With losses to LSU, Georgia Tech and now Syracuse, the Tigers have lost three of their first four games for the first time under Swinney. It’s also the first time the program has started 1-3 since 2004.
Swinney conceded he was emotional on the field after the game during the school’s alma mater.
“Disappointed, painful, hurt,” he said. “I’m human. I’m not a cyborg. This is my life. I’ve been here 23 years. I love this place. I give this place the best I’ve got every single day. … I’ve invested my life here, and when I don’t get the job done, I’m responsible. I feel the pain. Not just my pain, I feel everybody’s pain. That comes with my job, and I don’t run from that.”
Clemson finished with 503 yards, its most in a loss since 2016. It’s a stunning start for Clemson, which returned the most production in the FBS (80%) this season. Quarterback Cade Klubnik has his top three receivers back from last year’s ACC championship team, and the defense was expected to be one of best fronts in the country.
“We just can’t seem to put it all together when we need it,” Swinney said.
The Tigers have a bye week before traveling to North Carolina on Oct. 4, and Swinney said it comes at a good time because the team is “beat up emotionally and physically.”
“There’s no quit in me and I didn’t see any quit in our team or our staff,” he said. “We’ll get back to work. We have to reset our goals and what we still can do. We can’t sit around and dwell on missed opportunities. … It’s basically an eight-game season for us at this point. We’ve just gotta fight our tails off to find a way to win a game, create some momentum.”
