CLEMSON — There were a lot of missed opportunities for No. 12 Clemson in Saturday’s 17-14 loss to No. 15 South Carolina.

Pick any of South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers’ big runs and the Tigers had opportunities to get him on the ground. There was running back Phil Mafah’s fumble on a trick play when the Tigers were driving for a potential two-score lead in the third quarter. There were two passes quarterback Cade Klubnik just missed to wide receiver Bryant Wesco that would have gone for touchdowns.

There was Klubnik’s lone mistake, a poorly thrown ball with 12 seconds to play at the South Carolina 18-yard line that took away the Tigers’ opportunity to win or tie the game.

His pass to Mafah was rushed and behind his running back, who hit the ball with his right hand, knocking it into the air where linebacker Demetrius Knight made a great play to intercept the pass.

Then there was the miss on fourth-and-short late in the first quarter.

On its second possession of the afternoon, Clemson drove the football to the Gamecocks’ 11-yard line. The Tigers had eaten off over five minutes of the clock and drove 85 yards in 10 plays.

On fourth and less than one from the Carolina 11, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney elected to go for the first down instead of kicking a short field goal.

“We thought we would get it,” Swinney said after being asked about it in his postgame press conference. “If I kicked the field goal, you are probably asking, ‘Why didn’t you go for it on fourth-and-inches?’ We just made a decision in the moment that we believed in and it did not work.

“They made the stop.”

Clemson came in with its famed jumbo package with Payton Page lined up on the left side and Peter Woods playing lead block as a fullback. But to South Carolina’s credit, it blew the play up as defensive back Jalon Kilgore and Knight tackled Mafah for no gain, turning the ball back over to South Carolina.

The result of Swinney’s decision came back to haunt the Tigers (9-3) when Sellers rumbled 20 yards for the game-winning TD with 1:08 to play, giving South Carolina (9-3) a three-point win.

“Missed opportunity. They made a good play, and it was a huge missed opportunity right there,” Swinney said. “That is one of them. Those are things that, when it comes down to two plays, those are things that you look back on. Man, it is frustrating.

“So, that was a huge play for them.”

And it was one of many missed opportunities for the Tigers.