David Hale, ESPN Personnel Scribbler
DURHAM, N.C. — Monday was once wisdom night time for Clemson, and educator Dabo Swinney expects the jury will ship a scathing verdict.
Clemson arrived in Durham ranked 9th within the Related Press preseason ballot and was once an awesome favourite to overcome a Duke staff that hadn’t toppled a top-10 program since 1989.
The Tigers left Durham battered, bludgeoned and completely baffled later a 28-7 loss that noticed Clemson stumble via 4 drives within the purple zone that ended with out issues.
“That’s the weirdest game I’ve ever been a part of,” Swinney mentioned. “I’ve been beat. I’ve had my butt kicked. But that’s the strangest game I’ve ever been a part of.”
Clemson had 12 extra first downs, 48 extra yards, and each threw and i’m in a hurry for 200 yards — a stat, Swinney famous in a while, that had correlated to a 108-0 all-time document for the Tigers sooner than Monday night time.
The downfall for Clemson was once a woeful red-zone efficiency that noticed two scale down farmland targets prevented and two fumbles via the offense following a first-and-goal on the 1.
In all, Clemson became the ball over 3 times.
“It’s almost indescribable what I just saw,” Swinney mentioned. “It’s incredibly frustrating when you had so much opportunity. … It’s routine stuff. The basics. The fundamentals. Basic, basic stuff.”
Quarterback Cade Klubnik threw for 209 yards and i’m in a hurry for 34 extra, however a scramble on fourth-and-7 halfway in the course of the fourth quarter ended with a giveover on downs when Klubnik slid scale down of the marker. A flag was once thrown for concentrated on at the play games, however officers nonetheless awarded ownership to Duke, which Swinney admitted in a while was once the proper name.
Swinney mentioned the play games could be a studying enjoy for Klubnik, who was once making his 2nd occupation get started for Clemson later the Tigers’ Orange Bowl loss to Tennessee on the finish of the 2022 season.
“He’s a gritty kid, a tough competitor, and I’m glad we’ve got him,” Swinney mentioned. “Because I know how he’s gonna respond.”
Swinney mentioned he believed the similar concerning the residue of his staff, which he mentioned received particular person matchups however misplaced on psychological errors.
“We’re not entitled to win,” he mentioned. “You’ve got to go earn it. We had an opportunity to get control of that game on multiple occasions and we just didn’t. That’s how you get beat.”
Clemson misplaced its opener for the second one pace in 3 years and Monday was once its worst ACC loss since 2014, however Swinney mentioned none of that adjustments his expectancies for this pace’s staff.
“People are going to see the score and judge this team,” Swinney mentioned. “I love this football team and I see a lot of opportunity here. … A lot of people are probably going to give up on us and throw us away. But I ain’t throwing this team away. We’re going to bounce back.”
It was once a sentiment echoed via Klubnik, who insisted the unfortunate begin to the 2023 season will simplest provide to construct the finishing that a lot better.
“This is just going to be such a sweet story,” Klubnik mentioned. “That’s just the dream that I have and the dreams that our team has is to respond. That’s a decision we’ve got to make. Are we going to respond or are we going to let this linger? Ultimately our goal is to play in 15 games and finish 14-1. We can’t go undefeated now, but there’s a lot of games left.”
Klubnik famous that Clemson suffered a admirable loss to Pittsburgh within the 2016 season and nonetheless went directly to win the nationwide championship.
This loss, alternatively, appeared extra irritating. Date Swinney mentioned he concept his staff confirmed enough causes for optimism, it marked the Tigers’ 3rd loss of their year 4 video games — one thing that hadn’t came about since 2011. In the meantime, the new-look offense with Klubnik on the helm and current coordinator Garrett Riley calling performs frequently seemed as stunted because the gadgets that engendered such a lot frustration from lovers over the year two seasons with DJ Uiagalelei at QB.
Swinney didn’t see it that approach, alternatively. He mentioned the general ranking seemed a ways worse than the latest efficiency at the farmland, and he mentioned his expectancies for this staff haven’t modified as a result of the loss.
“The good news is, if there is any good news, you didn’t see a horrible football team out there,” Swinney mentioned. “You saw a bad result. But you didn’t see a bad football team that can’t play the game.”
