ATLANTA — Who had Clemson starting the season 1-2 on their bingo card?
After the last-second 24-21 loss to Georgia Tech on Saturday, the Tigers now find themselves sitting in that exact spot.
After a preseason littered with lofty expectations, which included some national analysts picking Clemson to win it all, the loss to the Yellow Jackets was not only stunning but sombering. The last time a Dabo Swinney-coached team dropped two of its first three games of the season was a decade ago, the first year of the College Football Playoff.
“Preseason expectations are just that, it doesn’t matter,” Swinney said. “Just like if they say you stink in the preseason. It is all about what you do.”
Ahead of the season-opener, Swinney was also a believer. Multiple times, he went on record saying his team still needed to go out and produce, but he also liked what he saw from this team in fall camp.
However, those things he’s seen on the practice field haven’t always translated to the playing field.
“It’s not about what people predict and what people say. It is about what you do. We have not performed to our capabilities.”
Sitting at 1-2 overall and after now having gotten off to a 0-1 start in league play, this team’s playoff hopes have been severely impacted. In fact, this team just hasn’t performed like a team capable of even making the playoff.
While Swinney will be the first to admit, he wasn’t expecting this kind of start, he also knows the two losses have come to teams that both have playoff aspirations of their own.
“Let’s give LSU some credit, let’s give Georgia Tech some credit,” Swinney said. “These are good teams. We are not entitled to win.”
Now, Swinney will find out exactly what his team is made of. Keeping everyone dialed in and focused on the task at hand won’t be easy, which is getting back in the winning track when Syracuse comes to town next Saturday for a noon kick in Death Valley.
“There is nothing to square up other than that we are not where we worked to be. We are not where WE expected to be, and we got to own that. I got to own that.”
Photo by Bart Boatwright