Klubnik’s 50-Yard Touchdown Run Lifts Tigers Past Pitt, 24-20
PITTSBURGH – With the Tigers trailing 20-17 and on their own 25-yard line with 1:36 to play, junior quarterback Cade Klubnik led the Tigers (8-2, 7-1 ACC) 75 yards in three plays, scoring on a 50-yard draw up the middle with 1:16 left to lift Clemson to a 24-20 win at Pittsburgh (7-3, 3-3 ACC) at Acrisure Stadium. Clemson’s defense held on 4th-and-1 on the ensuing drive as Khalil Barnes recorded an interception to seal the win.
Clemson’s defense registered season highs with 16.0 tackles for loss and 8.0 sacks, including a school-record 4.0 sacks from T.J. Parker. Klubnik finished 27-for-41 for 288 yards and two touchdowns through the air to Antonio Williams before his rush put the Tigers ahead for good. Williams had career bests of 13 receptions and 149 yards to go with a pair of first-half touchdowns plus a key reception on the game-winning drive.
Clemson opened the scoring on its second possession, using an eight-play, 93-yard drive capped by a 14-yard Klubnik touchdown pass to Williams to take a 7-0 lead. On the drive, Williams recovered a fumble on the 13-yard line just two plays before scoring. Pittsburgh responded on the ensuing possession, tying the game on a two-yard touchdown run by Daniel Carter.
Later in the half, Klubnik connected on a 43-yard completion down the middle to Bryant Wesco Jr., and on the next play, a 28-yard strike down the middle to Williams for a touchdown completed the three-play, 75-yard drive with 11:18 to play in the second quarter.
The teams traded punts on the next two drives, then Pittsburgh’s Ben Sauls missed a 59-yard field goal with 4:11 remaining in the half. Nolan Hauser added to Clemson’s lead with a 51-yard field goal with three seconds remaining in the first half, pushing the halftime score to 17-7.
Pittsburgh drove into Clemson territory to start the second half, but a Parker sack on second down and a Kylon Griffin pass breakup on third down forced the Panthers to punt.
Clemson was forced to punt on its first drive of the second half, but quickly got the ball back when Parker forced a Nate Yarnell fumble that was recovered by Jaheim Lawson to give the Tigers the ball in Pittsburgh territory. The Tigers were forced to punt three plays later, but Aidan Swanson pinned Pittsburgh back at its own 8-yard line, one of his career-high six punts downed inside the 20.
Pitt cut into Clemson’s lead with 10:55 to play in the fourth with a field goal after the Tiger defense held at the goal line. The 17-play drive got all the way down to the one-yard line, but a series of Pitt procedure penalties and a third-down stop created the 35-yard field goal try, which Sauls knocked through the uprights to cut the Pitt deficit to 17-10.
Pitt tied the game on its next drive when its seven-play, 58-yard drive was capped by a Nate Yarnell touchdown pass to Gavin Bartholomew with 7:05 remaining in the game. Clemson drove into Pittsburgh territory on the following drive, but was stopped on 4th-and-1 to give the Panthers the ball with 4:17 remaining. Pitt took a 20-17 lead on a Ben Sauls 47-yard field goal with 1:36 remaining in the contest.
Clemson took over on its own 25 with 1:36 to play. Klubnik hit Williams for 18 yards, and then Jake Briningstool for another seven. On 2nd-and-3, Klubnik broke through the middle on a quarterback draw, going 50 yards untouched for the go-ahead touchdown with 1:16 to play.
Parker recorded his fourth sack on Pitt’s final drive, tying the school record for sacks in a game. Pitt would get to the Tigers 26, but safety Khalil Barnes intercepted Yarnell on the final play of the game to seal the 24-20 victory.
