PITTSBURGH (AP) — Cade Klubnik wanted to get out of bounds. Needed to get out of bounds.
The clock was running. Clemson was trailing Pittsburgh and all of the Tigers' timeouts were gone. So the junior quarterback broke into the secondary on a designed run and then veered right for the safety of the sideline.
Klubnik never got there. He never had to. A well-timed block from wide receiver T.J. Moore gave Klubnik a lane that offered nothing but green grass and victory. Klubnik's instincts led him to cut up the field for a go-ahead 50-yard touchdown run with 1:16 remaining that lifted the 17th-ranked Tigers past the Panthers 24-20 on Saturday.
“It doesn't feel real in a moment like that," said Klubnik. “You're just like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m loose.' Those last 15-20 yards was a crazy feeling for sure.”
A familiar one too. The Tigers practice that exact situation — field goal ties the game, touchdown wins it — every Wednesday in practice. And head coach Dabo Swinney stressed it wasn't the first time Klubnik ended one of those drives with his legs rather than his right arm.
“He's just a relentless competitor,” Swinney said. “He's got a big heart on him. It was pretty special.”
And necessary. Klubnik's dash kept Clemson's outside hopes of reaching the ACC title game alive. The Tigers (8-2, 7-1 ACC) need No. 12 Miami to lose one of its final two games or No. 14 SMU to drop its last two contests to reach the championship game in Charlotte on Dec. 7.
Regardless of how it turns out, Swinney believes the program took a significant step forward this season after going 4-4 in the conference a year ago. Asked if the Tigers deserve to be in the conversation for the College Football Playoff, Swinney pointed to his team's 4-0 mark in true road games, its lengthy resume of playoff success in the CFP era and its resiliency.
“I think we’ve got a team that’s that’s really kind of just finding their way right now,” he said.
Even amid a rash of injuries to the offensive line, it helps to have Klubnik. He passed for 288 yards and two scores to Antonio Williams, who had 13 receptions for 149 yards — both career highs. Sophomore defensive end T.J. Parker tied a school record by collecting four of Clemson's eight sacks.
Still, the Tigers needed Klubnik's heroics after the Panthers (7-3, 3-3) dominated the second half. Pitt erased a 10-point deficit to take the lead late behind an 11-yard touchdown pass from backup quarterback Nate Yarnell to Gavin Bartholomew with 7:05 to play and Ben Sauls' 47-yard field goal with 1:36 left.
Yarnell finished with 350 yards passing while filling in for injured starter Eli Holstein, but his 55th and last pass attempt fell into the arms of Clemson's Khalil Barnes just in front of the goal line as time expired.
“He made some great throws,” Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi said of Yarnell. “I don’t like the eight sacks. Is that on him? Is that on the O-line?”
Either way, the Panthers will have to figure it out soon if they want to finish their season on a high note. Pitt has dropped three straight since a 7-0 start, though a moment to add a signature win to a promising season seemed at hand when running back Desmond Reid (176 total yards) helped put the Panthers in position late.
Pitt however, gave Klubnik and the Tigers a little too much time.
“We never flinched,” Klubnik said. “You know (time is running out but) we knew what we could do. We just had to go do it.”
Clemson: The Tigers are not the juggernaut they were at the start of the decade and Klubnik's season will likely not end with him becoming a Heisman Trophy finalist, but he provided a signature moment that helped Clemson survive on a day the Tigers had managed all of 8 yards on the ground until their last offensive snap.
Pitt: The Panthers played with passion if not precision. It cost them in the end. Pitt was penalized 13 times for 100 yards. The most damaging flags came early in the fourth quarter when a first-and-goal from inside the Clemson 5 turned into a short field goal by Sauls after illegal formation, delay of game and false start penalties.
Swinney admitted he has no idea what “targeting” is anymore after linebacker Sammy Brown was ejected for the infraction in the second quarter following a high hit on Yarnell.
“I might have to go to a seminar in the offseason, ‘Targeting Anonymous,’” Swinney said. “I don't know what (targeting) is. I really don't. I have no idea.”
Don't expect the Tigers to move up too much in either the AP Top 25 or the CFP ranking (they were 20th this week) after struggling to do much of anything over the final 30 minutes against Pitt.
Clemson: hosts The Citadel next Saturday.
Pitt: travels to No. 22 Louisville next Saturday.
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Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik (2) gets past Pittsburgh defensive back Donovan McMillon (3) as he carries for a 50-yard touchdown during the second half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Matt Freed)
