Dabo Swinney on loss to Duke: 'It's almost indescribable what I just saw'

No. 9 Clemson was stunned on opening night by Duke with a 28-7 loss in Durham. Considering how it played out, though, it bewildered Dabo Swinney even more than you’d expect.

Swinney shared his thoughts in a press conference after the Tiger’s loss to the Blue Devils on Monday night. Coming into the opener inside Wallace Wade Stadium, he felt like they would match up well enough to win the game. Instead, Clemson’s performance was “indescribable” for him as they continued to struggle on offense and eventually gave Duke one too many opportunities.

“I thought we matched up good. I mean I thought we were going to be able to run the ball. We did. I thought we could win the matchup up front,” explained Swinney. “Again, it’s almost indescribable what I just saw. I mean it’s incredibly frustrating when you have so much opportunity and, I mean, just get nothing.”

“I didn’t think there was any bad matchups or anything like that. They’re a good team with good players. They hung in there. I thought we were kind of getting control of it there in the third quarter but we could just not get out,” said Swinney. “We just needed one drive, one score. And then, finally, you just can’t keep giving a good team opportunities. Sooner or later, they capitalize.”

What took place at Duke last night was pretty shocking to say the least. The first half was fairly competitive with Clemson taking a 7-6 lead into the locker room. However, the second half went completely in the home team’s favor.

On defense, the Tigers gave up a five-play drive for a touchdown to open the third quarter as QB Riley Leonard broke tackles and scored on a run from 40-plus yards out. Duke then found the endzone twice in the fourth quarter after a pair of Clemson turnovers.

Speaking of turnovers, Clemson’s offense was somehow even worse in Garrett Riley’s debut. They managed, in remarkable fashion, to come away with no second-half points as their first drive ended with a blocked field goal, the second of the game, and the final five ended in turnovers with two fumbles, two turnovers on downs, and an interception.

That’s enough to leave an experienced coach like Swinney at a loss for words. That’s especially so considering how good he felt coming in to the game in comparison to how things turned out for the Tigers last night.

“Just a lot of missed opportunities,” said Swinney. “Matchup wise? I thought we matched up well. We just didn’t execute well”