The Clemson Tigers and Miami Hurricanes went back and forth in Hard Rock Stadium. While everything that occurred played a factor, Clemson had a 4th-and-1 at the goal line to save the game and likely their season.

A play that was once a point of confidence for the Tigers in years past, most who were watching were queasy because they knew what was coming. As it’s gone all season, Garrett Riley’s offense couldn’t finish and quarterback Cade Klubnik took the keeper with zero chance to score and it was over.

“Ebbs and flows in the game on both sides, and they found a way to win and we found a way not to win. Just an unbelievably disappointing game. What we want, we have to deserve,” Swinney said postgame.

This was the story all night, and the season. On Clemson’s second drive of the game, Riley’s crew marched down the field. 13 plays, 84 yards and over six minutes chewed off the clock. Down at the goal line, running back Will Shipley took a nifty wildcat snap and reached for the touchdown, losing the ball along the way.

Tigers fans got an awful rush of the Duke game, where those goal-line mistakes cost them, and it did again in Miami. That wasn’t the only one. Clemson found more momentum two drives later, sitting at the Hurricanes 25-yard line with a field goal as the worst-case scenario. Or it was until Klubnik tried to extend the play, leading to a strip sack that kept the Tigers behind.

Head coach Dabo Swinney is well aware of this trend, and he addressed it postgame.

“The common thread is they’re happening in critical moments … Every coach and player has gotta take ownership,” Swinney said.

Ownership or not, Clemson’s season is a failure due to the critical mistakes. The debacle in Durham, a strip-sack for a touchdown against Florida State and now a pair of fumbles that make it loss No. 3.

Now look back at the failures in the red zone, somewhere the Tigers went 2-5 in against the Hurricanes if you count overtime. Football is hard, and if you make the easy things difficult, this is what happens.