CLEMSON EMBARRASSED AT HOME
CLEMSON — The fans showed up for a noon game and were loud.
They did their part. More than their part, given the product on the field through three games and the product in the press conference four days earlier when Dabo Swinney said he’d go somewhere else if they didn’t appreciate him here.
The part on the field?
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The part that was supposed to contend for greatness this season?
Basically a no-show in almost all the ways it mattered.
Syracuse 34, Clemson 21.
How could Swinney and his staff have been so wrong about a team they thought might have it all?
A Hall of Fame coach who used to have all the answers now seems out of buttons to push as he’s dealing with the first 1-3 start in his 17-season tenure.
He’s tried calling out players and coaches publicly.
He’s tried the kindler, gentler thing.
And this week he went ballistic behind closed doors and again let folks know jobs were on the line.
In recent years, Clemson fans became irked with a trend of watching their team underperform before open dates.
Those seem like the good ol’ days compared to this.
Yes, Clemson was bad before an open date.
But Clemson has been bad all around all year.
That’s the trend. A total mess of one given that this team was supposed to be a sterling validation of Swinney’s methods and his culture.
From the summer of Clemson love, to the ultimate embarrassing indignity when Swinney was interviewed after the third quarter and his team down 20.
To a 17-point underdog.
“I just want to see them fight,” he said.
From all that chest-beating belief in his program earlier in the week, to basically waving the white flag with 15 minutes left to go in a game at Death Valley.
Maybe he believed. But it sure didn’t sound like it.
From “all we’ve done around here is win” to one win and three losses three weeks into September.
And the lone victory was after falling behind 16-0 to Troy.
We still haven’t mentioned any of the details from this game.
Do you really want to read them?
The final stats don’t paint the full picture of how ugly it was.
Clemson had 503 yards, 29 first downs and averaged 9.8 yards per completion.
But check out these numbers from late in the first half when Syracuse was up 24-7:
Syracuse 285 total yards to 106 for Clemson.
Syracuse 161 rushing yards to 41 for Clemson.
Syracuse 17 first downs to five for Clemson.
Syracuse 39 plays to 16 for Clemson.
Gross. Gross was the standard.
The Tigers’ defense was atrocious in the first half and kind of recovered in the second half, but not enough to really put pressure on an offense that lost starting quarterback Steve Angeli late in the third quarter.
And Clemson’s offense had the ball eight times after halftime and scored one touchdown while turning it over on downs three times, tossing an interception and losing a critical fumble when Adam Randall let the ball get jarred loose on a run inside Clemson’s 20.
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One touchdown in the second half, on a nine-play, 81-yard drive, wasn’t going to be enough after that abomination of a first half put the Tigers in such a deep hole.
Last year Fran Brown did Swinney and the Tigers a season-saving favor by upsetting Miami to pave Clemson’s way to Charlotte for the ACC title game.
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After this one, Swinney might need some more help from his coaching counterpart.
A shoulder to cry on.
Clemson fans might not offer theirs at this point.
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