What Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney had to say after latest home loss, 46-45 to Duke

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Clemson football hit a new low Saturday in Death Valley. Darian Mensah led Duke on an 11-play, 94-yard touchdown drive with 40 seconds left, and the Blue Devils converted a two-point conversion for their first win at Memorial Stadium in 45 years, 46-45.

Duke’s win wasn’t without controversy. A lot will continue to be made about the pass interference call on Avieon Terrell with the Blue Devils facing fourth-and-10 at the Clemson 18-yard line with 43 seconds left. Even ACC Network announcers Wes Durham and Steve Addazio seemed baffled by the call.

If anything, Terrell looked like the player who was interfered with while covering Duke receiver Que’Sean Brown on a play where Mensah was forced to heave the ball toward the end-zone. Terrell was in position to make a game-clinching interception, but the officials flagged the Clemson cornerback for interference instead.

None of that changes the fact that Clemson’s defense under Tom Allen gave up 439 yards and allowed Mensah to throw for 361 yards and four touchdowns on 27 of 41 passes, plus the game-winning two-point conversion on a pass to Shamir Hagans when a stop would have kept the Tigers in front.

It also doesn’t change the fact that Clemson has now lost six consecutive home games against Power Four opponents dating back to Oct. 19 of last year — an unacceptable total for a program of Clemson’s caliber, even one that’s a far cry from its championship glory days seven years ago.

Clemson now sits at 3-5 overall and 2-4 in ACC play with only two conference games remaining, plus its annual matchup with rival South Carolina at the end of the season at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia. The Tigers will need to win three of their final four games to qualify for a bowl game, something they have not failed to do since 2004.

After Saturday’s game, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney met with the media to discuss his team’s latest home loss.

Duke stuns Clemson: Dabo Swinney reflects on Tigers’ latest home loss

After dispensing with the usual congratulations to the Tigers’ opponent, Dabo Swinney called Clemson’s 46-45 loss to Duke “incredibly disappointing” and “heartbreaking.”

Here’s what he said in his opening remarks:

“To win, you’ve got to not lose. It’s just as simple as that. You have to not lose to Clemson in order to win. That’s where you start. We did some really, really dumb stuff that was 1,000 percent on us. I don’t want to take anything away from the opponent, but 1,000 percent on us just not doing what we’re supposed to do. It’s just incredibly disappointing, and it’s really a shame because there were so many good things in the game. So many good things that get overshadowed because of the sting of a loss and how we lost. That’s the tough part.”

Dabo Swinney talks positives from Clemson football’s 46-45 loss to Duke

Clemson finished with 560 yards of total offense. Quarterback Cade Klubnik was 27 of 36 for 385 yards passing with two touchdowns. The Tigers rushed for 189 yards with senior Adam Randall finishing with 89 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries, and freshman Gideon Davidson had 51 yards on 12 carries.

Antonio Williams had 10 catches for 142 receiving yards and a touchdown, and T.J. Moore had 92 yards on two catches, including a 75-yard touchdown.

Swinney said of the Tigers’ offense:

“I thought offensively, they were awesome. It’s the second most yards we’ve had in 130 years with a loss. A lot of good stuff in the game. We knew we had to get the run game going, and I was really proud of how we were able to run the football. We won the line of scrimmage. I thought Cade competed his butt off. He wasn’t 100 percent but he was tremendous. He played a heck of a ball game. I thought Antonio had an amazing game. All the receivers had some big plays. Adam Randall was awesome. (Gideon Davidson), it was great to have kind of a breakout day for Gid and really get him into the rhythm of the offense, as well. He was a real bright spot in the game. So, just so many good things: big plays, explosives, run game, good balance, just a lot of great stuff. We blocked a punt. All those things were excellent.”

Dabo Swinney says Clemson pass defense was ‘horrible, horrible’

“But at the end of the day, just horrible, horrible pass defense,” Swinney said of the Tigers’ defense, which allowed Mensah to throw for 361 yards. “It’s not acceptable. Just that simple. So we’ve got to get better there. Some routine stuff, some basic stuff. We bring a cornerback and we’ve got nobody playing over the top. Eighteen seconds before the half, and we let a guy just run by us and throw a 50-yard touchdown. Just really poor awareness of the situation. Just really unbelievable.

“The kickoff return for a touchdown was a huge play in the game. Their conversions on fourth down (5-for-5) were a huge difference in the game. They didn’t run the ball great, but we couldn’t stop the passing game. Again, a lot of it was just not doing what we’re supposed to do. Just poor, poor, poor execution, and that’s coaching. That’s where we are. Really, really frustrated.”

Dabo Swinney offers blunt response to controversial pass interference call on Avieon Terrell

“I don’t even really know what to say about the last call. I mean, y’all saw it, right? Shouldn’t come down to that. We had plenty of opportunities to win the game, but that’s one of the worst calls I’ve ever seen in a game — ever, in my my entire coaching career. Ever. In a situation like that, I — I don’t really know what else to say. But I don’t even want to make that a deal because we should have won the game.

“We had plenty of opportunities to win the game, but you fight your butt off and you scratch and you claw and you get in a situation like that, and you have a call like that, that’s just more salt in the wound. Again, that’s not why we lost, because we had plenty of opportunities to win. We got them pinned. They had to go 94 yards. We get them in third-and-long and we give up a big play to the tight end. Another bust. So, really just didn’t deserve to win the game and we’ve got to get it fixed.”

Why Dabo Swinney feels Clemson didn’t deserve to beat Duke

“We can focus on all the bad and there’s plenty of bad, but there’s also a lot of good in that game,” Swinney said. “There was a lot of good. We had a young lineman named Brayden Jacobs in there battling his butt off. I was super proud of him. He’s getting better and better. Again, some of the receiver play that we had. (Davidson), was great to see him make some plays.

“So, there were some positives, but we didn’t deserve to win the game. You can’t make the mistakes that we made and the busts that we made and give up those types of plays and deserve to win the game. Even with all that, we were right there in position. I appreciate the fight of our guys. The effort was there. They competed their tails off, but again, we didn’t do what it took to win the game and just do the basic stuff well.”

Dabo Swinney says Clemson loss to Duke is a ‘low of lows’

“This is obviously an incredibly disappointing time. This is a low of lows. I was sitting in there with Tim Bourret just coming back here. He said it and I agree with him: I feel like I’m in 2010 all over again. I feel like I just walked off the field in Tallahassee when had a third-and-19 and get a PI that puts them in position to kick a 55-yard field goal to win it with 2 seconds. Then we lose down there at Auburn in overtime. It just seemed like that whole year was… we’re kind of in (a similar) funk.

“We’ve got to battle our way. A lot of great things sprang up from that season and that adversity. Big picture-wise, I don’t have any doubt that that’s what’ll happen in this situation this season. How we finish will be part of the next championship. That’s just how I look at it. Nobody probably wants to hear that right now, but that’s how I look at it. It is a process, but it certainly hurts right now, and this is our reality right now. We’ve got to own it and get back to work and see if we can just find a way to win a ball game. And again, to win, you’ve got to not beat yourself. If we can get better in that area, we’ll have a better chance to win a game.”

You can watch Swinney’s full press conference after Saturday’s loss to Duke below.

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This article originally appeared on Clemson Wire: Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney speaks out after loss to Duke

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