CLEMSON, South Carolina (Ticker) -- Charlie Whitehurst tossed a four-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Youngblood in overtime to give Clemson a 30-27 win over Virginia in an Atlantic Coast Conference contest.
The 6-5 Youngblood had inside position on Jamaine Winborne on the left sideline of the end zone and easily outjumped the 5-10 cornerback to snare Whitehurt's high pass, giving Clemson (4-2, 2-1 ACC) its fourth win in five games.
"The last play was intended for me," said Youngblood, who had nine receptions for 87 yards. "It surprised me when they signaled it in. As soon as we got the play, my adrenaline went up as high as it could go. That's something I dreamed about forever, making the game-winning catch. I finally did it. I appreciate the coaches for that."
Whitehurst completed 27-of-44 passes for 265 yards with one interception.
"It was a huge win. We came off last week thinking we might've won it if we made a few more plays," Whitehurst said of a 21-7 loss at Maryland. "It's just nice to go out there and make those plays this week and to prove to yourselves that you can do it. We hadn't beaten a ranked team in a while, so it feels pretty good. We kind of silenced the critics with this one."
Clemson improved to 35-7-1 all time against Virginia.
Virginia (4-2, 3-1) had the ball first in overtime, settled for a 33-yard field goal by Connor Hughes after Clemson came up with a big stop on Alvin Pearman on 3rd-and-1.
"We wanted to make sure that we stayed in the game," Virginia coach Al Groh said. "We just missed several 3rd-and-1s in the game and at that point it's a little bit like playing Russian Roulette. Would I like to go for it on 4th-and-1? Sure, but if you go for it and miss, then the game is over. If you kick a field goal, then you have some more plays and a chance to win the game."
Matt Schaub was 33-of-48 for 271 yards with two touchdowns and a pair of interceptions for the Cavaliers, who had a three-game winning streak halted.
Schaub threw an 11-yard pass to Heath Miller to pull Virginia within 10-7 with 7:47 remaining in the third quarter. The Cavaliers took the lead 2:03 later, when Schaub found tight end Patrick Estes for a five-yard TD. Hughes kicked a 26-yard field goal to give Virginia a 17-10 advantage eight seconds before the end of the third.
Whitehurst scored from one-yard out to tie the game, 17-17, with 8:41 remaining in the fourth.
Yusef Kelly, who rushed for 88 yards on 25 carries, had a 12-yard scamper to give the Tigers a 24-17 lead with 3:20 left.
But on the ensuing kickoff, Tony Franklin made several good moves and broke up the left sideline before being forced out of bounds at the Clemson 47. Schaub efficiently drove the Cavaliers down the field, completing 4-of-5 passes, before Alvin Pearman scored from one-yard out to tie it at 24-24 with 57 seconds to go.
The Tigers grabbed an early lead when Aaron Hunt kicked a 26-yard field 4:38 into the game. Whitehurst capped a 13-play, 63-yard drive with a 19-yard pass to Derrick Hamilton for a 10-0 lead 5:57 into the second.
