CLEMSON — The scoreboard from Saturday night will show No. 4 Miami beat Clemson 41-13 at Memorial Stadium. However, that was not how the game was played.

Clemson (3-2, 2-1 ACC) competed with the Hurricanes for three quarters. But the Tigers’ chance to pull off a monumental upset came down to two drives – one at the end of the first half and one at the start of the second half.

Instead of the Tigers tied with Miami (5-0, 3-0), they trailed by 11 points.

“We had we had a couple of really big layup-type-opportunities and we didn’t make them,” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said.

The Tigers’ first layup came late in the first half with them trailing the Hurricanes 17-3.

Clemson took over the football at its own 14 with 3:58 showing on the clock. The Tigers slowly moved down the field, converting one fourth-and-two situation from the Miami 33-yard line.

They eventually drove the football to the Miami 4-yard line, where they had a second-and-one play. However, a false start moved the football back to the Miami 9 and on the next play quarterback Tait Reynolds was sacked for a 2-yard loss.

Clemson settled for a 29-yard Nolan Hauser field goal, instead of scoring a touchdown.

It was a 16-play, 75-yard drive that ended in points for the Tigers, just not six points, which was an opportunity missed.

“That’s third-and-six. That changes everything,” Swinney said. “You need one yard to get a first down and now you go call a timeout. We’re going to have three shots to get one yard for a touchdown. So yeah, the penalty was critical.”

Clemson’s second opportunity came on its first possession of the third quarter. Still trailing 17-6, Clemson’s defense stopped Miami for a fourth consecutive possession, this time on downs to get the ball back.

The Tigers took the football and moved it to the Hurricanes’ 18. On fourth-and-two, Clemson tried a trick play with a direct snap to running back Gideon Davidson. However, Miami linebacker Chase Smith shot through the gap and stopped the Clemson running back a yard short of the first down.

“It should have been 17-17 and who knows what happens,” Swinney said. “Instead, we get three points on two red zone trips.”

In 23 plays, Clemson tallied 129 yards of offense against one of the best defenses in the country, yet they only had three points to show for it.

“We did not get it done. We didn’t run the right track on the wildcat on third down, and then I think we just got beat at the point of attack on the fourth and one.”

That was the difference in the game.