Cade Klubnik might have saved Clemson’s season.
The Tigers QB ran for a 50-yard touchdown with 1:16 to go, giving No. 20 Clemson a 24-20 victory over Pitt on Saturday.
Klubnik’s point came on the third play of the drive after Pitt had taken a 20-17 lead with 1:36 remaining. Klubnik found Antonio Williams for an 18-yard gain before making a 7-yard completion to Jake Briningstool. He then made the game-winning play on what he said was a call for a QB pull with the receivers running stick routes.
Pitt still had enough time and a timeout to get a touchdown, but the final drive ended with a Nate Yarnell interception on fourth down near the goal line as time expired.
Yarnell started the game for Eli Holstein and played well, although he was sacked eight times by the Clemson defense. Yarnell was 34 of 54 passing for 350 yards and a TD and an interception. Before Klubnik’s run, it seemed like he had done enough to pull off the upset for the Panthers.
Pitt got the go-ahead field goal after stopping Clemson on a fourth-down run. The Pitt defense had dominated against Clemson’s run game…until Klubnik broke the game open. Even with the 50-yard run, Klubnik finished the game with 10 carries for 41 yards. RB Phil Mafah had 17 yards on 17 carries.
Clemson needs help to win the ACC
The Tigers are now 7-1 in ACC play and 8-2 overall with two non-conference games remaining. However, they need a loss to No. 9 Miami or No. 14 SMU if they want to play for the ACC title or some help from Louisville and Georgia Tech.
The conference will likely come down to the opponent’s split tiebreaker, and Louisville has two conference losses to Georgia Tech’s three. Assuming the Cardinals stay ahead of the Yellow Jackets in the standings, Clemson would be on the wrong side of a head-to-head tiebreaker against Miami or a three-way tiebreaker against both Miami and SMU, as both the Hurricanes and Mustangs beat the Cardinals. and not Clemson.
To avoid that scenario and make the ACC title game, Clemson must finish in a tie for first place, finish solo in second place or let Georgia Tech pass Louisville in the conference standings to tie for the opponent’s tiebreaker with Miami change. .
Do you have all that? Good. There is still a lot to play for in the ACC during the final two weeks of the season. And all Clemson can do is look at everyone else’s results.
