While Clemson fell in a top-10 matchup against LSU this past weekend, the team’s players and coaches put it simply: everything they’re looking to achieve is still possible.
There was much expectation going into a home matchup with an out-of-conference opponent, not to mention a team with which Clemson shares history. While the loss is disappointing and lowers the potential ceiling the Tigers have, their response is what matters.
When head coach Dabo Swinney spoke about the loss, he embraced the competition, calling it a “heavyweight fight” on Saturday night.
“I hate to lose, period,” he said. “I don’t regret playing games like this … I love playing games like this. I really do … I think we’ll get better from it. Nothing has changed as far as our opportunity. There’s nothing off the table for this team.”
Taking a leap of faith early against a top opponent won’t hurt the team’s chances of making the College Football Playoff, mostly due to the committee’s standpoint on rewarding tougher games out of conference instead of scheduling lower-tier opponents to dominate. While an undefeated season would’ve been the ultimate dream, the extended season — which could end up totaling 16 games — tends to favor the opposite.
The easiest way for Clemson to cement its place in the 12-team playoff is to win the ACC, which would place the team in an automatic qualifying spot. This was how the Tigers snuck in as the only three-loss team just a year ago.
“You just got to focus on getting better this week,” Swinney said. “It’s a long season. We’ve got a long way, and there was going to be a winner and a loser tonight, and again, they made a couple plays that we didn’t, so let’s learn from it. Let’s get better, and let’s see if we can just put our head down and go win one.”
It’s also not like the team was destroyed from quarter to quarter, like it was against Georgia in the Tigers’ season opener a year ago. Going from a 34-3 beatdown to a 17-10 result, Clemson had a chance to tie the game on the team’s final possession, only to have a fourth down blown up by an impressive LSU defense.
Klubnik believes the team will improve as the season continues, and plans to iron out the kinks against Troy this Saturday. The strategy is all about responding, which the team did well against Appalachian State last season in the second week of play.
“Last year we did a really good job of that,” he said. “I wish we could’ve started out with a win, but just look at what you’ve got to get better at and be a hard critic. You’ve got to be a hard critic for yourself and just lead them. You’ve got to show up on Monday ready to roll, and that’s what it comes down to.”
Clemson saw some positives on Saturday night, including the defense in its first season under defensive coordinator Tom Allen. The team won the turnover margin — a point of emphasis over the last three seasons — and forced two fumbles.
Inversely, the strengths of last season ended up being the Achilles’ heel for the Tigers. The team’s offensive line, which returned four of its five starters from last season, was battered by the LSU defense and forced Klubnik out of the pocket countless times.
Clemson, which finished top 20 in points per game last season with 34.7 points per game, completed the LSU contest with only 10 points while returning 85% of the offense.
“There will be a lot that we’ll learn from (and) improve from,” Klubnik continued. “We’ve got good players, and the guys are sick right now. They’re sick because this is not the outcome that we work for, but I’m thankful for the opportunity, and again, if you punch it in and we tie it and go to overtime and win it, we still have a lot that we’ve got to fix and a lot we’ve got to improve on, so that’s the focus.”
The opening week of football always guarantees that things will change going forward. The team’s run game, which only recorded 31 yards on 20 attempts, will be a point of emphasis in practices over the next several weeks.
The team will also look for ways to exploit its defensive line, which features T.J. Parker and Peter Woods. The unit could only get to LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier once, which proved to end up as a defensive stand later in the drive.
With only one week down, the Tigers have 11 opponents remaining on their schedule and have not played an ACC opponent yet. While the national image will detail that Clemson needs a big game win, there should be opponents on the schedule that will create another opportunity.
For the team, it’s simple: get back to the College Football Playoff by any means possible. As an experienced team that will adjust, the players and coaches believe there’s always a way to return to the postseason.
“We can really bounce back like we did last year,” Klubnik said. “Let’s go bounce back and go back to the playoffs. That’s where our mentality is. We’ll bounce back and put our best foot forward and learn from it and go get better next week.”
The team will return to action at home against Troy on Saturday, Sept. 6, at 3:30 p.m.
