The Clemson Tigers are 1-2 after their most recent match-up this Saturday against Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets dominated the first half with two field goals and a touchdown, before Clemson’s Cade Klubnik opened the score in the last minute of the first half (13-7). Tigers took the lead (13-14) in the third quarter, transferring the pressure to the Yellow Jackets. The deciding quarter was a rollercoaster experience with back-to-back TDs from both ends. In the final moments of the game, Aiden Birr’s 55-yard field goal took the win away from the Tigers. Final score (24-21).

Two losses in three weeks is not what Dabo Swinney’s Clemson expected, and both the losses came via the last play. They entered the season at No. 4, but they went unranked after the loss this Saturday. Despite a tough start, Dabo stated that he believes in the program’s greatness and the adversity, hoping for a strong comeback, while addressing the media. “I’m the leader of the program. It all falls on me,” Dabo Swinney said. He continued, “I gotta get them confident they can make that one play, because that’s literally what it is… I know there’s a lot of panic… but there ain’t no panic here.”

Swinney also admitted that he’s feeling low, but they still have nine more games left to show who they are. He strongly believes “in the greatness” of their team, and their team is “built from adversity and to withstand adversity.” When talking about the rising criticism on their side, Swinney said, “Criticism is gonna come with the territory. You have to stay away from that stuff and you have to do the work, and we have to get better at doing that.” 

But Swinney alluded to a similar past, where Clemson started 1-2 during the 2014 season and rallied that year, finishing the season with 10 wins. Referring to the past, the coach said that the Tigers could have been 3-0 if they had made a few more plays. “We still have the same problems, but the narrative is different. But that’s the world we live in,” the coach said. 

This is not the first time Dabo Swinney’s Tigers have faced a setback at the start of the season. Whenever they fell low, they bounced back strong with more than ten wins in the same season, and even won the championship a couple of times.

Josh Pate Closes the Chapter on Dabo Swinney

On the latest episode of Josh Pate’s College Football Show, Josh Pate made a controversial claim about Dabo Swinney, that he’ll no longer win any more championships. Josh Pate, while reviewing the Clemson vs Georgia Tech game, said, “Just this era of Clemson football. It’s no knock on him. This guy’s legacy has been secured for a long time, but the experiment for Dabo at Clemson was’t really going to delve into the portal… I just think that the Clemson way in 2025 is not going to really put you in the hunt for a national championship.” 

He continued that Dabo has accomplished all and ruled the league for over a decade. However, with just a few fundamental changes, it’s not going to put them into the portal. Back in July, in the pre-season, Pate predicted the Tigers to win the national championship this year, being the biggest wild-card in the country.