Dabo Swinney addresses potential changing of the guard following Florida State loss

Florida State finally knocked off Clemson on Saturday, earning a win over the Tigers for the first time since 2014.

With the win, the Seminoles remain undefeated and will stay in the top 5. Clemson is likely to remain unranked after dropping its second game of the year and falling to 2-2 (0-2).

Tigers coach Dabo Swinney was asked after the game if the win by Florida State signals a changing of the guard in the ACC. Swinney doesn’t believe so.

“It’s just one day. It’s hard to beat somebody eight times in a row,” Swinney said. “They won the day. They won the game.”

Clemson has won seven of the past eight ACC titles, dating back to the 2015 season. However, after starting the year 0-2 in the league, it seems unlikely Clemson will win the ACC Championship this year.

Even if the Tigers fall short, Swinney still believes Clemson has a bright future as a program.

“What does [the Florida State win] mean? It means they may go on and win the ACC this year,” Swinney said. “We’re not entitled to win the ACC every year. We didn’t win it in ‘21 and a lot of y’all said we were done. And we came back and won it last year, I think. Didn’t we win it last year? So we lost in overtime to a great team. A team that may go on and win the whole thing. And you give them a lot of credit for that.”

It’s easy to see why Swinney still feels good about Clemson’s future. Quarterback Cade Klubnik is clearly improving, and the Tigers have some talented young playmakers.

Saturday was tough for Clemson, but the Tigers are getting back to work and trying to get back to being an elite team as soon as possible.

“We don’t sit around and act like we are the top of anything,” Swinney said. “We just try to compete and show up and do our best to represent this university with class. We’ve won a bunch of them. Today wasn’t our day. But man, give them credit. They’ve done a great job.”

Florida State is now 4-0 (2-0) with the win and has a bye week up next. The Seminoles will return to action on Saturday, Oct. 7 against Virginia Tech.

Clemson will try to get its first ACC win next weekend. The Tigers will be playing at Syracuse.