Despite Clemson remaining a perfect 8-0 through the first nine weeks of the college football season, there is one thing the Tigers have yet to accomplish: a complete game.
While this would cause worry for some coaches, that is not the case for Clemson coach Dabo Swinney. In fact, Swinney recognizes the differences between different years and different teams and isn’t going to let a lack of a complete game change the level of success his team has seen thus far.
“I think just maturity in some spots, youth in some spots, a little bit of a lack of continuity in a couple of areas, and that’s probably been the biggest thing,” Swinney said. “We’ve played some really good teams. We’ve played some elite quarterbacks that nobody wants to give any credit to, and then all of a sudden maybe you don’t bring your A game. Every year is a different deal just like every week’s a different week.”
While this year’s team has had its own unique set of issues from injuries to a lack of continuity at certain positions, Swinney sees a lot of similarities between this year’s team and the 2016 team that went on to win the national championship with Deshaun Watson at the helm.
“I mean 2016, I don’t know that we played a complete game all year to be honest with you,” the head coach said. “I aged dog years in 2016. I remember all year everybody’s like, ‘What’s wrong with Clemson? They stink. They barely beat Troy.’ We had, what, eight games, six points or less. Deshaun Watson was either a touchdown or an interception and everybody said, ‘What’s wrong with Deshaun?’ And this and that.”
Similar to the 2016 team, Clemson has struggled to put it all together despite having all the talent and personnel to do so. For that team, it took up until the Tigers meeting Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl to finally piece together not just a complete game but a dominant 31-0 shutout at that.
“Nobody predicted that, right?” Swinney said. “Like nobody predicted that. I’m not sure many people picked us to win, but that was probably our one complete game. The national championship was an unbelievable game, but it wasn’t a complete game. We fumbled the ball. We did some dumb stuff along the way. We go fourth-and-1 and get stuffed, but we did good things. We found a way to win, and that’s the key.”
The Tigers’ will to win was the key to unlocking their first national championship win since 1981 all thanks to a historic grab by wide receiver and Clemson legend Hunter Renfrow, who snagged the ball in the corner of the end zone with one second left against Alabama — a memory that will forever be stamped in the minds of Clemson fans both young and old.
“This team has been different in that we haven’t played a complete game, but we’ve found ways to win,” Swinney said. “That’s the similarity, but I think our issues have been different, if you will, from 2016.”
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