Clemson wins ACC Championship, punches College Football Playoff ticket with walk-off field goal against SMU

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Against all odds, Clemson is headed back to the College Football Playoff for the first time since 2020. The Tigers secured a berth with a 34-31 win against SMU in the ACC Championship Game Saturday evening. 

SMU made things very interesting in the fourth quarter. The Mustangs spent the second half slowly chipping away at Clemson’s 24-7 lead and drew within seven points with just under seven minutes left remaining in the fourth quarter. 

Then SMU got the ball back with all three timeouts and 4:01 left. Quarterback Kevin Jennings seemingly sent the game to overtime with a four-yard touchdown completion to wide receiver Roderick Daniels Jr. 

But Clemson ripped off a long kick return and quarterback Cade Klubnik hit wide receiver Antonio Williams for a gain of 17 to SMU’s 40-yard line. There, Clemson kicker Nolan Hauser booted an ACC Championship Game record 56-yard kick to give the Tigers their first ACC title since 2022. 

Clemson will be the first — and perhaps the only — three-loss team to make a playoff field. That’s reality in a 12-team format that allows the five highest-ranked conference champions to automatically secure a spot. 

Not that the Tigers didn’t earn their way in. They rode a 21-point first quarter, in which quarterback Cade Klubnik became the first player to ever toss three touchdowns in the opening frame of the ACC Championship Game.

Klubnik, an Austin, Texas product, dazzled against the Dallas-based Mustangs by tossing four touchdowns. He had four touchdowns, including one in the third quarter to tight end Jake Briningstool that gave Clemson a cushion down the stretch. 

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