CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Cade Klubnik sat crying in his car for more than an hour last Saturday after Clemson lost to rival South Carolina, thinking his team’s chances of reaching the College Football Playoff were over.

My way of thinking about how things can change.

A few hours later, Klubnik cheered and hugged his roommates after Syracuse upset Miami, knocking the Hurricanes out of the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game and giving Clemson another chance.

The Tigers took full advantage.

Klubnik threw for 262 yards and four touchdowns, Nolan Hauser kicked a 56-yard field goal as time expired and No. 18 Clemson beat No. 8 SMU 34-31 on Saturday night for the ACC title and a berth in the CFP and position himself for a first-round bye.

“It’s like you’re outside playing with some of your friends and your mom tells you you have to come in, but then she decides, ‘Well, I’ll give you five more minutes,'” Klubnik said. “We still have five minutes to play football – and that’s how we saw it tonight.”

Bryant Wesco had eight catches for 143 yards and two touchdowns in the first quarter for the Tigers (10-3, No. 17 CFP), who needed a win to advance to the expanded 12-team playoffs. Jake Briningstool added two short TD receptions as Clemson improved to 9-1 in ACC championship games under coach Dabo Swinney.

The Tigers have won eight of the 10 ACC championships.

“What a way to win,” Swinney said. “…To lead the playoffs for the seventh time, man, the heart of our guys. We were so close, but we found a way.”

Kevin Jennings threw for 310 yards and three touchdowns and one score for SMU (11-2, No. 8 CFP), which went 8-0 in the regular season in its first year since transferring from American Athletic in the ACC Conference .

An error-filled first half cost the Mustangs a chance at a bye in the first round of the CFP and could potentially keep them off the field.

Swinney pushed for the Mustangs to get into the game after battling back from a 17-point deficit to clinch the game.

“Listen. This is a playoff football team. “SMU, they’re better in the damn playoffs,” Swinney said. “What a comeback these guys have made.”

Clemson edge rusher TJ Parker set the tone on the game’s first series with a sack-fumble and Klubnik threw three touchdown passes in the first quarter to give the Tigers, a 2 1/2-point underdog, a 21-point lead. 7 took the lead. Klubnik finished the first quarter 8 of 10 for 120 yards with three touchdowns, including throws of 45 and 35 yards to Wesco.

Everything seemed to be going according to plan for Clemson in the first half.

While trying to escape pressure on a play in the second quarter, Klubnik was hit from behind and fumbled the ball about 10 yards forward, where tight end Briningstool alertly dove between two defenders to recover the ball near midfield and to give the Tigers a first down.

Clemson scored a field goal late in the second quarter and SMU trailed 24-7, its largest deficit this season.

“We did some things in the first quarter that were out of character that put us in a hole and it was tough, but we got ourselves out of it,” SMU coach Rhett Lashlee said.

With seven minutes left, SMU cut the lead to 31-24 after Matthew Hibner caught a 20-yard touchdown reception from Jennings and Collin Rogers hit a 46-yard field goal.

The Mustangs defense forced a third straight punt on the possession, giving Jennings and the offense the ball back to their own 21 with four minutes to play. Jennings drove the Mustangs 79 yards on 16 plays and hit Roderick Daniels for a 4-yard touchdown pass with 16 seconds left to tie the game.

“He looked like a playoff quarterback to me,” Lashlee said. “Hopefully America sees him in the playoffs.”

Jennings added: “We came back from behind and that shows how good we are as a team.”

The game appeared to be headed to overtime, but Adam Randall’s 41-yard kickoff return gave Clemson the ball at its own 45-yard line. Klubnik found Antonio Williams for a 17-yard gain at the SMU 38 with three ticks remaining, setting up Hauser’s game-winning kick – the longest in ACC championship game history.

“We just didn’t cover the kick well,” Lashlee said. “Give Clemson credit, they played well early and finished the last play.”

Swinney said he wasn’t sure Hauser had the leg needed to make the final kick, but the Charlotte native responded.

“He will go down in Clemson history,” Swinney said.

Takeaways

Clemson: The Tigers won the game up front in the trenches, dominating the line of scrimmage and putting pressure on Jennings throughout the game. Rarely was there a passing play where the SMU quarterback didn’t crawl out of the pocket and try to avoid a sack.

SMU: Maybe it was the nerves of being on the big stage in the ACC title game, but the Mustangs struggled with mistakes in the first quarter, including several dropped passes, penalties and two turnovers. SMU’s defensive backs struggled to keep up with the speed of Clemson’s receivers.

Next

Clemson will see if it gets a first-round bye while SMU awaits its playoff fate.

——

Get AP Top 25 poll alerts and updates throughout the season. Sign up here. AP College Football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football