RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina State stunned Clemson, 27-21, Saturday at Carter-Finley Stadium to snap an eight-game losing streak to the Tigers for their first Textile Bowl win since 2011.
The Wolfpack (3-1, 1-0 ACC) kept the ball out of Clemson’s hands for 41:48 in regulation before securing the victory in the second overtime period.
The Tigers’ loss marked the first time since 2014 they lost multiple games in September.
Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney knows his team needs to improve particularly on offense after another disappointing performance. And he noted that it has been a long time since one of his teams looked docile on that side of the ball.
“It’s been a long, long time. They had 96 plays to our 45 and I think they had the ball 40 minutes to our 18-19 and wore us down,” Swinney said. “It’s probably been since 2010, maybe, that year we weren’t very explosive and were in transition from a personnel standpoint.”
Clemson’s hopes for reaching a seventh straight College Football Playoff likely died this weekend as well. Since the start of the CFP no team has reached a semifinal after losing two games in the regular season.
The defeat also snapped Clemson’s 36-game winning streak against teams unranked in the AP Poll, the second-longest in school history. Clemson’s most recent defeat at the hands of an unranked squad had come in 2017 at Syracuse in the Carrier Dome.
The Tigers (2-2, 1-1 ACC) still have a lot to play for in the ACC, but face a tough test against undefeated Boston College at Memorial Stadium next Saturday.
Swinney, like many Clemson fans, left Carter-Finley with disappointment on Saturday. But he is focused on improving and continuing to approach every week with a “one-game season” mentality.
“There’s not any quit in us, I know everybody is disappointed and I’m disappointed, everybody is hurting,” Swinney said. “But we will show back up on Monday and go to work and see if we can find a way to win a game, that’s all we can focus on and all we are going to focus on.”
Clemson kicks off against the Eagles at 7:30 p.m. BC is 4-0 after Saturday’s overtime win against Missouri.
Football season has finally arrived. Time to represent your Tigers and show your stripes!
