CLEMSON – There is a famous saying in American folklore, sometimes attributed to Benjamin Franklin or Mark Twain, although, as sayings go, no one really knows.
The saying, or definition, rather, states that the definition of the word “insanity,” is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
By this definition, onlookers, rivals, critics or couch-football warriors may have said that Clemson fans were insane to show up Saturday to watch the Tigers play the Florida State Seminoles, after failing to win a power conference game in over a year.
Yet more than 80,000 Clemson fans, either out of loyalty, insanity, or reluctant hope, poured into Death Valley to watch the Tigers’ losing streak, the program’s worst against Power 4 opponents since 1971, end with a 24-10 victory at Memorial Stadium.
From the start, it felt like a Clemson football game, partially because fans filed into the Memorial Stadium as the sky started to darken, and temperatures started to drop, mirroring the late-fall monstrous win over Florida State in 2015, or the season-opener against Georgia in 2013.
This was no noon game.
The Tigers did not take the field mere hours after rising from bed, or while many college students were still asleep. Instead, the atmosphere proved why Clemson is 34-10 in night games at home since the start of the 2018 season and 55-13 since 2015.
The speakers blasted Queen’s “We Will Rock You,” as the team rounded the two right turns to pull into the Stadium. Students covered the entire surface area of the hill, the night sky had a tint of purple in it as it faded to black. For the first time since at least the season-opening loss to LSU on Aug. 31, it was intimidating to play at Death Valley.
The stands shook as Tiger fans dutifully waved their pom-poms and sang the pregame Alma Mater with the “insane” belief, or reluctant hope, that the preseason No. 4 team in the country would emerge to beat their most historic rival.
Whether it was because of the light-up Tiger paw, a hype video, a night game, or a refusal to keep losing, the proverbial Clemson Tigers from the preseason hype machine showed up to play football Saturday night.
It just felt different.
The pregame energy quickly translated to the field, as the Tigers opened the game with a 13-play, 75-yard drive to take a 6-0 lead. The Valley, sharing a collective sigh of relief, erupted.
Head coach Dabo Swinney joined the fans in joyful screams one play later when his son Clay, Clemson’s holder, faked an extra point and ran it in to make the score 8-0.
Defensive coordinator Tom Allen joined in the exclamation point party with some yelling of his own after Clemson followed the score with an immediate stop. Soon, it was hard to find anyone on Clemson’s sideline who was not in on some much needed happiness.
Despite a few busted coverages, wrong reads from the offense, and a few penalties, the smiles remained on faces for the better part of four hours, as Clemson dominated the time of possession against the Seminoles, and generated six second-half sacks while quarterback Cade Klubnik completed 74 percent of his passes for 221 yards.
The Tigers (4-5, 3-4 ACC) played true complementary football for the first time in weeks, a staple of the College Football Playoff-bound teams that Swinney coached in the 2010s. When the offense got stopped in the first half, the defense stepped up and forced a fumble, a turnover on downs, or a punt.
Similarly, after Florida State scored its lone touchdown, the Tigers followed it up with consecutive scores on their next two drives.
There was never a moment where the stadium silenced with the realization that Clemson may not win. For the first time in two months, it felt right to Gather at the Paw.
For the first time all year, fans with “insane belief” got to see a return on their investment, and the Tigers got to claim their first Power Four win at home and revenge over the Seminoles for an overtime loss in 2023.
It really was a win-win, and great win at Death Valley.
