Dabo Swinney and the Tigers are having their worst season in years, and it continued Saturday as Clemson fell on the rad 24-17 to NC State at Carter-Finley Stadium.
The Tigers (4-4, 2-4 ACC) trailed the Wolfpack (5-3, 2-2 ACC) 24-7 at the end of the 3rd quarter, with the Clemson offense threatening to score and chip away at the NC State lead. On the first play of the fourth quarter, running back Phil Mafah scored his second touchdown of the game on another 1-yard run, making the score 24-14 with a whole quarter left to play.
Clemson found themselves in the red zone a couple drives later but opted not to go for it on 4th down. Kicker Jonathan Weitz snuck in a 19-yard field goal, shrinking NC State’s lead to seven. The big issue, at this point, was the Tigers’ time management.
Swinney didn’t manage the clock well down the stretch, with the Tigers wasting precious time on multiple drives, including their final one. Their final drive was 14 plays for 35 yards, eating up 4:09 minutes of the clock.
Clemson’s struggles continue.