Big night as Tigers officially put bow on 2015
By: will-vandervort January 24, 2016

The Clemson football program officially wrapped up the 2015 football season on Saturday night. The Tigers held their annual awards banquet which was filled with what you expect with the exception of Eric Mac Lain and Travis Blanks asking their lady friends for their hand in marriage.

But besides the awards and the proposals, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney spoke about the season that was, and showed his appreciation for the Clemson fans that made the trip to Arizona for the National Championship Game and for those 2,000 or so that wished them good luck when they left for the desert state, especially those standing in the rain on the overpasses in Greenville.

Swinney, who was a part of Alabama’s National Championship team in 1992 and coached there for nine seasons, said those are the things that separate Clemson’s fan base from Alabama fans.

“When I see 2,000 people show up to wave by to the bus. When we are heading down to go to the airport and people are hanging over the overpasses. I promise you, I promise you there wasn’t anybody hanging over the overpasses waving to Alabama on the way to the airport,” he said at the banquet. “There might have been a few people there to say bye but there wasn’t 2,000 because it is kind of expected. It is kind of entitlement. There is an expectation (at Alabama). At Clemson there is an appreciation.”

Clemson finished the 2015 season with a 14-1 record, which included the program’s 15th ACC Championship, a berth in the College Football Playoffs and a win over No. 4 Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl. The Tigers also beat top 10 teams No. 6 Notre Dame and No. 8 North Carolina along the way.

“It is one of the best years in the history of the game,” Swinney said. “With the win over Oklahoma, just to put it in perspective… We are now the only program in college football history to have a winning record verses Oklahoma, Ohio State and Notre Dame. That’s three of the winningest programs in the history of the game, but little ol’ Clemson, little ol’ Clemson is the only program in all of college football history to have a winning record against those universities.”

Below are some more tweets from Saturday’s banquet.