And then there were nine.
With Week 7 of the college football season in the books, only nine unbeaten teams remain – fourth-ranked Clemson (7-0, 5-0 ACC) being one of them following its 34-28 win over Florida State on Saturday night at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, Fla.
After Week 6, there were 15 undefeated teams in college football. But Alabama, Southern Cal, Oklahoma State, Penn State, James Madison and Coastal Carolina all lost on Saturday.
That leaves Clemson, Georgia, Ohio State, Michigan, Tennessee, Ole Miss, UCLA, TCU and Syracuse as the only unbeaten teams remaining out of the 131 squads in the FBS.
In his postgame press conference, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney was asked to give his thoughts about where the Tigers stand nationally as an undefeated team at this stage of the 2022 college football campaign.
“Usually, I would say this time of year, there’s probably eight or 10 or something,” Swinney said. “But you know, I’m thankful. I think that we’ve beaten some good teams, and to go on the road and win is not easy. So, I think we’re pretty battle-tested, and we’ve just got to keep moving. Nothing carries over to next week. We’ve got to start over.”
Swinney’s Tigers will try to start over again this week when they play a fellow unbeaten in Syracuse (6-0, 3-0 ACC), which entered Week 7 ranked No. 18 and came out on top over 15th-ranked NC State on Saturday at the JMA Wireless Dome in Syracuse, N.Y.
Swinney is proud of what his team has accomplished to this point – which includes road wins over ACC foes FSU, Boston College and then-No. 21 Wake Forest, and a home win over then-No. 10 NC State – but Swinney also knows there’s still a ways to go in the season, with five games left on the Tigers’ regular season schedule before what they hope will be an appearance in the ACC Championship Game and a trip back to the College Football Playoff.
But right now, Clemson’s next goal is to win the ACC’s Atlantic Division – and the next step toward doing that comes Saturday when Syracuse travels to Death Valley for a divisional showdown (12 p.m., ABC).
“We’re where we hoped to be. But seven games don’t make a season,” Swinney said. “We’ve got a long way to go. We’re trying to win the division. That’s really all we’re focused on. For us to do that, we’ve got to find a way to beat Syracuse this week, and that’ll be our focus. But excited for the opportunity that we have.”
Dear Old Clemson is excited to announce a limited edition football and poster signed by Clemson’s Avengers.
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