Cade Klubnik sat in his car for more than an hour last Saturday, crying after Clemson’s loss to rival South Carolina, thinking that his team’s chances of making the College Football Playoff were over.
But things changed quickly.
A few hours later, Klubnik found himself celebrating and hugging his roommates after Syracuse upset Miami, knocking the Hurricanes out of the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game and giving Clemson another chance.
The Tigers took full advantage of the opportunity.
Klubnik threw for 262 yards and four touchdowns, and Nolan Hauser kicked a 56-yard field goal as time expired. No. 18 Clemson defeated No. 8 SMU 34-31 on Saturday night to win the ACC title and earn a spot in the CFP, positioning themselves for a first-round bye.
“It’s like when you are playing outside with some of your friends and your mom tells you that you have to come inside, but then she decides, ‘Well, I will give you five more minutes,’” Klubnik said. “We got five more minutes to play football — and that’s how we viewed tonight.”
Bryant Wesco caught eight passes for 143 yards and two touchdowns in the first quarter for the Tigers (10-3, No. 17 CFP), who needed the win to get into the expanded 12-team playoffs. Jake Briningstool added two short touchdown catches as Clemson improved to 9-1 in ACC championship games under coach Dabo Swinney.
The Tigers have won eight of the 10 ACC championships.
“What a way to win,” Swinney said. “… To head the playoffs for the seventh time, man, the heart of our guys. We have been so close but we found a way.”
Kevin Jennings threw for 310 yards and three touchdowns and ran for another score for SMU (11-2, No. 8 CFP), which had been undefeated in the regular season in its first year in the ACC after moving over from the American Athletic Conference.
A mistake-filled first half cost the Mustangs a chance at a first-round bye in the CFP and might keep them out of the field altogether.
Swinney pushed for SMU to get into the playoffs after they fought back from 17 points down to tie the game.
“Listen. That’s a playoff football team. SMU, they better be in the dang playoffs,” Swinney said. “What a comeback by those guys.”
Clemson edge rusher T.J. Parker set the tone on the game’s first series with a sack and fumble, and Klubnik threw three first-quarter touchdown passes as the Tigers, who were 2 1/2-point underdogs, jumped to a 21-7 lead. Klubnik finished the first quarter 8 of 10 for 120 yards with three touchdowns, including scoring passes of 45 and 35 yards to Wesco.
Everything seemed to be going Clemson’s way in the first half.
In one play during the second quarter, Klubnik tried to escape pressure but was hit from behind and fumbled the ball forward about 10 yards. Tight end Briningstool dived between two defenders to recover the ball near midfield, giving the Tigers a first down.
Clemson added a field goal late in the second quarter, and SMU went into the locker room down 24-7, its biggest deficit of the season.
“We did some things that were uncharacteristic in the first quarter that put us in a hole and it was hard, but we dug out of it,” SMU coach Rhett Lashlee said.
SMU cut the lead to 31-24 with seven minutes left after Matthew Hibner caught a 20-yard touchdown pass from Jennings and Collin Rogers made a 46-yard field goal.
The Mustangs’ defense forced a third straight punt on the next possession, giving Jennings and the offense the ball back at their own 21-yard line with four minutes to play. Jennings drove the Mustangs 79 yards in 16 plays, finding Roderick Daniels with a 4-yard touchdown pass with 16 seconds left to tie the game.
“He looked like a playoff quarterback to me,” Lashlee said. “Hopefully America gets to see him in the playoffs.”
Added Jennings: “We came back from the deficit and that shows you how good of a team we are.”
It seemed the game would go to overtime, but Adam Randall’s 41-yard kickoff return gave Clemson the ball at their own 45-yard line. Klubnik found Antonio Williams for a 17-yard gain to the SMU 38-yard line with three seconds left, setting up Hauser’s winning kick — the longest in ACC championship game history.
“We just didn’t cover the kick well,” Lashlee said. “Give Clemson credit, they played well early and they finished on the last play.”
Swinney said he wasn’t sure if Hauser had the leg to make the final kick, but the Charlotte native came through.
“He will go down in Clemson lore with that one,” Swinney said.
