Dabo Swinney says 'pissed off' Clemson team ready to face Syracuse

Dabo Swinney insists that his Clemson team is just a few plays away from being undefeated and ranked in the top 4. Instead, the Tigers are at the bottom of the ACC heading into Saturday’s matchup with Syracuse.

Clemson is 0-2 in the ACC for the first time since 2010 thanks to costly mistakes in the opener against Duke and this past Saturday against Florida State.

The two losses have Clemson angry as the Tigers prepare for the undefeated Orange.

“They’re a pissed off team, because you only get 12 opportunities to play. You work all year for it and you feel like you’ve missed out on huge opportunities,” Swinney said. “So you own it, you look at it, but you press on. That’s what football teaches you. What are you gonna do about it? Well, let’s see if we can have a good practice today. Let’s see if we can go win this game and start going from there. That’s what you do.”

Clemson had several opportunities to beat No. 4 Florida State on Saturday, but the Tigers kept making costly mistakes.

Clemson was driving to take a two-score lead on the Seminoles late in the third quarter when quarterback Cade Klubnik was blasted by Florida State linebacker Kalen DeLoach. After forcing the fumble, DeLoach picked up the ball and returned it for a touchdown to tie the game and leave Death Valley stunned.

Later in the game, Clemson missed a short field goal near the end of regulation that would have potentially won the game. During overtime, Klubnik threw a pass on third-and-1 after an RPO call, when the coaching staff wanted the Tigers to run the ball. The play lost yardage, and Clemson lost the game on the next play when Klubnik’s pass fell incomplete.

“You’ve just gotta play through it,” Swinney said of the costly turnovers and mistakes. “We’ve had a lot of good fortune, too. But the main thing is… if you’re committed to playing the game the right way, preparing the right way, eventually that’ll turn for you. And it will.”

Swinney likes the way his team is playing on both sides of the ball, outside of the turnovers. He still believes Clemson has a chance to have a strong season.

“This is a team that’s close. They’re tough. They’re physical. And you just tell them the truth. … We’ve really played well four games in a row,” Swinney said. “Our record doesn’t show it, but we’ve played well outside of the greatest equalizer in football. And that is the turnovers. We’re fortunate that we’re 2-2 and not 1-3. Because when you play good people – Duke’s a really good team, Florida State’s a really good team – and you statistically dominate the game, you don’t take care of the ball, you get beat. And that’s ultimately been the difference in our season to this point.”