Dabo Swinney 'absolutely' thinks Clemson can still be an ACC title contender after 41-13 loss to No. 4 Miami

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Clemson looked like the furthest thing from an ACC title contender Saturday night against No. 4 Miami. But that's not stopping Tigers coach Dabo Swinney from believing in his team's chances.

When asked after the 41-13 loss if he thought his team could still compete for the ACC title, Swinney was unequivocal.

"Absolutely. Absolutely. We were 3-1 coming in, we've lost to two really good teams, but we're still progressing," Swinney said. "We're just going to keep battling. We'll keep battling. Got a lot of opportunity ahead."

Yes, Clemson has lost to two really good teams in No. 4 Miami and No. 11 LSU. But it's lost to those really good teams by 69 combined points. That's not nice.

To be an ACC contender, Clemson needs to be a really good team. Or, at least show that it's capable of beating a really good team. Neither is close to happening at the moment.

Clemson's offense is being led by freshman quarterback Tait Reynolds and it's clear that he's still learning the ropes of being a college quarterback. Reynolds was 29-of-44 passing for 295 yards and an interception agains the Hurricanes. It was the first time he had thrown over 29 passes or thrown for over 215 yards in a single game.

The run game that Clemson relied on in Week 4 against Cal was nonexistent against Miami. The Tigers rushed 31 times for 55 yards on Saturday night. In its Week 1 loss to LSU, Clemson rushed 26 times for 40 yards. If you stop the Clemson run game, you have a really good chance of winning the game.

"And hey, we're 3-2, we hoped we'd be 5-0 right now, 4-1 at worst," Swinney continued. "But we're 3-2. But we're, what, 2-1 in the ACC? We're right here. We're right there. We just gotta dig in man. Gotta go play. There's a lot of opportunity for this team."

That opportunity to make up ground in the ACC standings won't come until Oct. 24. After a bye week in Week 6, the Tigers host Charleston Southern on Oct. 17.

If there is a silver lining for Clemson, it's that there are no more ranked teams on the Tigers' schedule the rest of the season. After Charleston Southern, Clemson has Virginia Tech, Florida State, Syracuse, Georgia Tech, Duke and South Carolina. Wins in all six of those will get Clemson back to the ACC championship game … and likely set up a rematch with a far superior Miami.

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