CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Another Clemson Championship. For the ninth time in his 16-year tenure at Clemson, Dabo Swinney and company will bring home the conference trophy after defeating the No. 8 Southern Methodist Mustangs 34-31.
The clock was nearing midnight as time ran down. With 56 yards and three seconds standing between victory and the uncertainty of overtime, true freshman Nolan Hauser took a deep breath, hit his marks and kicked.
The ball sailed through the goalpost, ending the game and solidifying Hauser’s place in Clemson football history.
“I’m sitting on the bench by myself, trying to visualize how overtime is gonna go. You’re hoping he’s gonna make it, but you can’t depend on it,” quarterback Cade Klubnik said after the game. “I just listened to the crowd, I heard the crowd roaring behind us, and I could not believe it.”
Leading up to the nail-biting final quarter, the best word to describe the Tigers was inconsistent. They came out of the gate swinging, putting up three touchdowns in the opening 15 minutes. Klubnik looked reminiscent of his first time on the Bank of America field two years ago, when he led Clemson to a 39-10 victory over North Carolina.
The electricity fizzled out, however, when Clemson put up one field goal to close out the half. Despite a 17-point lead at halftime, the Mustangs managed to tie the score up with 16 seconds on the clock. Consistency was the team’s biggest struggle throughout the game, as their hot-and-cold possessions left fans wondering when — and if — the next score would come.
“I told them at halftime, this game is a long way from being over,” Swinney said. “There were some critical mistakes we made in that second half, but I couldn’t be more proud.”
Irregularity aside, the Tigers pulled through when and where it mattered most. After ending SMU’s first drive with a strip sack courtesy of T.J. Parker, the defense did its job in getting the Mustangs off the field. Khalil Barnes contributed an interception, Sammy Brown added eight solo tackles and a pass deflection and Parker put up a team-high 3.5 tackles for loss.
“The defining moment was winning the turnover margin. Those two turnovers were big, gave us field position and we capitalized on it. I was thinking that missed field goal was going to haunt us, and it’s crazy that it turned out that way,” Swinney added.
Last week, Clemson was uncertain if it was even championship-bound as the team’s hopes rested on Syracuse upsetting Miami. Klubnik was not immune to the stress of waiting, saying he sat in his car for an hour after the loss to South Carolina, reflecting on the future of the team. After finally heading home, he didn’t want to talk to anyone but decided to turn on the game.
“I turn on the game and there’s two minutes left, and Syracuse wins, and I literally run downstairs and tackle Ronan Hanafin (my roommate),” he said. His contagious energy easily translated to the rest of the team, who knew what was at stake as they headed to Charlotte.
Following calls for his job because of what has been deemed a “bad” season by outsiders, Swinney wants the critics to know he hears them — and does not care.
“I know everybody wants me to be like everyone else, but I don’t know how to be like everyone else.”
Now, the Tigers wait to find out their seeding in the College Football Playoff after receiving an automatic bid as conference champions. Seedings will be announced on ESPN at noon today.
