CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) — When Clemson coach Dabo Swinney left the stadium Saturday after losing to rival South Carolina, he thought his team's chances at reaching the College Football Playoff had ended.
A couple of hours later, everything had changed, with the 18th-ranked Tigers qualifying for the Atlantic Coast Conference title game after No. 14 Miami's 42-38 loss to Syracuse gave them a shot at the automatic bid to the 12-team field.
“Win that and you get a ticket to Willy Wonka's factory, right?” Swinney said Tuesday. “And you get to be in the tournament.”
It's a second chance the Tigers (9-3, 7-1 ACC) are ready to capitalize on.
“We get another shot,” linebacker Wade Woodaz said. “We've got to take advantage of it.”
It won't be easy. Clemson faces the lone 8-0 team in league play this season in No. 8 SMU on Saturday night in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Woodaz, the team's second-leading tackler, was as bothered as any Tigers player about the 17-14 loss. Traffic, he said, was impossible to navigate and his typical 8-minute drive home was pushed to nearly 90 minutes.
Woodaz turned on the end of the Miami-Syracuse game and realized his team had new life. “I shouted, ‘Oh, my gosh!' he said. “I literally jumped up and down.”
The Hurricanes lost two of their final three games after spending much of the season undefeated and the presumptive ACC favorites.
Swinney said the texts and calls he got from friends and players suddenly back in the mix was exhilarating. He and his staff already had started prepping for the Mustangs.
The mood at practice Monday night was lively and spirited because of the team's reversal of fortune.
“Everybody's pumped up,” Clemson receiver T.J. Moore said.
Moore, a freshman from Key West, Florida, was out to dinner with his family when they saw that Syracuse had defeated Miami. “We were all jumping around after that,” he said with a smile.
How you got there does not matter, Swinney said, it's what you do with the opportunity that makes a difference.
“We're excited to be in the ACC championship game,” he said. “We did not accomplish all of our regular-season goals, but we did enough.”
Clemson's only league loss this year, a 33-21 defeat by Louisville, came on Nov. 2. The Tigers, knowing their backs were to the wall with undefeated ACC teams Miami and SMU ahead of them, rallied to win their final two games at Virginia Tech and Pitt.
Cade Klubnik's 50-yard touchdown run with 1:16 to play against the Panthers rescued the Tigers — and led to their title game chance — with a 24-20 victory.
Swinney called the team's season good, not great, but more than enough to reach the ACC championship for the eighth time in 10 seasons. Clemson won the first seven of those, including two years ago over North Carolina when Klubnik was named the game's MVP after replacing then-starter D.J. Uiagalelei early in the contest.
Experience is helpful, Swinney said. It does not make much difference, in his mind, heading into this matchup.
SMU is explosive on offense, second in the ACC with 39.2 points a game. It is led by quarterback Kevin Jennings and 1,100-yard rusher Brashard Smith, who has run for 14 touchdowns.
The Mustangs' defense also is feisty, allowing the fewest points in the ACC at 19.8.
It's a challenge for the Tigers, one Swinney is grateful to have. He joked that should Clemson win out, he'll have Syracuse first-year coach Fran Brown ride with him in the national title parade.
Such a run is not as far-fetched as one might think, said Swinney, who has won it all in 2016 and 2018.
“We have two goals left — win the ACC and win the closer,” Swinney said. “If we do that, we'll be national champions.”
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