Clemson tops SMU, wins ACC title on walk-off 56-yard field goal - ESPN

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Nolan Hauser winked at his coach before jogging onto the field to try a 56-yard field goal to win the ACC championship.

Dabo Swinney had implored him to just put the ball through the uprights. Everything that had led to this point was already inexplicable — from Clemson's Week 14 flub against South Carolina that appeared to doom the Tigers from the College Football Playoff; to Syracuse's 21-point comeback against Miami that gave Clemson new life; to Clemson squandering a big lead against SMU on Saturday and allowing the Mustangs to tie the score 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'd endured a season's worth of struggles booting a field goal that will be etched into the annals of program lore.

Hauser, a freshman from just outside Charlotte whose parents both went to Clemson, drilled the kick to punch Clemson's ticket to the playoff with a 34-31 win over No. 8 SMU.

«I was just thinking about how I was going to celebrate after we made it,» Hauser said. «The trust I have in [this team] — it'll go down in history.»

Hauser entered the ACC championship with eight missed kicks on the season, then saw another — a 44-yarder in the first half — sail wide against SMU. Still, Clemson's players said there was no doubt his final kick would be true.

«I was nonchalant about it,» defensive end T.J. Parker said. «The confidence in him is through the roof. This definitely won't be his last.»

After Hauser's kick, Clemson players stormed the field in a moment of triumph. Linebacker Barrett Carter held up a white board that read, «Clemson against the world.» Players carried Hauser off the