MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — When Jake Briningstool went up and grabbed Cade Klubnik’s pass out of the air on the left side of the end zone Saturday night, it appeared Clemson was in control.

The 19-yard touchdown gave the Tigers a 10-point lead with 2:01 remaining in the third quarter. They had the Miami Hurricanes right where they wanted them.

It’s been more than a decade since Clemson lost a game when entering the fourth quarter with at least a 10-point lead. To this point in the game, the Hurricanes had shown very little life on offense and now they were going to have to come back and win a game with their backup quarterback.

And that is exactly what they did, sort of.

Though Emory Williams did lead Miami to an improbable come-from-behind, 28-20, victory in double overtime at Hard Rock Cafe, it was its offensive line and its running game it leaned on.

After Clemson grabbed its 17-7 lead in the third quarter, the Hurricanes responded with a 15-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that took 9:01 off the clock. Miami ran the ball 12 times for 54 yards on the momentum-shifting drive and was 4-for-4 on third down, all runs.

“We did not finish,” Clemson defensive tackle Ruke Orhorhoro said. “We had the lead. We were up ten (points). It was the defense. We could not stop them.”

Miami (5-2, 1-2 ACC) tied the game on its next possession. This time, Williams was called on twice to convert on third down-and-long, and he came through both times.

Williams found Colbie Young over the middle for 16 yards on a third-and-13 play. He later found Young a second time for 25 yards on a third down-and-eight.

“We had missed tackles and some missed fits,” Orhorhoro said. “We are going to watch the game and get better. We have to put games away like that, we have to learn how to finish.”

Miami finished.

The Hurricanes added 21 more rushing yards in the overtime periods, including four straight runs in the second overtime which resulted in Ajay Allen powering through from three yards out to score the game-winning touchdown.

“We failed to execute, and that was on both sides of the ball,” Clemson linebacker Barrett Carter said. “Whatever play Coach (Wes Goodwin) calls, we have to lineup and run that and do our job.

“You can’t get tired of doing the little things right, and that is what we did.”

Miami finished the night with 211 rushing yards, including 83 of them after Clemson built its 10-point lead.

It was not just the Clemson defense that let the Tigers down. The offense also struggled in the trenches.

Clemson (4-3, 2-3 ACC) struggled to run the football all night, rushing for just 31 yards on 34 carries. Once again, the Tigers had the football on the opposing team’s one-yard line on two separate occasions and failed to score a single point in both instances.

“Guys were maybe overthinking or maybe guys were being a little timid. That is just the thing. this isn’t a game to be timid. This isn’t a game to overthink, and that is why you practice,” center Will Putnam said. “You practice so when you come into the game, you don’t have to think.

“You practice so you get confidence and you don’t play timid. So, yeah it is definitely disappointing and stuff like that is definitely one of the issues guys are really having.”

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