Clemson’s ACC Championship and Playoff hopes are a gamble at best.

But at least they’re still alive.

With their season on the line and their offense sputtering, quarterback Cade Klubnik saved the Tigers by running 50 yards for a touchdown on a quarterback tie with a minute and a half left to rally for a 24-20 Pittsburgh victory over Saturday. .

Klubnik’s big play ended a run of 13 unanswered fourth-quarter points by the Panthers and ended Clemson’s ACC schedule at 7-1, guaranteeing them a tie for second in the standings.

But to sneak into the conference championship game in Charlotte on Dec. 7, the Tigers still need help from both league-leader SMU and fellow 1-loss team Miami, both of whom have tiebreakers on Dabo Swinney’s team. .

Here are three takeaways from Clemson’s wild comeback victory:

Stopping the run…until it counted

Pitt came into the game with a clear game plan to prevent the Tigers from running the ball.

Mission accomplished.

Almost.

The Panthers held Clemson to just 8 net yards on the ground on its first 26 runs. Things were so tough that Phil Mafah needed 15 carries to gain the 19 yards he needed to become 11th in the Swinney era and reach the 1,000-yard mark for a season.

But as powerful as Pitt’s effort was, it was all wasted on one decisive action.

After taking a 20-17 lead on a field goal with 1:36 to go, the Panthers suffered a rare slump after failing to keep an eye on Klubnik during a called quarterback draw. They compounded the mistake with an errant tackle, allowing the Tigers’ quarterback to run 50 yards for the winning touchdown.

Sack party

Saturday’s game was a matchup between teams with the most sacks in college football since 2018. Pitt was ranked No. 1 at the start of the day with 292, while Clemson was ranked No. 2 with 283. Combine that with some broken offensive lines and it wasn’t a good time to be a quarterback.

Together, the Tigers and Panthers combined for 11 sacks. Clemson allowed Pitt to back up Nate Yarnell six times for 22 yards loss, while Pitt set up Klubnik five times for minus 31 yards.

Despite being under constant pressure, both quarterbacks still managed to put up decent numbers. Klubnik finished with 288 yards and 2 touchdowns ahead of Antonio Williams on 27 of 41 passing. Yarnell, playing in place of injured starter Eli Holstein, finished 34 of 54 for 350 yards and a score.

Finally feeling good about a field goal

Clemson’s field goal adventures this season have been well documented. The Tigers have had five 3-pointers blocked, including one that was returned for a touchdown against Virginia Tech last week.

Most of the issues come from the protection on the offensive line, especially on the left side.

So it’s understandable why Dabo Swinney was so excited after Nolan Hauser converted a career-long 51-yarder on the final play of the first half.

Instead of running onto the field to congratulate his kicker, which he eventually did, Swinney first made a point of recognizing each member of the protection team. That includes star defensive lineman Peter Woods, who plays on the unsettled left side of the line and played in only his fifth game this season due to injuries.