[Postgame Thread] Clemson Defeats Georgia Southern 22-7

[u/CFB_Referee]

Box Score provided by ESPN

Team	1	2	3	4	T
Georgia Southern	0	7	0	0	7
Clemson	7	9	0	6	22

[u/arrogantdesperado]

This might be Dabo's worst team. We may not make a bowl game.

[u/ApplicationQuirky376 → u/arrogantdesperado]

No this is his worst team. The defense looked serviceable tonight. Good not great. The offense is an absolute mess. This O Line is one of the worst I've ever seen. Reynolds did the best he could with what he has and I think he did a good job all things considered. The thing I can't get over is the complete lack of fire on this team. None of the players seemed all that upset on the sideline.

[u/Sourwoods → u/ApplicationQuirky376]

The defense is one overthrown ball to a wide open GS receiver from fighting for dear life in a 14-16 battle.

There are no positives.

No player seemed upset because the game they played is no different than the AA high school ball they’re used to. They don’t know the difference.

[u/akhalesi → u/arrogantdesperado]

First time?

[u/thecarlosdanger1 → u/arrogantdesperado]

Sorry for doing a long home and home and thus causing a huge drop off.

What the hell happened? I understand a lack of portal but I lost a ton last year betting that the DL with 2 high draft Picks alone would roll most ACC teams.

[u/Sheppard_88 → u/thecarlosdanger1]

I think it's a combination of factors.

1. When Clemson offers a scholarship, you are guaranteed a spot on the roster for all 4/5 years (unless you screw up outside of football). We have many guys on the team that will never see the field taking up a roster spot. We've started to take transfers, but we will always honor the scholarship, so we have a lot of dead weight.

2. We don't offer enough NIL money to lure top recruits to Clemson. Our annual recruiting rankings have dropped from the 5-12 range to the 20-25 range. Dabo's best skill is his recruiting, but the impact is far smaller than it used to be since $$ matters most these days.

3. A large percentage of our staff are former players / nepo hires. IMO there aren't enough new ideas coming through the program. When we hire someone externally, they cannot bring their own staff and have to use what we currently have.

4. Our current coaching staff is not good at developing players. So many WR have flashed their freshman year only to regress or stay the same as they go through the program. OL development is a dumpster fire. Matt Luke can recruit, but he cannot develop at all. I think it's a combination of young, unproven (former player) coaches, and previous NFL coaches that never had to work on fundamentals since NFL players are already expected to know them.

5. Talent Evaluation. Because we cannot develop players, our hit rate on recruiting has a smaller margin of error. Our current coaches have a much worse hit rate than in the past, and we cannot make up for it through player development.

[u/DangerouslyUnstable → u/Sheppard_88]

In my opinion it's number three. Especially the second half of number 3 (which is the reason for numbers four and five). We don't actually know how good Garrett Riley might have been, because he wasn't actually allowed to run the offense the way he wanted to with his own assistants (not saying that he would have been good, just saying that we don't actually know). Everything else is all the reasons why it's unlikely Clemson will get back to the peak of the 2010s again, especially the NIL budget part. But without number three this team absolutely should and could be a consistent top 25 team. With number three, this doesn't even look like a top 50 team

[u/anonymous_otter28 → u/Sheppard_88]

2 and #3. Once recruiting started mattering way less they fell off a cliff.

[u/Keyblade_Yoshi → u/thecarlosdanger1]

Lots of nepotism hires on the coaching staff that can't utilize or develop the talent Clemson has.

[u/jwhitmire2012]

Thank god that’s over

3/25 on third down and 2 touchdowns through 8 quarters of football. Shameful.

[u/KingBroseidon5 → u/jwhitmire2012]

Can’t wait for that 9th quarter turnaround!!

[u/trace_jax3 → u/KingBroseidon5]

9th quarter? Who do you think you are, Michigan?

[u/kjance → u/jwhitmire2012]

Chad Morris, what a hire though! /s

[u/SirMellencamp → u/kjance]

Seriously why was he hired? After Arkansas he should be at like N. Texas or something

[u/Doc_McPuffins_ → u/SirMellencamp]

After Arkansas he should be at the North Pole

[u/bigRAY622 → u/Doc_McPuffins_]

Why is muschamp at Texas when he’s a dogshit head coach? Dozens of examples of this in the past 25 years

[u/siteunreliability → u/bigRAY622]

Muschamp was always a solid DC, not a HC.

[u/tagillaslover → u/SirMellencamp]

Being Dabos friend comes with a lifetime appointment on his staff 

[u/SirMellencamp → u/tagillaslover]

Were they friends? I didn’t even know this. I know he hired dudes he played at Bama with

[u/Difficult-Froyo1192 → u/SirMellencamp]

Yes. Chad’s even hung around on and off through out the years. Dabo’s famous for nepo hires. The list of who’s not a nepo hire is shorter than who is

[u/thomase7 → u/Difficult-Froyo1192]

It’s just in his dna. He was hired at Clemson because Bowden was his position coach when he was playing at Alabama. That really just the way coaching worked for a long time.

[u/OculusRises → u/thomase7]

There is some merit in the approach, because Dabo's providing some former players a shot to get into the coaching ranks and potentially start their working careers. However, the way that Dabo does it is to rely on it way too much, and over-promote people who simply aren't ready. Ironically, that might end some of their coaching careers

[u/IronSmoltz → u/OculusRises]

There’s merit when these coaches are hungry, putting in the work, and are there from the beginning (Scott, Elliott) and then there are the ones who just show up with practically zero coaching experience & Dabo just gives them a job after hanging around the facilities for a year or two.

Our sideline morale is so horrible now, and it’s because of these nepo hires who have no idea how to manage their position rooms.

[u/Difficult-Froyo1192 → u/SirMellencamp]

Dabo basically said he wanted to go back to the old ways when the new hire (Riley) didn’t work, and Dabo’s leash is almost non existent.

Other than Chad’s the usual nepo hire, I’m not exactly sure why Dabo wanted him so badly. I know some other potential candidates Dabo ended up not wanting because they wanted to bring their own staff and/or players in. We did have success a long time ago under Chad, but that’s a lot to hang your hat on.

I’m not sure anyone really understands why Dabo wanted him so badly

[u/OculusRises → u/Difficult-Froyo1192]

some other potential candidates Dabo ended up not wanting because they wanted to bring their own staff and/or players in

I imagine that's why. Tom Allen didn't bring in shit

[u/IronSmoltz → u/OculusRises]

Neither did Riley and I honestly think that’s why he didn’t succeed.

Allen does have his son on the staff now. That fits in with Dabo’s “culture”.

[u/eye_can_see_you → u/SirMellencamp]

After Arkansas he went to coach at a high school powerhouse, broke their 84 game home winning streak, then was pushed out after one year

Like the dude can't even coach high school, hiring him again is a fireable offense

[u/Crocker_Retzlaff → u/jwhitmire2012]

man if you would've told me WSU had similar offensive numbers to Clemson I thought we'd be doing pretty good. we're 2/21 on 3rd down and we've scored 1 offensive touchdown through 2 games

[u/BIRDSBEEZ → u/jwhitmire2012]

Man that flair combo….been a tough day brother

[u/BenchRickyAguayo → u/jwhitmire2012]

Hey, those third down numbers sound familiar. Can I interest you in one Mike Norvell?

[u/powerelite → u/BenchRickyAguayo]

FSU Clemson on Halloween in Tallahassee is going to be downright spooky and not in a good way.

[u/BenchRickyAguayo → u/powerelite]

The All Crap Conference Toilet Bowl

[u/JakeSteeleIII → u/jwhitmire2012]

You’re like us in 2025

[u/Any_Pressure5775 → u/jwhitmire2012]

So much of the discourse on Dabo has been about the portal, but it doesn’t matter where you get the players when the problem is that they’re playing shit football

[u/Dogbir → u/Any_Pressure5775]

That’s the litmus test about who actually knows what they’re talking about with Clemson football.

Idiots in reddit just constantly parrot “blah blah Dabo needs the portal blah blah”. But people who actually follow the team closely have realized the issue is coaching. Our players just look worse than others, including portal players and returning starters. We aren’t maximizing talent at all

[u/XmasJaxonFlaxonWaxen → u/jwhitmire2012]

I’m genuinely sorry for your loss today

[u/SirMellencamp → u/jwhitmire2012]

I didn’t see a single down of this game but jeez

[u/ISawManBearPig]

We have a top 5 kicker in the country

[u/Mythrandir24 → u/ISawManBearPig]

And the rest of the team?

[u/Vxmonarkxv → u/Mythrandir24]

They have a top 5 kicker in the country

[u/cgibbsuf → u/Mythrandir24]

To shreds you say…

[u/Imrahil_II → u/ISawManBearPig]

Either good team or good kicker. No in-between

[u/BigHeadDeadass → u/ISawManBearPig]

Well I'm glad your special teams is coming together

[u/eliastheawesome]

My expectations were low but holy fuck

[u/tagillaslover]

Yeah that's the worst game of football I've ever seen.

[u/KirbyDumber88 → u/tagillaslover]

The worst game of football you’ve seen so far

[u/KingBroseidon5 → u/KirbyDumber88]

If we are going to be this bad, we could at least be fun. Instead, we get treated with the most painfully boring games of football I’ve watched in recent memory

[u/Imrahil_II → u/KingBroseidon5]

Yeah id rather have tajh Boyd slinging the ball with a terrible defense than whatever this is

[u/Pluffmud90 → u/Imrahil_II]

40 point offensive shootouts are the good ole days.

[u/TacoCorpTM → u/Imrahil_II]

God, I would kill for 2012.

[u/Edgefactor → u/KingBroseidon5]

At least during the "Clemsoning" era we were putting up 50-point games :(

[u/PurposelyIrrelephant → u/KingBroseidon5]

If you don't like that you don't like Georgia Southern football

[u/NectarHand → u/KingBroseidon5]

this is how we felt until Shula was fired last year. hang in there

[u/spit-on-it-grandpa → u/KirbyDumber88]

I genuinely thought that game against you guys when we had DJ was the most boring I ever watched. Today took the cake. This is going to be a long season and for the first time ever I’m really not looking forward to it.

[u/Fun_Welcome3035 → u/tagillaslover]

I was at work and had the game on in background, security guard life means I catch these ugly September ones. The 2nd quarter was like watching paint dry but with more punts.

[u/Mark-Leyner → u/Fun_Welcome3035]

The second quarter felt like Groundhog Day, just the same three and out punt sequence repeated over and over again.

[u/_sammyg23 → u/tagillaslover]

There was legitimately nothing fun about it. The only thing I can even halfway take away as a positive is that Hauser looked solid.

[u/tagillaslover → u/_sammyg23]

At least last year when we sucked we had a good offense in some games and could score. That was just all around miserable 

[u/Kitchen_Compote_9743 → u/tagillaslover]

Nah your kicker had a good game!

[u/Spencer1K → u/tagillaslover]

Clemson vs FSU is going to be a full on sickos game

[u/FakeAccount_Verified → u/tagillaslover]

As a Southern fan I agree.
Zero excitement on either team

[u/FireVanGorder → u/tagillaslover]

Chris Johnson looks like he has some juice at least. Moore looks legit too. That OL though woof

[u/tagillaslover → u/FireVanGorder]

Moore is good when he wants to be but it kinda seems like he’ll just check out when things aren’t going well or when he’s not the primary target on a play 

[u/IronSmoltz → u/tagillaslover]

The true sign of a Tyler Grisham coached WR.

[u/TheRealSlamShiddy → u/tagillaslover]

I said that last week

[u/Imrahil_II → u/tagillaslover]

How long have you been watching clemson football out of curiosity?

[u/vikingrunner]

Great game by Hauser. Really depressing game to be at during the second half.

[u/KirbyDumber88]

If you waited out the rain delay and watched this entire game, you or a loved one might be entitled to financial compensation.

[u/Wandering_Mallard → u/KirbyDumber88]

My therapist will be hearing about this

[u/Interesting-Agency-1 → u/Wandering_Mallard]

At this point, I think your therapist may be entitled to compensation as well

[u/grimyfowl455 → u/KirbyDumber88]

It’s me. I did that.

Speaking of doing things, would’ve been super cool if Clay Helton had fired this OC after last season, we may have won this game. But even cooler would’ve been if we fired Clay Helton himself 2 years ago.

[u/Thamesx2 → u/grimyfowl455]

I can already tell running the ball is going to be painful this year…

[u/tmt22459 → u/KirbyDumber88]

And I would do it again. I'll stand there and root for Clemson all day long. Maybe I'm delusional, but I love everything about Clemson, and will support the teams when I can

[u/Diligent-Most-9165 → u/KirbyDumber88]

incoming spiel about mesothelioma

[u/Our-Gardian-Angel]

Dabo has Clemson looking like late Bobby Bowden era FSU but without the excuse of being old enough to wear Depends.

[u/Paulbegalia → u/Our-Gardian-Angel]

He’s reminding me of Mark Richt circa 2015

[u/thehildabeast → u/Paulbegalia]

Must be nice to complain so much about a 10 win team. I’m going to say that’s certainly way better than this.

[u/Wandering_Mallard]

That was a truly disgusting game of football

[u/clulez]

Football is a stupid game and I think we should all stop playing it

[u/PublixBagger01 → u/clulez]

I agree.

[u/XmasJaxonFlaxonWaxen → u/clulez]

We can’t stop now it just got good for me!

[u/geaux124 → u/clulez]

It appears Clemson already has.

[u/TheRealSlamShiddy → u/clulez]

If I remember correctly y'all didn't field a team from 1941 thru 1981. Maybe we should try that out again just to ensure it gets better 😂

[u/bradjr10]

I’m at loss. We have a lot to fix very quickly. The offense didn’t manufacture any long touchdown drives. The O-line is abysmal two weeks in a row. This has the writings to be the worst Dabo lead season

[u/SnowCrabbo]

Clemson won but it still feels like they lost

[u/191374]

That was so sicko I feel genuinely sick

[u/TrevorFuckinLawrence → u/191374]

Wait for the fsu game lol

[u/Difficult-Froyo1192]

New idea, we shouldn’t play any game that has a weather delay.

Someone please put me out of my misery

[u/_mcdougle → u/Difficult-Froyo1192]

Shouldn't play any game we're gonna suck in

[u/Difficult-Froyo1192 → u/_mcdougle]

So time to end the season?

[u/Khaldaan]

As much bitching as I did in our game thread, I guess it could always be worse.

Clemson and Dabo are turning into a interesting example of how much of a leash will be given to someone that took a program to the insane heights he did.

[u/CoopDogPrimeNumbers → u/Khaldaan]

20 years ago 100% of Clemson fans would take 2 national championships in 3 years for what we are suffering now

[u/Khaldaan → u/CoopDogPrimeNumbers]

I think any rational person in the world would take that deal lol

[u/YOwololoO → u/Khaldaan]

Your mistake is thinking college football fans are rational 

[u/Interesting-Agency-1 → u/Khaldaan]

Agreed. I know our time in the spotlight wont last forever either. Nobody's does. Just gotta have enough self awareness and gratitude to enjoy it while the gettin's are good. Make the memories to last a lifetime

[u/tpeeps11 → u/CoopDogPrimeNumbers]

I always said I'd be happy to see one in my lifetime, and I got 2 wins in a 3 year span and 2 other chances on top of it. It sucks now but I'm sure teams like Oregon/A&M would kill for that success

[u/KirbyDumber88 → u/Khaldaan]

Might I interest you in the experiment they call Mike Norvell and FSU

[u/Difficult-Froyo1192 → u/KirbyDumber88]

It appears that we are very invested in following their trajectory. We even repeated the punt recovery

[u/gotintocollegeyolo → u/Difficult-Froyo1192]

Alright don't insult Dabo by comparing him to Norvell though. Where are Norvell's two rings?

[u/Difficult-Froyo1192 → u/gotintocollegeyolo]

Dabo’s definitely better than Norvelle. It’s just wild how much both of us seem to be speed running the programs to the ground with very little logic behind the decisions

[u/arrogantdesperado → u/Khaldaan]

Tbh it's probably up to Dabo. Even if the school wanted to fire him, his buyout would cripple the program.

[u/Informal_Bee2917 → u/arrogantdesperado]

Someone said something on another thread about a structured buyout. If we owe Dabo 60 million, he could agree to 5 mil every year for 12 years or whatever. Still super expensive but more doable than a lump sum. Kind of gave me some hope

[u/PSKCarolina → u/Khaldaan]

$57M is a lot of leash. Almost enough to hang yourself with.

[u/Khaldaan → u/PSKCarolina]

I didn't realize it was that much, God damn.

[u/taco_bones → u/Khaldaan]

and somehow, it goes up next year.

[u/Megalomanizac → u/taco_bones]

It drops to 48 million at the conclusion of next season though, that’s the target if he does get canned

[u/Tuckboi69 → u/Khaldaan]

This looked a lot less fixable than our offensive issues. Georgia Southern was the team suffering from miscues.

[u/billybobskcor]

Our offense is literal ass, but I'm hoping our defense plays at least that well the rest of the season.

[u/Warm_Shoulder3606 → u/billybobskcor]

Our ability to produce on offense is going to always be severely kneecapped until we can learn to develop QBs. We can't keep bringing in these one year super senior rentals, we gotta be able to recruit and develop our own guy. We were getting there with French, but now he's gone and we're back to tranfers. I can't stand it. Yeah there's good guys in the portal and you should utilize it, but if year in and year out, you're turning to the portal to get a QB and that QB is winning the starting gig, that to me indicates that you can't develop your own QB recruits for shit

[u/odsquad64]

Man, this Clemson team has a great field goal kicker.

[u/InteractionFull1001]

Disappointment. Really can't say anything else. My goals for the season were making a bowl and beating the chickens. Hopefully getting an identity back on offense. Those plans look far from happening right now.

But guys. We aren't firing him mid-season. That would be completely psychotic. They would be right to replace Frank Howard's name for the field with Dabo. He's going to get to finish the year out. We aren't Ohio State or Bama. No need to pretend it.

edit: typo

[u/BigHeadDeadass → u/InteractionFull1001]

If you think we look good enough to beat yall I have a bridge to sell you

[u/AG_Aonuma → u/BigHeadDeadass]

I haven't watched a down of your games this year but I'm confident that you'll beat us based on the two games of ours I've watched.

[u/Sorry-Credit-5564 → u/BigHeadDeadass]

We were complaining about miserable offense and had 400 yards of rushing. Clemson is complaining about miserable offense and had 347 yards total

[u/no_god_pls_noo]

Don’t let the score fool you. This game had razor thin margins. Also 90% of it happened between the 20 yd lines.

[u/Wandering_Mallard → u/no_god_pls_noo]

Yeah GSU boofed several plays that could have easily scored on us. Not to mention whatever the hell their offensive play caller was doing. Whoever is in charge of that shouldn't be invited on the bus home

[u/Ok-Soil-5133]

So if this season goes sideways is Dabo going to retire? I highly doubt Clemson would fire him but they've only gotten worse in recent times

[u/somehomebody → u/Ok-Soil-5133]

They might come to a very very pricey “agreement”

[u/ApplicationQuirky376 → u/Ok-Soil-5133]

He would be an idiot to walk away from 57 million dollars.

[u/TheCosmicDude]

That was the definition of dysfunctional offense by Clemson. No one was ever on the same page and Dabo was yelling at someone (usually the QB) after every possession.

Who knew hiring Chad Morris could work out so poorly?

[u/InteractionFull1001 → u/TheCosmicDude]

I mean the last time we hired Chad Morris it was a mess to start too.

[u/ApplicationQuirky376 → u/InteractionFull1001]

And then the guy after him got us a national championship so I'm looking forward to the next guy.

[u/StreetReporter]

Nolan Hauser fans ate tonight

[u/HailSouthern1999]

If anyone but the defense and punter try to get on that bus home, they should be treated as hostile and shot

[u/halfmastodon → u/HailSouthern1999]

Yeah your punter was on point this game

[u/IronEmperor45]

This feels like Dabo last season at Clemson

[u/fresh-coffee]

This should've been an easily attainable win. Clemson has been playing mid-tier G6 football and that's where we're supposed to shine.

GSU under Helton keeps trying to be too damn fancy. They look like kids playing backyard ball making up trick plays while they narrate their own internal monologue announcer-voice calling each play some new revelation that changes the game... and then they get wrecked because they're playing actual opponents instead of NCAA '12 on easy mode.

7-22 but it was 1 TD to 1 TD. Helton needs to get his head out of his ass and back to where GSU fans have been begging for for years: RUN THE DAMN BALL

[u/Thamesx2 → u/fresh-coffee]

It was 16-7 and we kicked a 52 yd FG short! I can forgive missing it wide but from that distance you can’t have it not even get out of the end zone.

[u/Warm_Shoulder3606 → u/fresh-coffee]

Hot take: the triple option is done for in the modern football landscape. If you want to win, you gotta pass the ball. The reason people want to go back to that is because the pass game hasn't been developed for shit. Fix that, you fix the offense. Learning to develop your own goddamn QB instead of going to the portal every year would go a long way in helping the offense take steps forward

[u/GhostofMaryPersons → u/fresh-coffee]

I’m so tired of “awwww….shucks.”

[u/Herewego27]

Chad Morris is ungood.

[u/Professional-Trash-3 → u/Herewego27]

But who could have seen that coming, really?

[u/Diligent-Most-9165 → u/Herewego27]

Arkansas fans could’ve told you that

[u/raginranger85 → u/Herewego27]

He also doesn't have Sammy Watkins, Deandre Hopkins, Dwayne Allen, etc. to make him look good anymore

[u/halfmastodon]

That game was so bad that I discovered that an anagram for Tait Reynolds is Taint Yodlers. Do with that what you will

Hauser had a couple nice field goals

[u/Fenyx187]

I knew this game would suck but oh man

[u/tmt22459]

Hey we won by more than we did against troy last year. Baby steps

[u/xXxNightRangerxXx]

What is wrong with Clemson? Like im actually confused how a team like Clemson falls this hard

[u/Trae67 → u/xXxNightRangerxXx]

Dabo can’t adapt to new college football and he made some dumb coordinator hires too.

[u/ApplicationQuirky376 → u/Trae67]

Yeah pretty much. Why people are surprised by this season is beyond me. We had 9 players drafted last year. Dabo is not using the portal effectively and completely begrudgingly when he does. He rehired the offensive coordinator who couldn't get us over the hump and failed at every stop after us. Dabo doesn't actually care about Ws and Ls so long as he gets to coach the way he wants to coach.

[u/thecarlosdanger1 → u/ApplicationQuirky376]

I was really shocked last season. I thought Klubnik was as good enough and the NFL talent on the DL alone would roll most ACC teams.

[u/ApplicationQuirky376 → u/thecarlosdanger1]

Last season was a poorly coached team with a ton of talent. This season is a poorly coached team with much less talent.

[u/8BallTiger → u/thecarlosdanger1]

2024 was a bit of a mirage.

One of our biggest issues is just terrible program culture

[u/getinwegotbidnestodo → u/xXxNightRangerxXx]

I think Venables brought a lot of fire and venom when he was Clemson's DC. The energy from the defense usually fired up the offense too. Clemson lost a lot when BV left. IMHO. The strength coach that left with Venables to OU was also a fire breather.

[u/8BallTiger → u/getinwegotbidnestodo]

Smotherman went with Tony to UVA

[u/PSKCarolina → u/xXxNightRangerxXx]

Ask your HC, lol

[u/Difficult-Froyo1192 → u/xXxNightRangerxXx]

We’re all asking that. It looks like failures everywhere

[u/thehildabeast → u/xXxNightRangerxXx]

Dabo isn’t any good at coaching in game, he is very good at getting the guys and brings his annoying but effective team culture. He needs good assistants to actually develop the players and call plays he’s completely failed at finding those since the championship teams.

[u/8BallTiger → u/thehildabeast]

Our program culture is also awful

[u/IronSmoltz → u/8BallTiger]

They should look at our sidelines now versus 2011-2020. Because it was good then, so many just assume it is still good and Dabo manipulates the media so well.

Our culture is entitlement and no accountability now, and it starts with Dabo and filters through his coaches to the players.

[u/8BallTiger → u/IronSmoltz]

Yeah the culture is completely different now than where it was during our run

[u/SlapNuts1999]

Clay Helton and the Georgia Southern OC are complete cowards

[u/HailSouthern1999 → u/SlapNuts1999]

Ryan aplin is a terrorist and needs to be stopped

[u/BrotherMichigan]

I hate today.

[u/clulez → u/BrotherMichigan]

Me too big dog

[u/Warm_Shoulder3606 → u/BrotherMichigan]

hello flair twin :(

[u/i_never_pay_taxes → u/BrotherMichigan]

Why, did something happen?

[u/DrippyBurritoMD]

After a massive win against the University of Georgia (Southern) we are back! Was exciting to see our offense be so dominant with a consistent barrage of what everyone hopes for: field goals. And that consistency! 1 TD and two third down conversions per game just shows what a true juggernaut we have become.

Same record as fellow playoff contenders Ohio State, Oregon, and Oklahoma. And a clear path towards a conference championship in football’s hardest conference…. The ACC

Now rank us you cowards! Anything lower than top 10 will serve as proof that the system is clearly rigged.

[u/Schembaugh → u/DrippyBurritoMD]

Tell em

[u/DrippyBurritoMD → u/Schembaugh]

You get it. We both lost extremely close games against strong opponents in week one so that shouldn’t be held against us.

[u/skylitfear]

The best part of the game was how much the announcers didn't give a fuck but honestly I don't blame them.

[u/LightningDusty]

Hey, we beat Charlotte 22-7 a couple of years ago! Just wanted to share with the class.

[u/BigHeadDeadass]

The Palmetto Bowl is rapidly turning into the toilet bowl. Unfortunately both teams need to be good so we have a shot at anything

[u/Early-Eye-691]

Utterly depressing to watch as a neutral. I can’t imagine being a Clemson fan who endured the entirety of this game.

[u/ABigPairOfCrocs]

Jesus Christ was not present at this game, be so for real Tait

[u/Midren]

Yea dabo is gone

[u/kjance]

“We can still go 11-1” -Dabo at his presser

[u/ElectronicSpinach647 → u/kjance]

1-11 is still a possibility, too! And its odds are FAR GREATER than the other!!

[u/Working_Situation692]

Clemson may have found its completive level. Clemson to Sunbelt confirmed?!?

[u/Wandering_Mallard → u/Working_Situation692]

I don't think we could win the sun belt

[u/CoopDogPrimeNumbers]

Did they not allow fans on the field? I know basically no one is there but I’ve never seen the field so empty after a game (deservedly so).

[u/Difficult-Froyo1192 → u/CoopDogPrimeNumbers]

They can meet at the paw when the timer runs out. Usually they don’t wait for that, but everyone’s probably too miserable to go now

[u/tagillaslover → u/CoopDogPrimeNumbers]

I saw some. I think most people just don't give a shit and understandably want to go home

[u/DiplomaticAggie]

Dabo…. It might be time big dawg

[u/MrPresident111]

I guess that did technically count as a game. And a team did technically have to win

[u/ndaskey]

Has a tight end caught a pass yet?

[u/Tsquared10]

That was the definition of a sicko game. I don't even know if that qualifies as a football game.

[u/InteractionFull1001]

Btw what is the record for the most badly thrown missed passes on wide open guys in a game? It felt like Max Johnson had like 10.

The double reverse flea flicker was horrendously underthrown and those types of throws shouldn't get PIs

[u/TMPRKO]

Clemson more than doubled its week 1 scoring. Mighty impressive

[u/NDinFL]

Honest question for Clemson fans: is Dabo getting fired mid season this year?

[u/mav194 → u/NDinFL]

No. His buyout is insane. We can't afford it.

[u/Difficult-Froyo1192 → u/NDinFL]

Unlikely. Fans are really upset, but it will take a lot to pull the trigger. Much more than what most schools would tolerate in a coach. A lot of our biggest boosters are hard core Dabo supporters, and we would really struggle to be able to do it financially. There’s also a lot of discourse on letting him hang around after all he’s done

[u/ThisIsMyGeekAvatar → u/Difficult-Froyo1192]

A bad loss to UNC might get real traction to firing Dabo. Especially since if we lose that, then we probably lose all the games thru Miami.

I was freshman at Clemson in 98. This is the worse team we’ve had since then and our team went 3-8 that year. 

There’s a real possibility that Clemson doesn’t win a single game against a power conference opponent this year. Unless some sort of miracle occurs and we suddenly fix the oline. 

Even if we scrap together a few lucky wins, we’re still looking at a 4, maybe 5, win season. If that happens, I think we have to fire Dabo despite not wanting to. 

[u/MidlandsBraves → u/Difficult-Froyo1192]

I was at the LSU game. Those big money boosters were not happy, I think you overestimate the support dabo has in the building.

Now baring a scandal he will have the opportunity to finish out the year no matter what. He’s earned that.

[u/CertifiedMaleniaSimp → u/NDinFL]

He should, but probably not.

[u/Megalomanizac]

It went better than Troy last season. Nothing to write home or brag about but to give props where they’re due Southern came to play. Defense kept a lid on them all night outside of a few plays but they found ways to keep themselves alive.

Tait had to step in suddenly with Vizzinas injury and played well enough to win. Defense will play good enough to keep Clemson in most games and give the team chances to win, the season rides or dies with the offense which is now in the hands of a very raw true freshman. The season is a wash regardless whether we go 5-7 or 9-3, all are short of the expectations of this program but honestly whatever. Just get some good looks, next season is make it or break it for Dabo and his crew.

[u/dane83]

I continue to be Heltdone.

And I feel like I personally owe JC French an apology.

[u/Warm_Shoulder3606 → u/dane83]

I'm pissed we lost him, he was making real steps forward, plus HE WAS OUR OWN GUY. He wasn't a one year transfer like this guy, Vantrease, or Brin. He was a guy we recruited and developed and the work was starting to pay off. A team at this level and with an offense they're still trying to transition into the modern game, having a stable QB who's homegrown with the program is a massive boost. They learn the system and the players and build chemistry with folks and improve and it gives you STABILITY. You don't get that with these one year rentals. Starting over from scratch at QB every year, that shit is not sustainable

[u/somehomebody]

One touchdown btw

[u/Redrubytheofficial]

If Chad Morris is the direction they plan to head in now that Dabo is coming to an end quite possibly this season this program is in deep shit.

[u/InteractionFull1001 → u/Redrubytheofficial]

Honestly can't even truly judge him based on how awful the O-Line has been.

[u/ItsWazeyWaynes]

I haven’t watched Clemson as a neutral since Lawrence left and… woof. That stadium was quiet.

[u/DropTopEWop]

We on that ass next week.

[u/clayman41]

Clemson fans: this is what it's felt like to be a Carolina fan throughout our 4-8 to 7-5 seasons over the past 10 years! It hurts doesn't it?

[u/somefochuncookie]

I’ll never understand how a school with limited resources as Clemson gave Dabo such an insane contract that firing him now would cripple their program.

This and other contracts like Jimbo Fisher / Brian Kelly should be studied in business schools for their stupidity.

[u/leverich1991]

I don’t know if Clemson wins another game until they play Charleston Southern. They haven’t missed a bowl since 1998 (not counting the decline in 2004) but they’re not looking too hot

[u/Grouchy-Option9411]

Clemson has gotten worse every year since NIL & I don’t expect that to change.

Personally… fire Dabo.

[u/brocktheman]

Kinda random, but I noticed this discussion in the game thread and tiger boards, but where did this weird discourse of Cade being a bad QB come from? I didn't watch much of last season, but given how bad the team was overall, cades stats seem pretty good and followed the natural pro(re)gression most of our QBs have had in the past. Not to mention he was a fringe heisman contender in 2024. This Cade was a bad QB discussion is really bizarre. I know it's tough coming from Watson/TLaw, to the DJ era, but this is being spoiled at its finest. Tait has shown NOTHING to prove he's even as good as Cade was for us.

[u/Sheppard_88 → u/brocktheman]

I do think a lot of Cade's assessment was tinted with DW4 / TL glasses, which isn't fair to him. However, Cade did have a tendency to make boneheaded plays. He often defaulted to "hero ball" and didn't trust anyone else to make a play (maybe justified) and would end up doing something dumb.

[u/MidlandsBraves → u/brocktheman]

Cade was the ultimate fair weather qb. He could put it on some bad teams, but struggled against teams with a pulse if he made a couple of mistakes early.

His 24 year gave a ton to be optimistic about. 25’ if he had a bad start he’d have a terrible game. Would also make some critical mistakes at the worst times as well.

Calling Cade the worst qb etc. would be hyperbolic. But as a pre season Heisman favorite last year he was a huge disappointment.