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How Clemson football's Cade Klubnik failed to deliver late-game heroics vs South Carolina
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- How Clemson football's Cade Klubnik failed to deliver late-game heroics vs South Carolina
CLEMSON — The moment was for the taking for Clemson football quarterback Cade Klubnik , and he couldn't deliver Saturday.
South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers scored a go-ahead 20-yard rushing touchdown with 1:08 left in the game to help No. 14 South Carolina (9-3) upset No. 12 Clemson (9-3) 17-14 at Memorial Stadium.
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Still, Klubnik and Clemson's offense had a chance to tie or win after trailing for the first time. Klubnik has thrived in these situations this season, pulling off a game-winning 50-yard rushing touchdown on the road against Pitt in Week 12. Saturday's stage was different, though, with the added pressure of the Palmetto Bowl and a possible CFP "win and in" scenario.
"I told myself, 'This is what you're made of. This is what you're made to do,'" Klubnik said. "Drove down the field and didn't get it done."
Clemson's final drive started perfectly with Klubnik hitting on multiple big plays and the team efficiently using its timeouts to get to South Carolina's 18-yard line. However, on second-and-10 with 16 seconds left, Klubnik received the snap, drifted right toward a South Carolina defender and forced a pass that went behind running back Phil Mafah , who tipped the ball. Gamecocks linebacker Demetrius Knight Jr. dove, intercepted the pass and ended the game.
"Trying to throw to Phil and kind of dirt-balled it," Klubnik said. "Even if we would have caught it, it really wouldn't have helped us a ton, and the guy made a good play."
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Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said Klubnik should have thrown the ball away to avoid taking a sack or having a turnover because the Tigers still had a timeout left.
"He made a lot of great plays, and I know that play will be magnified, and that was a mistake, but he'll learn from it," Swinney said.
The Tigers entered Saturday with a 37.7% chance to make the CFP, according to ESPN's FPI. They could have landed one of the seven CFP at-large bids with a win, but after losing, they luckily still have a path to the playoffs now: the ACC Championship Game. No. 6 Miami lost to Syracuse on Saturday, allowing Clemson to overtake the Hurricanes for a spot to the conference title game. The Tigers will face SMU in Charlotte on Dec. 7 at Bank of America Stadium. The winner gets an automatic bid to the CFP and a possible first-round bye.
MORE: Clemson football's CFP hopes are over, more overreactions vs South Carolina
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Klubnik's late interception was the cherry on top for a disjointed game for Clemson on both sides of the ball. Despite winning the turnover margin 3-2, its offense and defense imploded with their respective woes.
Offensively, Clemson's last five drives ended with a fumble, three punts and an interception. The Tigers could not sustain drives against South Carolina despite having all five of their starters back on the offensive line after a rash of injuries, and they scored zero points off of the three turnovers the defense forced.
Defensively, Clemson's run defense issues arose again. A week after allowing a season-high 288 rushing yards against The Citadel , it gave up 267 yards vs. South Carolina. It could not tackle Sellers, who rushed for 166 yards and two touchdowns. His game-winning score happening on third-and-16.
"I'm sick to my stomach," linebacker Barrett Carter said. "We did not plan for this to go this way."
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Swinney said Clemson needed to beat South Carolina to have a great season. With the loss, Swinney labels a nine-win season as "good." Clemson can still sneak into the CFP, but Saturday's defeat marks its second straight season where it did not reach 10 wins in the regular season.
Derrian Carter covers Clemson athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email him at dcarter@gannett.com and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DerrianCarter00
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Cade Klubnik can't provide late rescue for Clemson vs South Carolina
