Getting it Done When it Matters Most
By: Will Vandervort June 7, 2025

CLEMSON — When Nolan Hauser kicked a 56-yard game-winning field goal as time expired in the ACC Championship Game last December, it went down as the greatest kick in ACC Championship Game history.

It also went down as the greatest field goals in Clemson history. Through the years, the Tigers have had lots of plays that came near the end of the game that won the game for them.

They have had some that went the other way, too, but we will not focus on those games.

Instead, we will focus on the fond memories and how these plays helped shape what we know as Clemson Football today.

  • Prince saves Clemson: Clemson beat South Carolina 13-7 in Columbia in the 1948 game. Phil Prince was the hero for the Tigers as he blocked a South Carolina punt with just 4:15 left in the contest. Oscar Thompson recovered it at the 11 and ran it in for a touchdown, giving Clemson the 13-7 lead at the time. The play allowed Clemson to stay undefeated, which the Tigers did throughout the season, as they posted an 11-0 record. The program’s first undefeated season since 1900.
  • The Orange Bowl was Sterling: Clemson appeared in the Orange Bowl for the first time and squeaked out a 15-14 win over Miami to complete a 9-0-1 season. Sterling Smith’s tackle of Miami’s Frank Smith in the end zone gave Clemson a safety with under six minutes left in the game, which turned out to be the game-winning play. It was Clemson’s second undefeated season in three years under head coach Frank Howard.
  • The Catch: Clemson wide receiver Jerry Butler made a leaping, twisting 20-yard catch with 49 seconds left, as Clemson beat South Carolina 31-27 in Columbia in 1977. The Tigers had a 24-0 lead, but South Carolina came back to take a 27-24 lead prior to Clemson’s last drive. The win earned the Tigers a trip to the Gator Bowl, the program’s first in 18 years at the time.
Clemson’s Jerry Butler makes a leaping, twisting catch with 49 seconds to play to beat South Carolina in 1977. (courtesy of Clemson Athletic Communications)
  • The Punch: Clemson defeated Ohio State 17-15 at the 1978 Gator Bowl in Danny Ford’s first game as head coach and Woody Hayes’ final game at Ohio State. The winning touchdown was scored by Clemson freshman Cliff Austin. Clemson’s Charlie Bauman made the key play with an interception of an Art Schlichter pass with just two minutes left. He ran the return out of bounds on the Ohio State sideline and was punched by Hayes after he was helped up.
  • Déjà vu: For the second time in history, a blocked punt in the South Carolina game proved pivotal in the Tigers securing a perfect season. The key play in Clemson’s 29-13 win in Columbia in 1981 was a blocked punt by Rod McSwain. The ball was recovered in the end zone by Johnny Rembert, giving Clemson a 7-6 lead at the time and changing the momentum of the game. The play began at the South Carolina 28, just as the play in 1948 had when Prince blocked a punt to win that game.
  • National Champions: Clemson claimed its first national championship with a 22-15 win over Nebraska in the 48th annual Orange Bowl Classic on January 1, 1982. Perry Tuttle caught a 19-yard touchdown pass from Homer Jordan late in the third quarter, which turned out to be the game-winning score. Jordan’s pass was a beautifully thrown back-shoulder-fade pass on third down. The cover of Sports Illustrated the following week displayed Perry Tuttle celebrating after his touchdown catch in the Orange Bowl. It was the first time a Tiger athlete appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated, as a Clemson student. Clemson finished the season 12-0, its first perfect season since 1948.
Clemson’s Homer Jordan (3) scrambles in the 1982 Orange Bowl. His touchdown pass to Perry Tuttle in the third quarter clinched the Tigers’ 22-15 victory over Nebraska. (courtesy of Clemson Athletic Communications)
  • Mr. Clutch: Clemson kicker David Treadwell earned that nickname from 1985-’87 by kicking so many game-winning and game-tying kicks in his career. He never missed a kick under two minutes to play in his career, as he beat Georgia (twice) North Carolina and Virginia Tech with last second kicks, as well as tying Maryland and South Carolina with clutch kicks. No kick was bigger than his 46-yard field goal as time expired to beat Georgia in Athens, 31-28.
  • Knocking it Down: Clemson became the first ACC team to defeat Oklahoma in football. The Tigers won the 1989 Citrus Bowl on the last play of the game when safety James Lott knocked down Jamelle Holieway’s pass in the end zone as time expired. Clemson held the Oklahoma offense without a touchdown for just the second time in the decade of the eighties.
  • Better Late Than Never: Clemson scored the latest touchdown to gain victory in a game since 1958, as Patrick Sapp connected with Terry Smith with 0:20 left to defeat Kentucky, 14-13, in the 1993 Peach Bowl. However, the winning TD, as big as it was, was not the big play. Two plays earlier, Kentucky’s All-SEC linebacker, Marty Moore, stepped in front of a Clemson player, five yards in front of the end zone, and made what looked to be the game-saving interception. Instead of going down to the ground so the offense could run out the clock, Moore took off, running straight ahead. But he was hit from the side by Clemson tailback Rodney Blunt, popping the ball loose. And it bounced right to Clemson tackle Brent LeJeune.
  • Catch II: Clemson’s Rod Gardner made a spectacular 50-yard catch with 10 seconds remaining to set up Aaron Hunt’s 25-yard game winning field goal with just three seconds remaining in Clemson’s 16-14 win over rival South Carolina in 2000 at Death Valley.
  • Miracle in Winston-Salem: Clemson defensive end Gaines Adams returned a botched field-goal attempt 66 yards for a touchdown to lead a fourth-quarter comeback in a 27-17 win at Wake Forest in 2006. Clemson trailed 17-3 in the fourth quarter before Adams’ play. It marked just the third time in school history the Tigers overcame a deficit of 14 or more points in the fourth quarter to gain victory.
  • Buchholz Made it Count: Clemson kicker Mark Buchholz booted a 35-yard field goal on the last play of the game to give Clemson a 23-21 win at South Carolina in 2007. Cullen Harper connected with Aaron Kelly four times for 70 yards on the final drive to set up the game-winner.
  • Clutch: Clemson’s Chandler Catanzaro booted a 43-yard field goal on the last play of the game to give Clemson a 31-28 victory over Wake Forest and clinch the ACC Atlantic Division title. It was Clemson’ first walk-off kick in regulation at Memorial Stadium.
  • 4th and 16: Catanzaro kicked a 37-yard field goal as time expired to give Clemson a 25-24 win over No. 7 LSU in the Chick-fil-A Bowl. Clemson trailed 24-13 entering the fourth quarter but scored the final 12 points for the dramatic victory. Catanzaro’s winning kick would not have happened, however, if it was not for DeAndre Hopkins’ sliding 26-yard catch of a Tajh Boyd pass on a fourth-and-16 play from the Clemson 16-yard line earlier in the drive.
  • Orange Crush: Clemson co-offensive coordinator Jeff Scott noticed Alabama was playing man-coverage with the personnel grouping they brought onto the field. He adjusted and called for Clemson to run a play they call “Orange Crush,” a man-coverage beater at the goal line. From the Alabama two-yard line and with six seconds to play in the 2017 National Championship Game, quarterback Deshuan Watson rolled to his right and found a wide-open Hunter Renfrow with one second left to give Clemson its first national championship since 1981.
Clemson wide receiver Hunter Renfrow (13) catches the winning touchdown pass over Alabama defensive back Tony Brown (2) with one second to play in the 2017 CFP National Championship Game at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa on Monday, January 9, 2017. (TCI File Photo)
  • Rally in the Valley: Earlier in the week quarterback Kelly Bryant elected to transfer after Trevor Lawrence was named the starting quarterback for the Tigers. Lawrence, however, was forced to leave the game against Syracuse due to injury. However, backup Chase Brice helped Clemson overcome a 10-point fourth quarter deficit for a 27-23 win. On the game-winning drive, he completed a fourth-and-six pass to wide receiver Tee Higgins, leading to a game-winning touchdown run by Travis Etienne with 41 seconds remaining. Clemson went onto crush everyone else in its way, as the Tigers won the 2018 National Championship.
  • Queen City Miracle. Hauser drilled a 56-yard field goal on the last play of the game, lifting Clemson to the 2024 ACC Championship and a spot in the College Football Playoff. However, Hauser was not the only hero in Clemson’s 34-31 victory. After SMU tied the game in the last 30 seconds, kick returner Adam Randall returned the ensuing kick 41 yards and then quarterback Cade Klubnik found Antonio William for a quick strike that moved the football to the SMU 39, setting up Hauser’s 56-yard walk-off kick.

—Clemson Athletics contributed to this story