Clemson falls to Penn State, miserable season ends on a bleak note

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The preseason #2 Clemson Tigers and #4 Penn State faced off yesterday in the 2025 Pinstripe Bowl, with the Nittany Lions taking down the Tigers 22-10 in Yankee Stadium on Saturday.

Clearly, neither team met expectations this season after being two of the most hyped teams in college football ahead of the season. At the end of a miserable season for Penn State (7-6) and Clemson (7-6), it was the Nittany Lions who ended their season on a high note. It’s tough to say that this one didn’t make sense and is a fitting end to the Tigers’ season.

Even when Clemson is at their best this season, this team never looked like it was going to end its season in a way that makes everyone happy. In this case, however, no one is happy.

All over college football, there were letdowns. In the modern game it’s even more inevitable with the rapid changes. Whether it’s lack of development across the board at the college football level, or a program just losing their best players to a bigger beast, we’ve seen a crazy year.

Penn State’s collapse was as wild as Clemson’s, with James Franklin suffering from the awful start and being fired. Clemson made LSU look good to start the year, which inevitably ended up being a bad football team with a now fired head coach in Brian Kelly. Arch Manning and Texas were just a complete disappointment. Even to a lesser extent, look at what happened to Kansas State!

So, why do I feel like Clemson losing this game compared to Penn State just made sense at the end of the day? It’s really expectations to reality at the end of the day. Should Clemson have won that game with starting quarterback Cade Klubnik? Yes. Should Clemson win that game with Dabo Swinney as the head coach compared to an interim head coach Terry Smith? Of course… but that’s not Clemson in 2025.

From top to bottom, Clemson’s 2025 tram ended up being one of the most shocking downfalls in recent memory. I’m not saying give up hope, because I am still a heavy believer in Dabo Swinney. We just should have know that this wasn’t the Tigers year.

Now, it’s back to another massive offseason for Swinney, his coaching staff and the program. Next year we’ll see if Clemson can reclaim their spot as the top threat in the ACC, or if we should get used to what we saw in 2025 down the line.

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This article originally appeared on Clemson Wire: Clemson falling in their final game of the season makes too much sense

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