Clemson senior offensive lineman Mitchell Mayes met with the media Monday and gave some insight into Dabo Swinney’s message to his team as the Tigers move forward from a 31-24, overtime loss to Florida State last Saturday at Death Valley.

“I would say what I picked up from it is that we just have to finish better,” said Mayes, who started and played 82 snaps against the Seminoles. “Obviously we’ve been doing some good things. We’re working, we’re fighting. It’s not an effort problem, it’s not a want-to problem, like a will. But we just need to finish.”

FSU rallied from a pair of 10-point deficits and then used a 56-yard fumble return for a touchdown near the end of the third quarter, and a 24-yard Jordan Travis to Keon Coleman pass in overtime, to defeat Clemson (2-2, 0-2 ACC).

It’s a stinging loss that Mayes said the Tigers would review on Monday and then put in the rearview as they turn the page to getting ready for this Saturday’s game at Syracuse (4-0, 0-0).

“We’ll flush it after today,” Mayes said. “We’ll go over it and flush it, and we’ll just move on to the next opponent and we’ll just try to be the best we can be.”

Clemson came into the 2023 season not only hoping to get back in the College Football Playoff, but win the whole thing. Now with two losses, making the playoff is no longer a reality, so how do the Tigers readjust their sights moving forward after the preseason national championship aspirations?

“We always want to dream big, we always want a goal of like the national championship or the biggest thing we can reach or whatever,” Mayes said. “But I think we just adjust our dreams a little bit and be realistic with ourselves, but we also just try to do the best we can every day. Like, we’re 2-2, but if the best we can be right now is 10-2, why can’t we do that? We just have to keep fighting every day to be the best we can be.”

Clemson will try to start stacking those wins beginning with Saturday’s game against the Orange at the JMA Wireless Dome in Syracuse, N.Y. Kickoff is set for 12 p.m. on ABC.

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