Clemson Tigers Clutch Late 24-20 Win Over Pittsburgh Panthers

The Clemson Tigers nearly fell to the Pittsburgh Panthers, but their star quarterback rallied to secure a 24-20 victory.

After being shut out for most of the second half, star quarterback Cade Klubnik broke off a 50-yard run with just over a minute remaining that eventually won the game. It was the second-longest rush of his career and 18th touchdown on the ground.

Klubnik and receiver Antonio Williams were the biggest offensive contributors in this one.

Williams had an impressive 13 rushes for 149 yards and two touchdowns. It was the biggest game of his career and the Tigers wouldn’t have beaten the Panthers without him.

The Clemson quarterback had felt the pressure in this one as they had to deal with a very injured offensive line. Pittsburgh had five sacks and nine quarterback hurries.

The Tigers also had to deal with a nightmare situation at linebacker after being without two of their top three starters for various reasons.

Star junior linebacker Wade Woodaz traveled with the team but came out of the locker room in street clothes and missed the game with an injury.

That put freshman Sammy Brown in a bigger role and a huge opportunity, but he ended up getting thrown because of a very obvious targeting call. At least it was in the first half, so he won’t be out next week if Woodaz still needs time to recover.

Panthers running back Desmond Reid was highlighted as someone who could generate big plays and hurt the defense, given their problems with smaller backs in the past. That’s exactly what he did.

Reid hurt Clemson both on the ground and through the air with X total yards on X touches including gains of both 43 and 34. Most of his rushes weren’t too damaging, but his 43 yard run set up the first Pittsburgh touchdown of the day.

The Panthers were without their starting quarterback, but that ended up not mattering as backup Nate Yarnell shredded the Tigers defense anyway.

Yarnell was 34-54 for 350 yards and a touchdown, with an efficient day passing against a normally strong Tigers secondary. He also had an interception on the final play of the game.

Barrett Carer had a huge day on defense with a team-high 11 tackles, two for a loss and half a sack. He also picked off two other pressures and a pass breakup.

The defense came up late and stopped Pittsburgh on the last drive of the game and locked up the win.