Clemson football showed its grit in a hard-fought 24-20 win over Pitt on Saturday, overcoming a mountain of injuries to stay in the fight for a strong finish to the season.
The Tigers, ranked No. 20, came into the game missing five offensive linemen and lost another, Elyjah Thurmon, on the first play. They were also without linebacker Wade Woodaz and lost Sammy Brown to a targeting ejection in the first half. Despite everything, they rallied to pull off the comeback.
“We’re 8-2 with just one loss in the ACC,” head coach Dabo Swinney said after the game. “We’ve had to overcome so much—four starting offensive linemen out, no Wade, no Sammy—and still, guys are stepping up all over the place.” Swinney pointed to the team’s unbeaten road record this year, something Clemson has only accomplished ten times in its long history.
Swinney is confident that his team is built for the spotlight and has the talent to compete if they get a shot at the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff. “Winning is hard,” he said. “We’ve beaten every team that beat us last year except Duke, who we didn’t play. Cade [Klubnik] is right there statistically with Deshaun Watson and Trevor Lawrence. Our young skills are improving weekly, and the defense is playing its best football.”
Still, Clemson’s path to the playoffs is narrow. They need to win out, claim the ACC title, and hope for some chaos elsewhere. “We’re in the fight, and that’s all you can ask for,” Swinney said. “We need some help, but we just have to handle our business and finish 10-2.”
Next up, the Tigers host The Citadel, looking to secure their 14th straight season with at least nine wins—a feat only Alabama has matched. But for this team, that’s not the ultimate goal. “This team believes,” Swinney said. “They’ve proven they can compete on the big stage. If they want a shot, they’ll need to finish strong.”