CLEMSON — I am going to be honest with you. I did not think Clemson was going to beat Florida State the other night.
In fact, I thought the team was going to quit.
I am glad I was wrong.
After watching some Clemson players fall to their knees following their last-second loss to Duke on Nov. 1, I did not think this team had any more fight in them. They gave it everything they had against the Blue Devils.
You could see how bad they wanted to win. Losing a game in the way that they did and then having to turn around and get ready for another game, it just did not seem possible, especially with the way this season had gone for the Tigers.
Like I wrote, I am glad I was wrong. And that is the funny thing about sports. You never really know how someone is going to respond in the face of adversity.
The lessons we learn from sports can relate to real life experiences. I know it has benefited me, as I am sure it has benefited most of you.
“God is good all the time. It does not matter if you are holding the trophy or you lose the game on the last play,” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said. “You still have the same decision to make the next day. And that is to get up and go fight again.”
The Tigers decided to do just that the day after the loss to Duke. It was not easy, but they had two choices to make. They could give up and just roll through the motions of a disappointing season, or they could get up, dust themselves off and go fight the Seminoles.
They decided to fight.
“The fight and fortitude you have to have, that is one of the things I told them. It is hard to get out of bed when you have a game like (Duke). You can’t even really describe the feeling,” Swinney said. “But, as I told them, I would rather know that feeling of just absolute heartbreak and anguish than to never be in this arena.
“So, you pick yourself up and you go again. That is what sports teaches you. That is what football teaches you. You do not always win. You get back up, and you go.”
Clemson got up off the mat, and it went back to work. The Tigers came out against Florida State playing like a team that was playing for a championship.
They were tough. They were physical, and they played hard. There was no quit in them. They were playing together, and they were playing for a common theme.
It was refreshing to watch, especially in this “me” world that we all live in.
It was obvious they were not playing for themselves. They were playing for the guy next to them on the field. They were playing for Clemson.
“I am just really proud of them,” Swinney said. “We just have to go find a way to have the best finish that we can have. The opportunity is there, but we are going to have to go play well this week.”