By Will Vandervort.
When he went back and watched the tape against Georgia following the Tigers’ season-opening loss to the Bulldogs, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney wondered if his players really cared.
Clemson had a lot of careless mistakes in that game. The offense had more than 30 missed assignments, while the defense had 13 missed tackles alone in the fourth quarter as Georgia—and pardon the pun here—really walked the dog on them in the fourth quarter.
“The first game, I was really mad because I knew we were good enough, but my challenge to them – I was not sure we cared enough with some of the mistakes we made,” Swinney said. “They were careless mistakes.”
But Swinney was proven wrong.
Clemson came back the following week of practice and showed the hunger and desire that seemed to be missing in the Georgia game. The mistakes were cleaned up and the result was a 73-7 thumping of S.C. State.
The Tigers held those Bulldogs to 44 total yards, while racking up 735 yards themselves.
Last week, that hunger and willingness to succeed drove Clemson at Florida State as they physically manhandled top-ranked Florida State at the line of scrimmage. But the failure to execute on a couple of plays did Clemson in as the Seminoles escaped with an overtime victory in Tallahassee, Fla.
Today, the Tigers (1-2, 0-1 ACC) return home to the friendly confines of Death Valley where they will host North Carolina (2-1, 0-0) at 7 p.m. The question this week wasn’t about Clemson’s effort, but more less if it can get out of it owns way and not let one loss beat it twice.
If practice is of any indication, then the Tigers should be fine.
“I see a team that really cares,” Swinney said. “Life is about responding the right way. It does not always go your way. Every indicator that usually says you win, we hit (at Florida State) and we did not win. That’s just part of life. It doesn’t always go the way you want it, but ultimately, it’s about how you respond?
“Our guys have a great mentality. They understand what is in front of us, not what is behind us. It’s not about what we have not done, but more about what we still can do.”
What Clemson wants to do is put itself back in the ACC Atlantic Division race and they will get that opportunity with the next three conference games at Memorial Stadium.
As a two-touchdown favorite heading into tonight’s game against UNC, Swinney believes those days in which the Tigers allow a difficult loss to beat them twice are long gone. And maybe he is right.
Since 2011, Clemson is 7-1 following a loss and has won six straight after a defeat. Included in that streak are wins over Virginia Tech, Auburn, LSU and Ohio State.
Swinney said the biggest win for his 2013 team last year was their 40-27 victory at Maryland following their embarrassing loss to the Seminoles’ in Death Valley.
“I think that is the culture we have in place here. Our leadership has been tremendous this week from these guys,” Swinney said. “We have that mentality that it is always about that next game – that next play.
“Our guys are really excited to get back in the Valley. They know there are a lot of great things out there for us to achieve if we stay committed and if we stay the course. They recognize all the good things we have done. They understand stand where we need to improve. I expect these guys to play their best game Saturday night.”