BCS Rankings Week 8: Clemson's Near Upset Won't Damage BCS Championship Dreams

The Clemson Tigers have emerged as one of the dark-horse teams making a run at the 2011 BCS National Championship.

Those dreams were almost taken away today at the hands of the Maryland Terrapins, but Clemson prevailed in 56-45 shootout on Saturday.

Early in the second quarter, Clemson trailed 28-10.

Sophomore quarterback Tajh Boyd struggled early in the game.

The second half started off as rough as the first for Clemson. In less than two minutes the Terrapins took the ball down the field to extend their lead.

Then the Tigers turned it on, outscoring Maryland 38-10 to finish off the game.

The 56-45 victory likely wasn't quite how the team envisioned things going, but at the end of the day a win is a win.

Boyd rebounded after his tough first half to finish the game with 270 passing yards, four touchdowns and just one interception.

The real difference maker in the second half was running back Andre Ellington, who finished the game with 222 yards and two touchdowns.

The 56 points is a season-high for the team, but scoring points isn't anything new to them.

Despite facing three ranked opponents, the team has still managed an average of 35.0 points per game.

This game does raise some red flags and worries about the defense, but the Tigers have lived to see another day.

Clemson will finish the season up with five remaining ACC games, two of which are against ranked opponents.

Clemson will still face an upward battle to make the BCS Championship game.

They will need to continue to win out and those ranked ahead of them will need to suffer losses over the next few weeks.