Ad Disclosure
Clemson’s ACC championship and Playoff hopes are a long shot at best.
But at least they’re still alive.
With their season on the line and their offense sputtering, quarterback Cade Klubnik saved the Tigers by running 50 yards for a touchdown on a quarterback draw with a minute-and-a-half remaining to rally for a 24-20 victory at Pittsburgh on Saturday.
Klubnik’s big play ended a run of 13 unanswered fourth quarter points by the Panthers and finished Clemson’s ACC schedule at 7-1, guaranteeing them of at least a tie for second place in the league standings.
But in order to sneak into the conference championship game in Charlotte on Dec. 7, the Tigers are still going to need help from both league-leading SMU and fellow 1-loss team Miami, both of whom hold tie-breakers on Dabo Swinney’s team.
Here are 3 takeaways from Clemson’s wild comeback victory:
Stopping the run … until it counted
Pitt came into the game with a stated game plan of stopping the Tigers from running the ball.
Mission accomplished.
Almost.
The Panthers held Clemson to only 8 net yards on the ground on its first 26 runs. The going was so difficult that Phil Mafah needed 15 carries to gain the 19 yards he needed to become the 11th back in the Swinney era to reach the 1,000-yard mark for a season.
But as stout as Pitt’s effort was, it was all wasted on one decisive play.
After taking a 20-17 lead on a field goal with 1:36 remaining, the Panthers suffered a rare breakdown by failing to keep an eye on Klubnik on a called quarterback draw. They compounded the mistake with some faulty tackling, allowing the Tigers quarterback to scamper 50 yards for the winning touchdown.
Sack party
Saturday’s game was a matchup of teams with the most sacks in college football since 2018. Pitt ranked No. 1 with 292 at the start of the day while Clemson was No. 2 at 283. Combine that with a pair of banged up offensive lines and it wasn’t a good time to be a quarterback.
Between them, the Tigers and Panthers combined for 11 sacks. Clemson got to backup Pitt backup Nate Yarnell 6 times for 22 yards in losses while Pitt put Klubnik down 5 times for minus 31 yards.
Despite being under constant pressure, both quarterbacks still managed to put up decent numbers. Klubnik finished with 288 yards and 2 touchdowns to Antonio Williams on 27-of-41 passing. Yarnell, playing in place of injured starter Eli Holstein, ended up 34-of-54 for 350 yards and a score.
Finally feeling good about a field goal
Clemson’s adventures in field goal kicking this season are well documented. The Tigers have had 5 3-pointers blocked, including one that was returned for a touchdown against Virginia Tech last week.
Most of the problems have come from the protection on the offensive line, particularly the left side.
So it’s understandable why Dabo Swinney was so excited after Nolan Hauser converted a career-long 51-yarder on the final play of the first half.
Instead of running out onto the field to congratulate his kicker, which he eventually did, Swinney first made it a point to acknowledge each member of the protection team. That includes star defensive lineman Peter Woods, who plays on the troubled left side of the line and was playing in only his fifth game this season because of injuries.
Award-winning columnist Brett Friedlander has covered the ACC and college basketball since the 1980s.
