CLEMSON, S.C. -- James Conners smile said it all -- Pittsburgh was happy to once again shuffle up the national championship picture.Hey, sorry to do that. But we wanted this one bad, said Conner, who had two touchdowns and ran for 132 yards in the Panthers 43-42 stunner over No. 3 Clemson on Saturday.Conners 20-yard TD run with 5:17 left inched the Panthers into striking range and Chris Blewitt -- after a kiss on the cheek from coach Pat Narduzzi -- struck a perfect, 48-yard field goal with six seconds left for the winning points.Well remember this one forever, Conner said.So, too, will Clemson (9-1, 6-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) which saw its run at perfection halted after escaping so many other jams this season. A fourth-down stop a yard shy saved the Tigers 42-36 win over No. 5 Louisville on Oct. 1. North Carolina States missed field goal at the end of regulation boosted Clemson to a 24-17 overtime win.This time, it was the Panthers (6-4, 3-3) who made the critical plays.When Clemson was driving for a touchdown already up 42-34, linebacker Saleem Brightwell picked off quarterback Deshaun Watson -- his third interception -- and returned it 70 yards to set up a 20-yard TD by Conner that drew Pitt within 42-40.When Clemson attempted to run out the clock, the Panthers defense (despite allowing 630 yards) stuffed Wayne Gallman a yard short on third and fourth downs to take over near midfield with 58 seconds left.We had a chance to put the game away and they stopped us, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said. We had been making those kinds of plays this year.Nathan Peterman moved Pitt to the Clemson 30 and Blewitt steadily knocked through.It was Pitts highest-ranked win since defeating Backyard Brawl rival, No. 2 West Virginia, 13-9 in 2007 and spoiling the Mountaineers chances at playing for the national title.Our team had a lot of guts tonight, Narduzzi said.And a whole lot of playmakers to topple the defending ACC champs.Peterman had a career-best five TD passes and 308 yards. Conner rushed for 132 yards and a touchdown. He also caught one of Petermans scoring throws.Blewitt, who had a kick blocked at the end of the opening half, was steely eyed and ready. Narduzzi gave his senior a kiss on the cheek and sent him out for the winning kick.As soon as I saw the kick go up, I knew it was going in, Scott Orndoff said. It was jubilation.Clemson had its offense going. Watson threw for an ACC record 580 yards and three touchdowns. Gallman ran for three TDs and Mike Williams had 15 catches for 202 yards and a touchdown.In the end, it was Clemsons first loss to an unranked opponent in five seasons, a span of 46 games.Come Monday, well start over because its a long season, Watson said. Get ready for Wake Forest. Hopefully, we can clinch the ACC (Atlantic) and punch our ticket for the championship game next week.THE TAKEAWAYPittsburgh: The Panthers showed that Narduzzis program is taking hold. Peterman stayed calm in the face of Clemsons strong pass rush and Conner was able to avoid the Tigers middle duo of Carlos Watkins and Dexter Lawrence to keep Pitt moving.Clemson: Many non-Tiger fans will say this team had it coming after escaping with close wins at home against No. 5 Louisville (42-36 on Oct. 1) and North Carolina State (24-17 in overtime on Oct. 15) after the Wolfpack missed the potential game-winning kick to end regulation. Clemsons path is still clear -- win out and hope its one-loss season is better than most others.POLL IMPLICATIONSA rankings fall seemed likely for Clemson after the loss but that is likely to be mitigated by losses suffered by No. 2 Michigan and No. 4 Washington later in the day. After Wake Forest, the Tigers face revived rival South Carolina at Death Valley before potentially heading to Orlando, Florida, for the ACC championship game.RECORD DAYWatsons passing yards broke the 21-year-old mark of Wake Forests Rusty LaRue, who passed for 545 yards against North Carolina State on Nov. 18, 1995. Watson said the record doesnt console him after the loss. Id rather go 0-for-30 with no yards and get the W, he said.SAYING GOODBYEThis wasnt the farewell Clemsons offense wanted. Watson, Gallman, Williams and receiver Artavis Scott are all juniors who were honored with Clemsons seniors Saturday after Swinney said they would all be leaving the program for the NFL after this season. Watson acknowledged wild emotions. Still, Im going to keep a smile on my face, he said.UP NEXTPittsburgh closes the year with two games at home, starting with Duke next week.Clemson will try to earn the ACC Atlantic Division title with a win at Wake Forest next Saturday.---More AP college football: www.collegefootball.ap.org Cheap Adidas NHL Jerseys . The defending champion beat Gael Monfils of France 7-6 (6), 6-3, while second-seeded Andy Murray of Britain dispatched Edouard Roger-Vasselin, also of France, 6-3, 6-3. Making his first appearance since injuring his wrist a month ago, Del Potro had difficulty with his service games in the first set. Cheap Rangers Jerseys . Now tied for second in the league in shootout goals, the 24-year-old likes to see what the opposing goaltender has in store before he ultimately lands on a move. http://www.cheapnewyorkrangersjerseys.com/ . Philadelphia is 2-0 against the Senators this season and scored five goals in each victory. The Flyers recorded a 5-0 win in Ottawa on Nov. 12 and then earned a 5-2 home decision on Nov. 19. The Flyers have claimed three straight and four of the last five encounters with the Sens overall and Philly has won two in a row and three of its past four tests in Canadas capital city. Wholesale Rangers Jerseys . Arsenal failed to take full advantage of its main rivals stumbles on Saturday as substitute Gerard Deulofeu levelled with a hard shot from a tight angle in the 84th minute to give Everton a deserved point. Ahead of a crucial fortnight that will see them play against Napoli in the Champions League, Manchester City and Chelsea, Arsenal leads by five points ahead of Liverpool and Chelsea. Cheap Rangers Jerseys Authentic . Now, correct me if Im wrong but I saw one official distinctly pointing at the net indicating a good goal but after an inconclusive review they overturned the goal. Shouldnt the ruling on the ice (good goal) stand after an inconclusive review? Why was this overturned? James Veaudry Pembroke, ON -- Hey Kerry, Youll get a lot of these, but why was the Montreal goal against Nashville Saturday night overturned? Eller puts the puck on net and the on ice ruling from the ref behind the net is a Montreal goal. GOTHENBURG, Sweden -- Even professional hockey players get excited about playing their first game of the season.For Team Sweden goalie Henrik Lundqvist, when he laces up his skates against Team Finland in a World Cup of Hockey pretournament game Saturday at Scandinavium (noon ET, ESPN3), its an opportunity to play at his hometown rink. More importantly, he considers it a chance to begin his season strong.Yeah, Im excited, Lundqvist said. Its a very special place for me to play here. Growing up, 5 years old, this is the first place I watched a real hockey game. [Vastra Frolunda HC] was my favorite team growing up and I played here for a lot of years, so to come back here and have the camp here and get the opportunity to play for Team Sweden is very special to me and I look forward to it.The 34-year-old goalie has not played in a game since April 23, when he allowed six goals on 23 shots and was pulled after two periods in the New York Rangers 6-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the series-clinching Game 5 of the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. It was a frustrating finish to what he thought was a good overall season for the Rangers. He took time during the summer to reflect and refocus his efforts to prepare to represent his country at the World Cup in hopes it will be a springboard to the regular season with the Rangers.Lundqvist has been competing extremely hard during practices. Hes even trying to stop the third and fourth chances to try to simulate the game action. Most of the drills hes been doing have been in small groups, so now its about getting his timing back.I needed [those reps], he said. Ive been skating for over a month, but its been with five guys, 10 guys, 12 guys. I talked to the goalie coach [Stefan Ladhe] and its important for me to get a lot of pucks and a lot of pucks in speed.Before training camp, he was practicing with local college, AHL and NHL players in Gothenburg. He described it as beneficial in different ways. Most would think when a college or minor-league player gets on the ice with a world-class goalie like Lundqvist, those young players might try to do too much and compete over the top to get the best of a veteran goalie. Maybe even buzz the tower a few times. But that wasnt the case. Working with younger players gave him a different look.Theyre out there flying and personally I need some time to work on my game. They might score a few early on, but hopefully after a while its hard for them to score, Lundqvist said with a smile. But its a good challenge. Guys that come up now, theyre hungry, theyre fast and have great techniques. Sometimes they do different things compared to the veteran guys with the puck and its like you have to be ready for anything, especially when you do one-on-one stuff.Finland defeated Swweden 3-2 in overtime in the first preseason game Thursday at Hartwall Arena in Helsinki, Finland.dddddddddddd Lundqvist made the trip with the team but did not dress for the game. Training camp began Monday and hes been getting plenty of practice.Ive worked really hard the past month. Ive been skating extremely hard and I hope its going to pay off, Lundqvist said. I feel like Ive done everything I can and now its about focusing on the details. A lot of it comes down to making good decisions.Its not easy to get right back into things. You need to be patient. Its a process to get your game back on track. You work hard in practice but you need to play to get reminders of what you need to work on.He did practice after the teams morning skate Thursday, but it was important for him to make that trip to show how unified Team Sweden has become. If it had been a preseason NHL road game that he wasnt playing, he might have stayed in New York. But playing for your country is a different situation, especially for a player such as Lundqvist.Its fun playing in this tournament and being with the guys, he said. Its a lot of guys youve known for a lot of years, played with them and against them. Just being around the team is a big part of why its fun to play for the national team, so you want to travel. You want to sit by the dinner table and talk about stuff because there are new faces too, and you dont see them that often, but when you do see them, its good times.When the puck drops Saturday, it wont be the first time hes heard the fans at Scandinavium chant his name. Not only did he play for Vastra Frolunda HC earlier in his career, he also played an exhibition game for the Rangers in this building on Sept. 30, 2011. That game with the Rangers was one of the most unique and special games I ever played, he said after Fridays practice at Scandinavium. It was right where I wanted to be. I played for the Rangers, but to come back and play here in front of people who helped me so much to reach that point of my career, and my parents were here and I played against my brother, there were so many things to take in that it was so hard to focus that game, but afterwards I was so grateful to have that opportunity.Now, to be here with [Team Sweden], its an important time to prepare for the World Cup, so you think about that. This will be just a little, not little but you try to put it aside a little bit, the fact that Im here in my old place.Its been a productive few weeks of practice for Lundqvist and now hell get a chance to finally sharpen his skills in a game for Team Sweden.I look forward to playing here, Lundqvist said. Theres no denying that. ' ' '
