By Will Vandervort.
It was there for the taking.
Clemson had the No. 1 ranked team in the country on the ropes and it was about to deliver the knockout blow. Then adversity struck.
With ball on the Florida State 18-yardline, running back C.J. Davidson broke the ball up the middle for what looked like enough yardage to get a first down at the 14-yard line. But Florida State defensive end Eddie Goldman stripped Davidson of the ball and safety Nate Andrews recovered with 1:36 to play, which eventually forced overtime.
The Seminoles then won the game in overtime thanks to a defensive stand and a 12-yard Karlos Williams touchdown.
“It is really heartbreaking,” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said Sunday during his weekly teleconference with the media. “We worked really, really hard. When you are in position to win the game and you don’t get it done, it is heartbreaking for all of us.”
But just because the Tigers (1-2, 0-1 ACC) have opened the season with two losses in three games, Swinney says he is not throwing in the towel. He believes he has a very good football team and they will learn from Saturday’ gut-wrenching defeat just like they did in the loss at Georgia.
“We played two top 12 teams at their place and we have a long way to go,” he said. “I think we have a really, really good football team. I think we improved. We made a bunch of mistakes in the Georgia game and we did not make those mistakes in the Florida State game.
“The mental errors were way down. We played four quarters and all of those types of things we needed to improve on. It was a well-played game in a lot of areas, but obviously there were some fundamental things that really cost us and a couple of tough breaks along the way.”
The most encouraging sign for Swinney, other than freshman quarterback Deshaun Watson, was the way his defense played, especially in the trenches where it matters most. The Tigers physically dominated Florida State’s offensive line, holding the Seminoles to minus-12 yards rushing in regulation play.
The Seminoles averaged 0.5 yards per carry and quarterback Sean Maguire was sacked five times. The Tigers also forced two interceptions.
“I love how are guys played in the trenches. There is a ton to build on,” Swinney said. “That was a great offensive line and we held them to negative twelve yards rushing. They could not run the football. We sacked the quarterback five times and we competed with a high level of aggressiveness on the back end so there were a lot of positives.”
Swinney says is now time to go back to work and turn things around because he knows they can do it.
“We wish we are 3-0 right now, but I don’t have any doubt that our experiences these first three weeks from what I am seeing – we are coaching a much better team than we were when we started the season,” he said. “That is going to pay dividends. We just have to keep our head down and keep plowing forward and see if we can get back on track here.”