CLEMSON -- Starting with those fumbles near the goal line in the opener, Clemson has spent a lot of time this season wondering when the weirdness would even out.
It took a while, but consider that done.
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The football gods seem to have a sense of humor, and they might also be Duke fans because they stuck it to North Carolina on Saturday.
Or you could argue the Tigers made their own luck by making plays -- as Nate Wiggins did by running down two Tar Heels who seemed destined for the end zone, as Cade Klubnik did by getting the tip of the football to the goal line at the end of the first half, and as Will Shipley did in shifting into pissed-off beast mode after his own lost fumble near that same goal line.
Either way, it all added up to a 31-20 Clemson victory in the final home game of the season on a positively beautiful day in the Palmetto State foothills.
The Tigers won their third straight game to improve to 7-4 with a trip to South Carolina remaining.
Wiggins left his mark on the ACC championship game last year with a 98-yard interception return for a touchdown in Clemson's 39-10 romp over the Tar Heels. The junior has spent some time in the doghouse recently, coming off the bench the previous two games for missing tutoring sessions.
Wiggins was the instructor in this one, starting the game and coming up with two monstrous plays early when North Carolina was threatening to run away with it.
Late in the first quarter, the Tar Heels were up 7-0 and on their way to 14-0 when Omarion Hampton found a hole on the right side and dashed down the sideline.
Andrew Mukuba had taken a bad angle and was hopelessly behind. And so were the other 10 Clemson defenders. Or so it seemed before Wiggins turned on the jets and somehow managed to get to Hampton as he put the finishing touches on what he thought was a 64-yard touchdown.
Wiggins reached his right arm back and punched at the ball with all he could. It jarred loose before Hampton crossed the goal line, and bounced into and out of the side of the end zone.
Touchback.
Clemson ball.
And 10 plays later, a tie ballgame after the Tigers drove it 80 yards for a touchdown.
And Wiggins' extra effort loomed large earlier in the game, on North Carolina's first drive.
On fourth-and-6, Drake Maye found Devontez Walker down the right sideline and Walker also seemed bound for the end zone. But someone ran Walker down at the 2. That someone would be Wiggins.
After a false start pushed the Heels back 5 yards, Hampton rushed up the middle but Peter Woods jarred the ball loose and TJ Parker recovered.
Hampton ended his day with 178 yards rushing and two touchdowns, but it's the two fumbles that will forever haunt him when he thinks back to this game.
Wiggins sealed his day with 2:41 on the clock, picking off Maye deep in UNC territory to seal it.
After finishing minus in the turnover margin in six of the first eight games, Clemson has won the turnover battle in three straight games.
Clemson fans aren't used to seeing their defense as unsettled as it was during stretches in this one, but the Tigers also don't face many offenses that boast the type of quarterback and skill guys North Carolina brought to Death Valley.
And while it's never fun to allow 457 total yards and 248 rushing, Clemson did another swell job of keeping Maye from going off. The future high NFL Draft pick completed 16 of 36 passes and totaled 209 yards with one touchdown and the interception. Maye did run for 67 yards, but he was held more than 100 yards under his passing average.
Last year in Charlotte, Maye passed for 268 yards with two interceptions and zero touchdowns. Clemson sacked him four times last year and added four more Saturday.
Maye's Clemson counterpart threw for 219 yards on a 21-of-32 clip and ran for 44 yards. Klubnik's most important yard -- er, inch -- came when he and the offense were threatening to make a mess out of a scoring situation with no timeouts late in the first half.
On third-and-goal from the 3, Klubnik took the snap with eight seconds left.
After wasting a few precious moments looking for a receiver, Klubnik then decided to do something ... less than smart. He decided to run and try to get to the end zone himself. What he lacked in situational awareness he made up for with dogged determination, spinning through contact and lunging with the ball toward the end zone.
The play was ruled a touchdown, and there wasn't enough evidence to overturn it.
Clemson went into the locker room up 14-7 after a first half that felt like an entire game.
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Shipley was able to have the last word after UNC recovered his lost fumble 7 yards from the end zone. He rampaged from there, finishing with 126 yards on 18 carries and hauling in two catches for 53 yards. He simply wouldn't be denied in what could've been his final home game at Clemson.
And a lot of other Tigers, led by Wiggins, wouldn't be denied either.
Maybe that was the story more than the football gods evening out Clemson's heartache by torturing the Tar Heels.
Or maybe it was a little of both.
Clemson will certainly take both.
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