JACKSONVILLE, FL- In a fourth quarter filled with haymakers, it was Dabo Swinney's Clemson team that landed the final blow, as Phil Mafah scored a touchdown with 17 seconds remaining in the game to help push the Tigers past Kentucky 38-35 in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl on Friday.
The Wildcats looked to have a commanding 21-10 lead entering the fourth quarter. However, that would not be the case.
The two teams would go on to score a combined 42 points over the final 15 minutes in what turned into a seesaw affair with five different lead changes.
It was just another wild game for Swinney, who has seen his fair share of crazy finishes.
"I've been a part of some crazy ones. I've been a part of some crazy ones for sure," Swinney said. "Two of them against LSU, for whatever reason. I was a coach at Alabama, and I think we were down 13 points with, I don't know if it was 1:40 or something, and we won the game in Baton Rouge. That was a crazy one. The LSU game in the Peach Bowl, that was one that was wild. Fourth and 16."
Trailing 35-30, with a little over two minutes left in the contest, Cade Klubnik and the Clemson offense took over at its own 32. The Tigers would then march 68 yards in 12 plays, with Mafah's emphatic TD run from four yards out putting Clemson up for good.
Klubnik went a perfect 8-of-8 on the game winning drive that included overcoming a 3rd and 18, a 4th and 2, and he completed passes to four different receivers as the Tigers marched down the field.
"Third and 18 down there at the stretch, and somehow we found a way to get it done," Swinney said. "Was it five lead changes? I mean, it was just back and forth."
With his defense having carried the offense for much of the season, Swinney was thrilled to see that script flipped, and his offense doing some of the heavy lifting on a day when the defense was missing four starters.
"We did some dumb stuff now," Swinney said. "I mean, we did some... I mean, we had four guys out. Obviously, we had four starters out on defense, but guys... I mean, we had cover two, and we let a guy run right by us, one of our best players. We did some dumb stuff that we'll grow from and learn from."
"Again, you hate to go through it, but the flip side of it to see your offense have to go win the game. The defense has been there all year. And we wouldn't even have had a chance today, even though they gave up those big plays, if we hadn't got the takeaways. We would have had no shot."
"To see the offense go win it that way, that right there will be huge for the development of our guys. Our quarterback, our linemen, our skill, everybody."
And that final drive, and the way it was executed, is a sign of growth and Swinney wasn't downplaying its significance. Not just in the moment, but from a big picture standpoint, as well.
"The belief, the confidence, the grit, the heart, those things," Swinney said. "Great stuff happens when you have all that stuff in place. A game like that, a win like that, a drive like that will put a lot of wind in your sails."
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