CLEMSON – Clemson’s road to the championship game has given Clemson an underdog mentality, something this senior linebacker has Barrett Carter Takes it personally because that was his mantra throughout his football career.

“We love it, especially the opportunity to go into someone’s stadium and try to come out of it with a win. It’s fun. Playing at home is great and good teams win at home, but great teams win away and if we are the underdogs that’s cool. I like it,” Carter said. “I feel like I’ve been the underdog my whole life, just not the biggest and not the strongest. I think I’m the fastest, but I feel like that’s just my personal mentality and it’s also the mentality that we have on our team. Nobody wants us to be here. Nobody expected us to be here. But it doesn’t matter what other people say. That’s what we do.”

The result of the ACC Championship Game certainly fueled Clemson’s underdog mentality. After going into halftime with a 17-point lead, SMU came back in the second half, especially in the fourth quarter when they put up 17 points in the fourth quarter and tied the game with 16 seconds left. After a 41-yard kick return by Junior Adam RandallFellow junior quarterback Cade Klubnik threw a dart at the redshirt sophomore receiver Antonio Williams to set up a true freshman kicker’s 56-yard field goal Nolan Hauser to prevent overtime and send the Tigers to the playoffs. Carter was preparing for overtime when Hauser made the game-winning kick and said it was one of the most memorable moments of his career.

“Probably the most memorable moment, the most memorable play that I’ve been a part of since I’ve been here at Clemson. So it was just a special moment. (We) just have to carry this momentum into the next few weeks,” Carter said.

Klubnik may not be the Heisman winner, but he had a strong season. His completion rate is about the same as last year at just under 64 percent, while his passing yards and touchdowns have increased dramatically. Heading into Clemson’s playoff game against Texas next Saturday (4 p.m./TNT), Klubnik has thrown 33 touchdowns and just five interceptions. This game could prove emotional for Klubnik, who is returning to his home state for the first time in his college career. However, Carter said Klubnik is locked in, as he has been all season.

“Cade is locked up. “He’s been locked in all year no matter who we play and I know he’s excited to get home and show what he can do again,” Carter said. “But it was really the same Cade. I haven’t seen him more or less intense than (always). So he’s locked in and ready to lead us to victory.”

The playoff journey will also be emotional for players like Carter and graduate safety RJ Mickens which are in the last year. Mickens is also from Texas and went to high school with Quinn Ewers, the Longhorns’ starting quarterback. Despite the importance of this game personally and for Clemson, Mickens and the rest of the Tigers are stuck.

“He is a worker no matter where we play and who we play against. But I know he’s excited to go against his old high school quarterback, Quinn. But it was the same with RJ. That duel didn’t change the way he attacked it, and he’s such a smart guy,” Carter said. “So he already has his plan with Texas and has a good feel for what they’re doing. But that didn’t change him at all, he just returned to his home state. So he was the same guy.”