CLEMSON, S.C. – It all happened so fast. For the Terrapin football team, feelings in the final minutes shifted from excitement to disappointment to complete bliss.

In the absolute final moments, the Terps saw their chance to take over the game evaporate because of a controversial call that negated a safety. They saw Clemson seize momentum and possibly the game on a devastating deep pass play.

Then, the Terps buried those memories along with the ghosts and problems of past games and seasons that had haunted them. Pent-up emotion – from past disappointment and lack of respect to frustration and anticipation – flooded throughout Memorial Stadium when players piled onto kicker Dan Ennis just seconds after he connected on the game-winning field goal that gave the Terps a 13-12 upset victory.

“It feels more than great because I feel like this past game was going just like the other ones have, in the sense that we were up, we were outplaying them and some weird calls went against us to have us behind going to those last minutes,” Ennis said. “I don’t remember kicking it, I just saw it soar through, and it was just an amazing feeling.”

By the time the sinking feeling set in for Clemson fans while they quietly trudged out of the stadium, the Terps had overcome a very questionable instant replay review, one missed defensive assignment and any thoughts they couldn’t win a game like this one.

And by the time fans and family members congregated outside the visiting locker room next to the Terps’ buses, this win became arguably the biggest accomplishment for coach Ralph Friedgen and his team in at least two years.

It was the program’s first win against a ranked team on the road since 2001 – the year the Terps won the ACC Championship.

“I’m just really touched by these kids and what they’re putting into this, and really what they’re getting out of it, too. I don’t think I’ve ever seen them so excited, so happy,” Friedgen said. “Days like this, it makes all the hard work feel alright.”

But one controversial call almost robbed the Terps of their biggest win of the season. With about eight minutes left, sophomore linebacker Erin Henderson ripped the ball out of the grip of Clemson quarterback Will Proctor. The ball flew back toward the Tigers’ end zone and Clemson apparently covered up on the goal line for a safety.

The safety would have given the Terps a 12-9 lead and the ball back, but the call was reviewed – for about four minutes – and overturned, giving Clemson the ball just outside its goal line. Two plays later, Proctor completed a 71-yard pass that energized a restless crowd of 79,000. After bending like wet rubber on some big plays, the Terp defense stood up and held the Tigers (7-3, 4-3 ACC) to a field goal.

“They put us in a tough situation, the referees did,” Henderson said. “But you just gotta go out there, keep playing, keep your heads up and just continue to make the plays when they come to you.”

Senior quarterback Sam Hollenbach certainly made plays as he led the Terps down the field with only two minutes left. Cool and composed, Hollenbach erased memories of his earlier interception by completing five passes and ran for a first down on 4th-and-inches.

And while seconds seemed to melt off the clock, time slowed for Ennis as he went through kicking motions on the sideline. With three precious seconds left, Ennis faced the biggest pressure situation of his career, staring down Howard’s Rock, staring down the hostile fans and staring down his own and his team’s history of losing games like this one. But he drilled the 31-yard attempt, prompting awed silence everywhere in the stadium except on the field.

Ennis said he wasn’t sure if he could breathe under “800,000 pounds of man” at the bottom of the pile.

The Terps overcame the odds and injuries Saturday – they were 20-point underdogs, Darrius Heyward-Bey played with a pulled hamstring and both starting offensive tackles battled through pain.

Senior cornerback Josh Wilson put the victory into some perspective – for the Terps’ past, present and future.

“We’re guaranteed a bowl now. … It was huge for the program and just for our confidence and just from where we came at the beginning of the year,” Wilson said. “Just keep this momentum and this magic going.”

Contact reporter Stephen Whyno at whynodbk@gmail.com.