Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney took a jab at the presence of the referees during the Tigers’ 20-16 home loss to Virginia Tech on Saturday night at Memorial Stadium.

During his postgame press conference, Swinney addressed a question regarding the officiating calls by commenting on how visible the crew was.

Swinney was specifically asked if he’d like to see pass interference penalties be reviewable in some capacity.

“Oh, for sure. I’ve got a lot of things I’d like to see reviewable,” Swinney said.

“But, again, obviously the refs were a big part of the game,” Swinney added. “They were very, very visible tonight, for sure. They had a lot of TV time.”

Swinney’s comments came after Virginia Tech’s fourth-quarter, game-winning drive was extended by multiple crucial penalties, including a late hit out of bounds (on Elliot Washington) and two pass interference calls against Clemson (on Jerome Carter and Washington).

The drive ended in a go-ahead fourth-and-1, 5-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer to tight end Luke Reynolds with 1:44 remaining in the game, giving Virginia Tech the 20-16 lead that it wouldn’t relinquish.

In addition to the penalties on that Hokies drive, a late catch by Clemson wide receiver Bryant Wesco Jr. was overturned after official review.

It appeared Clemson had completed a deep pass on third-and-9 from its own 49 with under a minute to play, as quarterback Tait Reynolds threw a dart to Wesco, who appeared to have made a great 26-yard catch at the Virginia Tech 25. However, the ball popped out as he went to the ground and replay overturned the call on the field. Virginia Tech sacked Reynolds on fourth down to end Clemson’s chances.

Expanding on the officiating during his postgame press conference, Swinney acknowledged that while the officials were heavily involved down the stretch, he says the Tigers didn’t ultimately lose because of the officials or the penalties they called.

“We don’t control that. The things that we controlled, we didn’t do a good enough job to deserve to win the game, and that’s on me,” Swinney said. “That’s my job, and we didn’t do enough to help them tonight to win the game. We didn’t make a difference for them as coaches to win the game.”

Clemson (4-3, 2-2 ACC) heads to Tallahassee, Fla., next Saturday for a 7 p.m. (ACC Network) matchup with Florida State.