They were trailing by double digits, 10, in the fourth quarter. They were staring down an opponent that always seems to have their number. They were without their leader and starting quarterback. And they were coming off back-to-back losses that left a very solemn sense of doom and gloom and here-we-go-again around a program that has struggled to find their footing in recent years.
No, Miami is not back.
But this might be a night the Hurricanes remember and build on for a long time.
Ajay Allen scurried into the end zone and got the go-ahead score on a 3-yard run in the second overtime, and the undermanned Hurricanes ended the game on a fourth-down stop to stun the Clemson Tigers 28-20 on Saturday night.
“It validates a lot,” Miami coach Mario Cristobal said. “And it increases our appetite to go get more.”
Emory Williams, playing in place of injured Miami quarterback Tyler Van Dyke, had a very efficient night completing 24 of 33 passes for 151 yards and a touchdown for the Hurricanes (5-2, 1-2 Atlantic Coast Conference). The biggest hit Williams, who was not sacked, took in the game actually came after the game, when Van Dyke exuberantly wrapped his arms around him showing him his appreciation for leading two late scoring drives to erase a 17-7 deficit and, perhaps, saving their season.
“Right now,” defensive lineman Rueben Bain said after the Hurricanes held Clemson to 31 rushing yards on 34 carries, “I feel like I’m on top of the world.”
Cade Klubnik hooked up with Jake Briningstool on a pair of touchdown passes for Clemson (4-3, 2-3). The Tigers suffered a trio of turnovers in the first half and paid dearly for those blunders.
“They found a way to win,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said, “and we found a way not to win.”
After the go-ahead touchdown, Allen also got the 2-point conversion to put all the pressure on the Tigers shoulders in the second overtime. On the game’s final play, needing no more than a yard for pay dirt, Klubnik faked a handoff and rolled left, only to have no chance of getting past Miami linebacker Corey Flagg, who made the tackle, and the Hurricanes ran onto the field in celebration.
“Everybody talks about my touchdown,” Allen said. “Corey really won the game, if you want to know the truth.”
Van Dyke was seen walking with a slight but noticeable limp when he entered the stadium, and it became clear about an hour prior to kickoff that he was not going to be able to take the field. And Williams struggled mightily for much of the game, getting only 31 yards on his first 10 completions.
However, he came through in the clutch, as did Miami’s defense, and the Hurricanes’ two-game skid is over.
“Obviously very proud of our players, very proud of our program, for showing just a ton of resiliency and toughness,” Cristobal said, noting that the Hurricanes remembered the bitter taste in their mouths from last year’s game with Clemson, a 40-10 drubbing where the Tigers tacked a touchdown on with 16 seconds remaining.
Williams found Colbie Young from 11 yards out with 8 minutes left in the fourth to get Miami within a field goal, and place kicker Andy Borregales hit a 35-yarder to knot the game with just under two minutes left.
Embed from Getty ImagesField goals were the story in each team’s first overtime series; Jonathan Weitz kicked a 31-yarder for Clemson, Borregales connected from 35 yards out for Miami to tie it at 20 and send the game to a second overtime.
The loss means Swinney has to wait at least one more week before becoming the school’s outright leader in wins. He remains tied with Frank Howard for the most in Tigers history with 165.
“We didn’t deserve to win the game,” Swinney said.
Clemson: This was an uncharacteristic brand of football and a deviation from the norm for so many reasons. Clemson had been 16-3 in the Swinney era in regular-season games following a bye week, 47-10 in night games since the start of the 2015 season and had blown out Miami in each of the last four meetings between the schools by a combined score of 178-30.
Miami: The Hurricanes were 0-5 in home ACC games since the start of last season. That matched the longest home losing streak in conference games, dating back to their Big East days as well, in program history. The Hurricanes also dropped five consecutive ACC contests at home during a stretch spanning 2007 and 2008.
Clemson was second in the “also receiving votes” department of last week’s AP Top 25, although the list is fluid, it is hard to believe any voters would have the Tigers on their ballot this week. Miami, which fell out after last week’s loss to the North Carolina Tar Heels, might have set itself up for a return to the poll at some point.
The teams fumbled at the goal line on back-to-back plays in the opening quarter. Will Shipley lost the ball on what could have been a Clemson touchdown, Miami recovered in the end zone, and on the Hurricanes’ first play after the touchback, Brashard Smith took off for an 80-yard run but he, too, lost the ball. Jacolby George recovered, and the Hurricanes took a 7-0 lead.
Clemson: Visit the North Carolina State Wolfpack on October 28.
Miami: Host the Virginia Cavaliers on October 28.
