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Clemson’s emotional — and improbable — path to an ACC championship and playoff bid

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Clemson’s emotional — and improbable — path to an ACC championship and playoff bid

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Dabo Swinney threw off his helmet and took off sprinting, arms outstretched as he headed toward midfield, then rounded a corner near the 40-yard line.

The Clemson head coach, while pointing toward the sky, was moving so fast that no one could stop him from celebrating the day after Saturday night’s ACC championship game in Charlotte.

When he finally slowed down and headed toward the Bank of America Stadium stage moments later, the bear hugs began.

“Well, it was fun,” Swinney said after his Clemson team beat SMU 34-31 in a last-second thriller. “It’s pretty special to experience something like we just experienced on the field and in the locker room. It’s incredible.

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The Tigers earned an unlikely bid to Saturday night’s ACC championship game only because Miami lost to Syracuse last week. Swinney, who thought his team’s season was almost over, didn’t even watch the game until late in the fourth quarter. Quarterback Cade Klubnik revealed early Sunday morning that he sat in his car crying for about an hour after the Tigers lost to rival South Carolina, feeling like Clemson had squandered its chance. during a general offer.

So when Swinney’s team took the field on a cold Saturday night against the red-hot Mustangs, they did so with emotions running high and stakes even higher, knowing that the only path to the College Football Playoff was a victory. When SMU tied the game at 31 points late in the fourth quarter, the Tigers had 16 seconds to make some magic and avoid overtime. And with three seconds remaining, they had to perform their biggest miracle of the season.

The team with six blocked field goals in 2024 had freshman kicker Nolan Hauser hit a 56-yarder with the game on the line. This, after already missing a 44-yarder early in the second quarter.

“(Offensive line) Coach (Matt) Luke said, ‘You think he has that kind of leg?'” Swinney said. “And I said, ‘We’re about to find out.'”

Hauser lined up and got a clean snap and catch.

He had just enough leg strength behind the kick to squeak the ball through the center of the uprights – marking the longest kick in ACC championship game history and the first time the game was won on a field goal.

Swinney is gone. Orange and purple confetti fell. Hauser — whose father played baseball for Clemson and whose mother was an All-America soccer player for the Tigers — etched her name in Clemson lore.

Who would have thought just a week ago that the Tigers would be here?

“Coach Swinney said, ‘Put him through the uprights,’ and I winked at him,” Hauser said. “I was like, ‘I got you.’ …I’m so happy.

Clemson is headed to the playoffs after going 9-3 in the regular season with losses to Georgia, Louisville and South Carolina. Georgia’s loss in the season opener, a 34-3 loss at Atlanta, raised questions about Clemson’s ability to hang on with the blue bloods and the direction the Tigers were heading. Louisville’s loss almost kept Clemson out of the ACC championship. And the loss at South Carolina last week exposed the Tigers’ run defense in a way that must bite any team with a mobile quarterback.

The Tigers have a lot of work to do in the coming weeks and will not be the favorites to win it all.

But for now, the Tigers have a chance: make their seventh playoff appearance and aim for their third national championship. That’s all Swinney wanted as Saturday night turned into early Sunday morning.

“You enter the tournament, anything can happen. We’re a dangerous team,” he said. “We haven’t played our best football yet, and yet we’re in the playoffs. I think it’s frustrating. But also exciting.

(Photo: David Jensen/Getty Images)