CLEMSON — The 2025 campaign continues to be a disaster for the Clemson football team.
Syracuse came into Death Valley on Saturday, scored a touchdown on the game’s opening possession, and never looked back as the Orange dominated on their way to a 34-21 win.
The Tigers are now 1-3 for the first time since 2004, and have started 0-2 in ACC play for the first time since 2010, the last time Clemson finished with a losing record. Dabo Swinney’s team has now dropped its last three home games to Power-4 opponents.
With the win, Syracuse snaps a six-game losing streak to Clemson. It’s the Orange’s first win in the series since 2017 and their first-ever at Death Valley.
Oh, and let’s not forget Fran Brown’s team was a 17.5-point underdog.
That’s a Wrap
You can put a bow on this season. Sure, there are still more games to be played, but any hopes this Clemson team had of making it back to Charlotte for the ACC Championship Game have now been stomped out.
The only tangible thing left to play for is pride and a spot in some meaningless bowl game no one will care about. With the expectations this team had coming in, it’s going to be interesting to see how Swinney holds this team together. His culture is about to be tested like never before.
Lost In Translation
One thing Swinney has been so good at over the years is keeping his teams bought in. No matter the message from year to year, he never really loses the locker room. That might not be the case this season.
Whatever his messaging has been, it’s just not hitting the mark. This Clemson team just hasn’t looked the part during its 1-3 start. On top of that, they just don’t look as motivated as past teams have been. They don’t play with that edge.
Defense Getting Worse Each Week
It’s been hard to watch on as this defense has gotten progressively worse with each passing week. After more than holding its own in the season-opening loss to LSU, then playing fairly well against Troy, the past two games have been bad.
On Syracuse’s first drive, a topic of conversation among some media members centered around did some of the guys on that side of the ball looked like they’d checked out.
The Orange moved the ball on Tom Allen’s unit like a knife through hot butter, exposing weak points at all three levels. The defensive line was pushed around much of the day, the linebackers were not very gap sound, and the secondary got sliced up. The Orange had more than 300 yards of offense before halftime and averaged
This is a defense littered with blue-chip talent. Far more talent than Syracuse has. There’s absolutely no reason this group should be this ineffective.
Complimentary Football Nowhere to Be Found
The Tigers’ inability to play complementary football stretches back far beyond this season. It’s hard to remember the last time Clemson got four full quarters of complementary ball against a quality opponent.
Having watched the first four games, I wouldn’t be holding my breath waiting for this team to be able to do it.
Photo by Bart Boatwright