CLEMSON – With just under a minute left to play in the first half of Clemson’s 37-0 win over Charleston Southern at Memorial Stadium Saturday, Tiger fans shook their heads in disbelief as Nolan Hauser trotted out onto the field.

The Tigers’ junior kicker– most memorably known for winking in head coach Dabo Swinney’s direction  before knocking down an ACC-Championship-winning field goal in 2024– had no business being on the field in this situation.

Or so it seemed.

With 59 seconds to play in the second quarter of the blowout victory, the Buccaneers had held Clemson (4-2, 2-1 ACC) to 4th-and-6 on Charleston Southern’s 41-yard line. It marked the first time that period that the Tigers had not scored a touchdown on an offensive possession, and looked like a sure opportunity to send punter Jack Smith out for the first time.

However, Hauser trotted out into the no-man’s-land territory to attempt a 59-yard field goal, the longest try of his impressive collegiate career. Though it was only two yards shy of the Clemson record and the Tigers were up 31-0, Swinney elected to give his veteran the opportunity.

Even Charleston Southern thought the decision could be a fake, and sent a man to the endzone just in case Hauser pooched a punt at the last minute. 

Instead, Hauser lined up, measured the angle with his arm, drew back, and, to the shock of a purple-clad crowd, laid a strike down the middle.

Memorial Stadium shook with a special gratitude for special teams as Swinney could not believe what he had just seen.

“What!” he said to Hauser with a smile wider than the uprights.

“What a kick,” Swinney said after the win. “And that kid’s having an amazing year. Really happy for him. Guys were super excited. That was big. You know, he’s just got a lot of confidence right now. So, that’s really good going into going into a five-game conference stretch right here. It’s nice to know that that your kicker is really kicking with a lot of confidence.”

That was not the only time during the game that Clemson’s special teams were the cause of celebration in Death Valley, however. The moment was just an exclamation mark on the unit’s prowess this season and afternoon.

The special teams success did not take long to make an impact on the Tigers’ momentum.

In the opening moments of the victory, running back Chris Johnson Jr. received the first kickoff of the game, returning it 43 yards to give the Tigers’ offense and true freshman quarterback Tait Reynolds prime field position without lifting a finger.

In turn, Clemson required very few yards to get into Hauser’s range. After a forced fourth down, Hauser made his first (much shorter) kick of the afternoon to give the Tigers a 3-0 lead. As has become a pattern this season, Clemson’s early offensive spurt was fueled by a special teams play.

“Special teams has been a big factor for us,” Swinney said. “I think if I could say one thing that’s just been there every single week for six games, it’s been special teams. “We’ve done a lot of good things. Had some big returns. We were just right there to taking that first kick to the house.”

Though the unit was close, they were not all the way perfect.

In the second quarter, the unit had its worst individual moment of the day, giving up a 47-yard kickoff return to give the Buccaneers very rare favorable field position. However, after the defense got another stop, another special teams play more than made up for the mistake.

With 9:36 to play in the half, Charleston Southern had a chance to kick its first field goal of the afternoon. However, after a bad snap, Clemson special teams members jumped on the snapper, forcing a turnover on downs. 

From there, the Buccaneers’ offense did not score until the final minutes of the fourth quarter. 

Around four minutes later, Clemson converted that turnover on downs into a touchdown run from running back Chris Johnson Jr to extend its lead 24-0.

This time, the offensive momentum fueled the special teams, and they forced another fumble on a kickoff return directly after the touchdown. Veteran safety Kylon Griffin scooped the loose ball up and returned it 13 yards for a score to make the lead even more comfortable before the half.

Though the Tigers’ offense slowed down in the second half with a comfortable lead already secure, Hauser did knock down another field goal, bringing him to 3-of-3 on the day. Sophomore wide receiver Juju Preston also returned two punts for 24 combined yards.

Clemson finished with 48 punt return yards and 43 kickoff return yards.

“The guys have gained a lot of confidence and then listen, (special teams) coach Bisaccia is, there’s a reason that he was kind of considered the best in the NFL for a long long long time,” Swinney said. “He’s done an amazing job really developing those units and the guys take a lot of pride in it. They really see the impact that they can have on the game with one play and take a lot of pride in that.”

In the meantime, with his perfect performance, Hauser became the ninth kicker in Clemson history to make 50 field goals and tied for the second-most makes (five) beyond 50-yards in program history.

He has made 94 percent of his attempts this season.