CHARLOTTE — Nolan Hauser winked at his coach before jogging onto the field to attempt a 56-yard field goal and win the ACC championship.

Dabo Swinney had begged him to just put the ball through the posts. Everything leading up to this point was already inexplicable – from Clemson’s Week 14 fumble against South Carolina that seemed to knock the Tigers out of the College Football Playoff; to Syracuse’s 21-point comeback against Miami that breathed new life into Clemson; that Clemson blew a big lead against SMU on Saturday, allowing the Mustangs to tie the game with nine seconds to play; to an Adam Randall kick return that was supposed to be a fair catch but instead turned into a 41-yard return; and finally, to a Clemson kicker who struggled for an entire season when he made a field goal that will go down in the annals of program history.

Hauser, a freshman from outside Charlotte whose parents both went to Clemson, provided the kick to punch Clemson’s ticket to the playoffs with a 34-31 victory over No. 8 SMU.

“I was just thinking about how I was going to celebrate after we did it,” Hauser said. “The confidence I have in (this team) – it will go down in history.”

Hauser started the ACC Championship with eight missed shots this season, but then saw another one – a 44-yarder in the first half – miss against SMU. Still, Clemson’s players said there was no doubt his final shot would be true.

“I was casual about it,” defensive end TJ Parker said. “The trust in him is enormous. This definitely won’t be his last.”

After Hauser’s free kick, the Clemson players stormed the field in triumph. Linebacker Barrett Carter held up a whiteboard that read, “Clemson vs. the World.” Players carried Hauser off the field and outside the locker room. Swinney joked with athletics director Graham Neff, “The (sales) share for the kicker has just gone up.”

The kick gave Swinney its ninth ACC championship and seventh College Football Playoff berth, an outcome that seemed nearly impossible just a week ago.

Clemson was blown out in the opener against Georgia, lost another game at home to Louisville and then failed to beat South Carolina QB LaNorris Sellers in the finale, falling to 9-3. Meanwhile, Swinney and the Tigers heard their fair share of criticism — about Swinney’s lack of transfer additions, about a defense that lacked impact, about an offense that struggled against top opponents — but Swinney continued to preach the Clemson gospel.

“We’re at the point now where we’re not going to win a championship and we need to fire everyone, and it’s just the same old, tired narratives that come up every year when we lose a game,” Swinney said. “You can compare our record with the SEC. You can compare them to the Big Ten. You can compare them to Notre Dame because that’s really who runs college football.”

Clemson’s record against the ACC this season is better than any other team, and that has secured the Tigers’ final playoff spot.

The Tigers project to be seeded either 11th or 12th, meaning it will be a long road to another national championship — but this is a team that believes, Parker said.

“Everyone counts us out, everyone talks down to Clemson and says, ‘Oh, they play in the ACC,'” Parker said. “We’re not listening to any of it. We see it, and we save it for later and continue working. The more we win, the more they will change the narrative. (The ceiling) goes through the ceiling. We just have to do it.” “Keep your head down and keep working.”