Clemson suffers an upset loss against Pittsburgh

Clemson opened as a 19-point favorite over Pittsburgh, but that didn’t matter to the Panthers. Those calls marred an otherwise classic shootout.

“At the end of the day, it’s all about finishing”, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said.

Clemson will clinch the ACC’s Atlantic Division title and a berth in the ACC Championship Game with a victory at Wake Forest on November 19. If they do, they will have clinched the ACC Atlantic berth, and a win at the title game might still ensure them a spot in the top 4.

This wasn’t one of those teams.

Georgia Tech and Pitt got bowl eligible and Duke kept its postseason hopes alive, but that all came with a price. “Some people would like us to change our defense or do this or do that, but you have to do what you do to be successful, and you can’t lose faith in what you’ve worked for to get to that point”.

“Hey, I’m sorry to do that, but we wanted this one bad”, Pitt running back James Conner said about clouding the playoff picture.

The Tigers managed only 50 rushing yards on 25 carries with Gallman carrying the ball 18 times for 36 yards. Clemson was chosen 11th at the preseason league gathering despite having a first-team all-ACC member in Jaron Blossomgame returning for his senior year.

The Hokies’ defeat was something different considering the Yellow Jackets had just lost by 28 to North Carolina the week before and was without their leading passer and second-leading rusher in Justin Thomas, who sat with an injury he suffered vs. the Tar Heels.

The Tigers ran nine times – that’s right, Mr. Rooney, nine times – in the second half.

Expect the Blue Devils to give a strong effort on the road, but the Panthers will be too much offensively and will pull away in the second half.

Watson passed for an ACC record 580 yards, but also threw three critical interceptions — two at the goal line — as the Tigers’ run at a second straight flawless regular season came to a surprising end.

Panthers defensive end Allen Edwards stuffed Gallman on a run up the middle on third down.

That allowed Peterman to lead the game-winning drive, which ended when Chris Blewitt nailed a 48-yarder to win it. This was the Tigers’ sixth game decided by seven points or less, and they finally came out on the wrong end of that high-wire act.

After back-to-back losses, the unranked Pitt football team was an unlikely match for the No. 2 Clemson Tigers this weekend.

Can you blame the officials?

A Ben Boulware tackle in the third quarter drew a personal foul flag as the referee felt the Clemson linebacker played beyond the whistle.

Intangibles: Even. Both teams are coming off of upset victories over ranked teams.

Clemson’s attempt to outscore opponents works more often than not in the ACC. The mistakes continued, though, and almost cost the Tigers two weeks later against North Carolina State when kicker Kyle Bambard missed a potential game-winning, 33-yard field goal attempt at the end of regulation in a 24-17 overtime win.

If I had to pick an ACC team for the Playoff, I would pick Louisville.

Let’s face it, quarterback Nathan Peterman and the Panther receivers are not going to beat Clemson. Swinney could see that by halftime Saturday.

But, it wasn’t. Just as it looked like Clemson was going to deliver a knockout blow with less than six minutes remaining, Pittsburgh’s defense rose to the occasion. The Cardinals are the only other team in the division with one conference defeat, but Clemson owns the tiebreaker over coach Bobby Petrino’s team by virtue of their win over Louisville on October 1.