Leading OFF
Clemson, Swinney surge into ACC championship game
CLEMSON, S.C. – As impressive as last year’s journey to the College Football Playoff national championship was, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney is threatening to upstage even himself.
Despite losing stars such as quarterback Deshaun Watson, running back Wayne Gallman, wide receiver Mike Williams and linebacker Ben Boulware, among others, Swinney once again has the Tigers perched on the cusp of greatness.
With a school-record seventh consecutive season with 10 or more victories secure, Swinney is looking for that rarest achievement in college football — namely, winning back-toback national titles.
As Clemson (11-1) prepares to take the next step in that pursuit by tackling Miami (Fla.) (10-1) in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game Dec. 2, the Tigers are, as Swinney likes to say, “Right where we want to be.”
Indeed. Clemson is ranked No. 1 in each of the major polls and on a path to No. 1 in the Playoff rankings, and they control their own destiny.
Not only are they in with a win, they’ll also get to select their preferred venue for a national semifinal should they maintain the No. 1 spot. That most certainly would mean a New Year’s Day in New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl, which would be ironic since not much has come easy for Swinney’s 2017 edition.
Clemson outlasted Auburn 13-6 in the second game of the season, then had to survive a four-game gantlet of road challenges against then-ranked opponents Louisville, Virginia Tech and North Carolina State and a tough venue for a finale at South Carolina.
The lone stumble along the way was a 27-24 upset in Syracuse’s Carrier Dome, a game in which the Tigers lost starting quarterback Kelly Bryant to a concussion before halftime and missed field goal attempts from 35 and 38 yards.
But Clemson rebounded to win out in the regular season and will take a five-game winning streak into the ACC title game.
“This team has won me over,” said Swinney, whose roster lists only six scholarship seniors. “I knew coming in that it was going to be a different year and a different type of team, with so many new faces.
“It’s the fewest seniors we’ve had since World War II, so it’s just amazing. I’m proud of this team regardless of what happens the rest of the way. They have responded all year long, coming off a national championship and all that comes with that.”
While many observers have been at least mildly surprised by this team’s success, most of the players are not. A prime example would be linebacker Dorian O’Daniel, a graduate who patiently waited his turn and has emerged as a key cog on one of the nation’s top defensive units.
“We had to rely on each other, and that started after the national championship,” O’Daniel said. “You’re looking around and you don’t have those big-name guys, but we knew what we had and we believed in each other and put in the work.
“We knew people were counting us out, but we didn’t let that get to us. We knew our worth.”
In less than a decade, Swinney has built a powerhouse of a program that now is routinely mentioned in the same breath as Alabama, Oklahoma and Ohio State — each of whom, incidentally, have been beaten by the Tigers over the last three seasons.
If Clemson defeats Miami, the Tigers will claim their third consecutive ACC title. The senior class is 15-3 against Top 25 teams, which is a school record, and one more victory would make Clemson’s seniors the first 50-win class in ACC history.
Swinney notched his 100th win last week at South Carolina, making him only the fourth coach in Football Bowl Subdivision history to win 100 or more games in their first 10 seasons.
Other than a retirement and an assistant leaving for the NFL, Swinney’s staff has remained stable. The astute hiring of Brent Venables as defensive coordina- tor several years ago has made Swinney look like a genius, and his promotion of Jeff Scott and Tony Elliott to co-offensive coordinators three years ago has proved likewise. The Tigers are 39-3 with Scott and Elliott calling the shots and are two wins away from a third consecutive national championship game appearance.
This year’s team appears intent on continuing the program’s unprecedented run of success.
“This has been an inspiring bunch to be around,” Swinney said. “This was supposed to be a rebuilding year, a transition year. These guys didn’t get that memo. They just continued to believe that they could be a championship-caliber team, and that’s exactly what they are.”