Eighteen yards.
That’s all that separated Clemson from a playoff berth, a state championship and redemption.
Instead, Death Valley turned into a silent graveyard on a cold November day. The crowd of 80,000, so deafening mere minutes earlier, now shuffled out in stunned silence. Losing to an in-state rival was one thing. Losing a chance at a postseason run was the nail in the coffin.
The players were no different — tears in their eyes, heads hung low as they faced the media. The biggest game of the year had come and gone in the blink of an eye, leaving only heartbreak in its wake. The chance of an at-large bid for the College Football Playoff was crushed, and the unthinkable needed to happen for Clemson.
“Sad. Just sad,” quarterback Cade Klubnik said, his voice barely above a whisper.
Clemson’s postseason hopes had dangled by a thread for weeks, and on this afternoon, every possible scenario seemed to collapse at once. The team’s only hope was for the Syracuse Orange to defeat the Miami Hurricanes on Saturday afternoon. A Syracuse win would allow the Tigers to trump the Hurricanes in the ACC standings, finishing second and earning the spot in the ACC Championship.
But as head coach Dabo Swinney walked into his postgame press conference, the scoreboard had delivered one gut punch after another. Miami was dominating the Orange on their field.
“Walking into the presser, it was 21-0 Miami over Syracuse,” Swinney recalled.
But then, chaos.
Syracuse quarterback Kyle McCord and the Syracuse offense clawed back from the dead, dragging Clemson fans along for an emotional rollercoaster. Down seven at halftime, the Orange — this time the ones in orange and blue — didn’t just compete; they made believers of everyone in orange and purple.
LeQuint Allen took over in the final quarter, dragging Miami defenders for key first downs as Clemson fans, glued to their phones and televisions, held their breath. Every snap carried weight, every yard brought a flicker of hope.
“I didn’t check my phone again until it was 35-28 Syracuse,” Swinney said. “That’s college football for you.”
Then came the dagger. Wide receiver Trebor Pena’s 11-yard run moved the chains and sealed Syracuse’s upset, snatching victory from Miami and handing Clemson one final chance at glory. The roller coaster of emotions that Clemson fans experienced last Saturday ended on a high, and the opportunity to reach the 12-team playoff was back in sight.
Syracuse head coach Fran Brown had a message for Swinney in his postgame interview.
“Hey, Dabo Swinney, congrats. I got you in, baby!” he said.
But that wasn’t the end of it. Brown picked up the phone to FaceTime Swinney postgame. The Clemson head coach, while being around the ACC for quite a long time, describes it as something that he has never seen before.
“That was wild,” Swinney later said. “Put that in my memoir one day. That was a first. He was hilarious on the FaceTime call.”
Swinney was asked what Brown had said during the call.
“I can’t repeat what he said,” Swinney admitted with a laugh. “It was colorful but hilarious. I appreciated the call, and he was fired up, man, and excited for us.”
When asked if he would send Syracuse something in thanks for the win, Swinney didn’t hesitate.
“If we win the national championship, Fran Brown will be riding in the car with me through downtown Clemson,” Swinney said. “Go ahead and print that right now.”
The improbable chain of events landed Clemson in the ACC Championship, setting up a showdown with SMU. The matchup features the Tigers, who have ruled the ACC for the last 10 years, and the Mustangs, who reached the conference championship in their first season in the ACC.
With the stakes higher than ever, the Tigers have one clear mission: Win and stay alive in the hunt for a College Football Playoff berth. If the Tigers are unable to take advantage of the opportunity, the drought for the fabled postseason will continue into next season.
Under the new 12-team format, conference champions are generally guaranteed one of the top four seeds — and, with it, a coveted first-round bye. A win over SMU would likely make Clemson the No. 4 seed. While an at-large bid would have seen the team travel to an away environment in the opening round, the first-round bye guarantees a bowl game on a neutral site, which helps the Tigers out.
However, the path isn’t without obstacles. SMU, led by its dynamic offense, is no pushover. But for a Clemson team that thought they were bound for the Pop-Tarts Bowl, the opportunity is everything.
“We didn’t accomplish all of our goals during the regular season,” Swinney said. “But we’ve got two goals left: win the conference and win the closer. If we do that, we’ll be national champions.”
The season that seemed lost has transformed into a storybook comeback. Now, with a shot at redemption, Clemson finds itself four quarters away once again — not from despair, but from destiny.
