of the Tigers’ key playmakers had a night full of “ebbs and flows.” But when it was time to decide the game, Randall and the offense were ready.
Why Randall’s night matters going forward
This wasn’t just a feel-good bounce-back story for one player. It’s a template for how Clemson can win big games down the stretch:
Accountability over excuses. Randall owned every mistake and immediately tied the solution back to fundamentals – “eyes to the catch” and finishing plays.
Physicality in the run game. The 46-yard run and goal-line score showed what this offense can be when blockers execute and backs run with conviction.
Mental toughness in big moments. From back-to-back miscues to a thriller-tilt against a ranked opponent, Randall never let the night get away from him.
On a night when Clemson needed someone to embody that “ups and downs” grind he kept talking about, Adam Randall did exactly that – and turned a shaky start into a signature performance in a statement win over No. 20 Louisville.