PITTSBURGH — — Cade Klubnick sprinted 50 yards for a touchdown with 1:16 left and No. 17 Clemson held off Pittsburgh 24-20 on Saturday.

The Tigers (8-2, 7-1 ACC) hadn’t done much on the field all day before the junior quarterback scooped up the ball and raced past a handful of stunned defenders to keep alive Clemson’s outside hopes of reaching the ACC championship game.

Klubnick finished with 288 yards and two touchdowns through the air and added 41 yards on the ground, almost all of the positive yards coming from his zigzag through the Pitt secondary just 20 seconds after the Panthers took the lead on a 47 yards. Ben Sauls basket.

Antonio Williams caught 13 passes for 149 yards and two scores for the Tigers, who need No. 12 Miami to lose one of its final two games or No. 14 SMU to drop its final two games to reach the ACC title game in Charlotte in December. 7.

Nate Yarnell, starting for injured Eli Holstein, threw for 350 yards, including a game-tying touchdown to Gavin Bartholomew with 7:05 left. The last of Yarnell’s 55 pass attempts was intercepted by Clemson’s Khalil Barnes at the goal line as time expired.

Desmond Reid rushed for 176 yards for the Panthers (7-3, 3-3), who outscored Clemson 438-346 and dominated the second half until Klubnick took advantage of Pitt’s relentless pressure by stepping up his pocket and finding enough space to run. .

Takeaways

Clemson: The Tigers aren’t the juggernaut they were at the start of the decade and Klubnick’s season probably won’t end with him becoming a Heisman Trophy finalist, but he provided a defining moment that helped Clemson survive on a day where the Tigers had passed all 8 yards. on the ground until their last offensive snap.

Pitt: The Panthers played with passion, even precision. It just wasn’t enough to keep them from suffering a third straight loss after a 7-0 start. The pre-snap issues that plagued Pitt have recently reappeared, most notably early in the fourth quarter when a first-and-goal from inside the Clemson 5 turned into a short Sauls field goal after an illegal formation , a delay of game and a false goal. start penalties.

Survey Implications

Don’t expect the Tigers to move up too much in the AP Top 25 rankings or the College Football Playoff rankings after struggling to do much in the final 30 minutes against Pitt.

To be continued

Clemson: Hosts The Citadel next Saturday.

Pitt: Travels to No. 22 Louisville next Saturday.