How Clemson football’s ‘frustrating’ season reached another low with NC State loss
Clemson football on Saturday not only lost a game, 24-17 to N.C. State, but a number of the streaks that had for so long defined the Tigers under coach Dabo Swinney.
A nation-best streak of 161 straight regular-season games without back-to-back losses dating back to November 2011? Gone.
Thirteen calendar years without back-to-back conference losses dating back to October 2010, in Swinney’s second full season? Gone.
A remarkable streak of 10 or more wins in 12 consecutive seasons, something only the current Alabama dynasty and former Florida State dynasty and Clemson have pulled off in the history of FBS college football? Gone.
Clemson (4-4, 2-4 ACC) only has five possible wins remaining on the schedule. And even that isn’t a guarantee. The Tigers need to go 2-2 over their last four games to reach the six-win threshold for bowl eligibility, and that stretch of opponents includes No. 14 Notre Dame, No. 17 North Carolina and rival South Carolina.
It was both bizarre and entirely understandable for receiver Troy Stellato to reference a bowl game in passing like it was guaranteed in a postgame interview — as someone who watched the program win two national championships, why wouldn’t he? — and get online pushback from opposing teams’ fans.
That’s the state of Clemson football, which has gone from ranked No. 9 nationally with College Football Playoff goals to two games below .500 in the ACC.
“I don’t understand why some of the things have happened and why they’ve happened,” Swinney said. “It’s been bizarre. I mean, really, bizarre is probably the best word I can say. Just bizarre. But it’s our history, right? Let’s see what happens. Got a long way to go, man.”
Clemson must learn ‘how to finish’
Coming off its bye week, Clemson was 4-2 and 2-2 in the ACC, creating a bit of positive momentum after early-season losses to good Duke and Florida State teams.
That all went out the window at Carter-Finley Stadium on Saturday, if it didn’t already last weekend at Hard Rock Stadium when the Tigers blew a 10-point fourth quarter and lost in double overtime to a Miami team that was the laughing stock of the sport earlier this month.
Clemson — which closed as a 10-point betting favorite against the Wolfpack, losers of two straight ACC games — lost the turnover margin again, lost the ball in catastrophic situations again and had a few prominent defensive busts again.
Everything felt déjà vu, from the offense failing to reach midfield on its first four drives, to N.C. State immediately capitalizing on a turnover with a chunk play and touchdown drive, to a second Cade Klubnik interception getting returned for a touchdown and putting Clemson in a 21-point hole that — try as it might — it couldn’t overcome in an entertaining fourth quarter.
“We’re pretty close in some of those games, man,” defensive tackle Ruke Orhorhoro said. “But like I said last week, we just got to learn how to finish. You’ve gotta learn how to put games to bed and just finish people. Especially in situations like that, it’s hard to come back”
Added Stellato, the wide receiver: “We’re Clemson at the end of the day. We have no business being 4-4. It’s not OK. It’s not our standard. It’s not my standard. So it’s frustrating, it really is, because we believe we should win every game.”
Clemson had won its last 65 games when it held an opponent to 202 or fewer yards, with the last loss coming in 1988 at N.C. State, and had also been undefeated under Swinney when holding opponents to fewer than 10 first downs.
That’s two more streaks — gone. And how Clemson has reached four losses in a season for the first time since 2011, four ACC losses for the first time since 2010 and its worst six-game start to conference play since 1998.
How do Tigers respond?
It’s on players, sure, such as those who whiffed on the run bust that allowed N.C. State receiver Kevin Concepcion to get 50 yards on a trick-play run; and those who missed tackles on Concepcion’s 72-yard touchdown catch; and those who failed to protect Klubnik consistently in the pocket; and Klubnik himself, who had a season-high two interceptions Saturday.
But Clemson’s coaches are at fault, too, with Swinney emphasizing postgame that everything in the program starts with him and is therefore “100%” on him.
In a run of puzzling in-game decisions that continue to stack up, Clemson opted for a quarterback draw on third-and-10 from N.C. State’s 27-yard line right before halftime despite a shaky kicking game all season.
Swinney said he had “no problem” with the play call from offensive coordinator Garrett Riley, but Klubnik only got two yards to set up a 43-yard field goal, which Jonathan Weitz missed. A downfield shot could’ve gotten the Tigers closer; a touchdown would’ve put them up 14-10.
But zero points right before the break came back to bite Clemson, as did the decision to take a field goal with 6:57 remaining, trailing by 10 points, rather than going for it on fourth-and-1 from the N.C. State 1-yard line when the offense was humming.
Weitz’s 19-yard attempt was money, but Clemson didn’t even cross midfield on its last possession of the game when it needed a touchdown. Imagine if running back Phil Mafah got a chance at a third short rushing touchdown and Clemson needed three, not seven, on its final offensive possession of the game (which, surprisingly, also lacked some urgency).
“I’d rather take the field goal right there and get that out of the way,” Swinney said. “I just felt like that was our best option. We all did. And we had an opportunity there (for a touchdown). We just didn’t get it done.”
The Tigers certainly didn’t. And when Klubnik’s desperation pass to Tyler Brown on fourth-and-19 with 25 seconds fell incomplete, and N.C. State took a game-winning knee on the next snap, fans at Carter-Finley Stadium didn’t even rush the field.
It was another wonky moment in a wonky season that doesn’t get any easier with a talented Fighting Irish squad in town next weekend and bowl eligibility — somehow — becoming a concern for the reigning ACC champions.
Streaks broken, Swinney had the same message.
“Just keep moving forward,” he said. “Try to learn and grow and get better and coach your butt off. The motivation is to try to win a game and try to have the best possible finish that we can have. That’s the motivation — to get better.”
Clemson vs. Notre Dame game
Who: Notre Dame (7-2) at Clemson (4-4, 2-4 ACC)
When: next Saturday, noon
Where: Memorial Stadium in Clemson
TV: ABC
