MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – They were down by 10 in the fourth quarter. They were facing an opponent that always seems to blow them out. They were without their starting quarterback. And they were coming off two losses that left a very distinct sense of here-we-go-again around a program that has sputtered plenty in recent years.
No, Miami is not back.
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But this might be a night the Hurricanes remember for a long time.
Ajay Allen got the go-ahead score on a 3-yard run in the second overtime, and shorthanded Miami ended the game on a fourth-down stop to stun Clemson 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, completed 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 wasn’t sacked — took in the game actually came after the game, when Van Dyke exuberantly wrapped his arms around him as a reward for engineering two late scoring drives to erase a 17-7 deficit and, maybe, save the season.
“Right now,” defensive lineman Rueben Bain said after Miami held Clemson to 31 rushing yards on 34 carries, “I feel like I’m on top of the world.”
Cade Klubnik connected with Jake Briningstool on a pair of touchdown passes for Clemson (4-3, 2-3). The Tigers turned the ball over three times in the first half, and paid 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 TD, Allen also got the 2-point conversion to put all the pressure on Clemson in the second OT. On the game’s final play, needing no more than a yard for the end zone, 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 sprinted 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 walked with a slight limp when he entered the stadium, and it became clear about an hour before the game that he wasn’t going to play. And Williams struggled mightily for much of the game, getting only 31 yards on his first 10 completions.
But he stepped up at the end, as did Miami’s defense, and the Hurricanes’ two-game slide 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 Miami remembered last year’s game with Clemson — a 40-10 loss where the Tigers tacked a touchdown on with 16 seconds remaining.
Williams found Colbie Young from 11 yards out with 8 minutes left in regulation to get Miami within a field goal, and Andy Borregales hit a 35-yarder to tie the game with 1:51 left.
Field goals capped each team’s first overtime series; Jonathan Weitz kicked a 31-yarder for Clemson, Borregales connected from 35 yards 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.
THE TAKEAWAY
Clemson: This was 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 — going back to the Big East days as well — in program history. The Hurricanes also dropped five straight ACC games at home during a stretch spanning 2007 and 2008.
POLL IMPLICATIONS
Clemson was second in the “also receiving votes” department of last week’s AP Top 25, though it’s hard to believe any voters would have the Tigers on their ballot this week. Miami — which fell out after last week’s loss to North Carolina — might have set itself up for a return to the poll at some point.
WHOOPS
The teams fumbled at the goal line on back-to-back plays in the first quarter. Will Shipley lost the ball on what could have been a Clemson TD, Miami recovered in the end zone, and on the Hurricanes’ first play after the touchback Brashard Smith took off an 80-yard run — but he, too, lost the ball. Jacolby George recovered and the Hurricanes took a 7-0 lead.
UP NEXT
Clemson: Visit North Carolina State on Oct. 28.
Miami: Host Virginia on Oct. 28.
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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football