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Clemson University’s bid to bounce back from its worst football season in a dozen years got off to an atrocious start on Saturday in Atlanta.
Head coach Dabo Swinney‘s Tigers (0-1, 0-0 ACC) hung with top-ranked Georgia for a half – but were blown out of Mercedes Benz Stadium during the second stanza as the Bulldogs scored touchdowns on their first two possessions of the final frame.
Kirby Smart‘s team – which narrowly missed the playoffs last year after winning back-to-back national titles in 2021 and 2022 – thrashed Clemson 34-3 in the 2024 Aflac Kickoff game to deal the Tigers their worst loss since 2013. Making the win even more impressive? Georgia won without its top two tailbacks – Trevor Etienne and Roderick Robinson II.
Shorthanded, the Bulldogs struggled to sustain drives during the first half – but exploded for 28 points in the second half as redshirt senior quarterback Carson Beck got dialed in against a Tiger defense that kept finding itself back on the field thanks to Clemson’s anemic offense.
Beck finished the afternoon completing 23 of 33 passes (69.7 percent) for two touchdowns.
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The Bulldogs (1-0, 0-0 SEC) ranked among the nation’s top ten defenses a year ago in both total yardage (289.1 yards) and points (15.64) surrendered per game. They dominated the Tigers’ offense, allowing only 188 total yards from scrimmage and three points – Clemson’s lowest point total since a 13-3 loss to Georgia Tech during the 2007 season.
Clemson was also held to just four third-down conversions on thirteen attempts (a 23.5 percent success rate) – and was denied on its only fourth down conversion attempt.
Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik completed 18 of 29 passes (62.1 percent) with no touchdowns and one costly interception…
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Clemson also struggled to get its ground game going, with preseason watch-lister Phil Mafah amassing just 59 yards on 16 carries.
The Tigers’ embarrassing defeat will no doubt embolden critics of the program – many of whom feel Swinney has failed to embrace the changing landscape of the college game. After amassing double digit wins from 2011-2022 – a dozen-year run which included six College Football Playoff (CFP) appearances and two national titles – Clemson limped to a 4-4 start last season.
Swinney has been on the defensive ever since then…
“Swinney is a VCR stuck in a Blue Ray world,” football commentator Keith Jouganatos noted.
“Clemson used to be Georgia not that long ago,” reporter Ari Wasserman of The Athletic added. “Through stubbornness and inability to adapt, Dabo Swinney has done this to his program. You could see today coming three years ago and he never did anything to change the course.”
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During a postgame press conference, Swinney took full responsibility for the blowout – Clemson’s worst since a 51-14 defeat at the hands of Florida State eleven years – and apologized to fans.
“When you get beat like that, that’s on the head coach,” Swinney said. “Complete ownership of an absolute crap second half. Sometimes you get your butt kicked and we did today.”
“Sorry for our fans,” Swinney added. “I feel terrible for them. We didn’t get it done for them.”
Asked specifically about Clemson’s failure to engage the transfer portal or use name, image and likeness (NIL) deals for its players, Swinney said people were going to say “whatever they are going to say.”
“Doesn’t matter what I say,” he said. “We do what’s best for Clemson. When you lose like this, they’ve got every right to say whatever they want and write whatever you want.”
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
Will Folks is the owner and founding editor of FITSNews. Prior to founding his own news outlet, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina, bass guitarist in an alternative rock band and bouncer at a Columbia, S.C. dive bar. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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2 comments
Love Dabo. A fine man. Got lucky/blessed with having the two greatest college QBs for 7 years. That era is gone. Clemson fans need to go back to being the King of the ACC, and stop comparing themselves to the SEC.
It is what it is.
Well at least Georgia is still performing well.