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 h.