Skip to content

Ad Disclosure

Dabo Swinney goes on epic rant at Clemson’s schedule detractors after South Carolina win: ‘It’s the dadgummest thing’

Paul Harvey

By Paul Harvey

Published:

Clemson improved to 12-0 with a season-ending win over in-state rivalry South Carolina, but there are still some people who have harped on the Tigers for a weaker schedule.

To their credit, the Tigers did have two non-conference games against SEC opponents this season. Unfortunately, Texas A&M did not turn out to be as good as expected and South Carolina has had a rough season.

Add in the fact that the ACC is in the midst of a down season, and it is hard to find a win that really stands out on Clemson’s schedule. That has led some people to criticize the Tigers’ No. 3 ranking despite being undefeated.

After Saturday’s win, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney was asked about how big the win over a 4-8 Gamecocks squad was. Needless to say, he went off:

“How important is this game? It’s huge! It’s huge from a national standpoint because if we lose this game, they’re gonna kick us out (of the Playoff),” said Swinney. “They don’t want us in there anyway. We’d drop to 20. Georgia loses to this very same team, and the next day it’s ‘How do we keep Georgia in it?’ We WIN – to a team that beat South Carolina – and it’s ‘How do we get Clemson out?’ It’s the dadgummest thing.

“It’s big. They can’t vote us out. We’ve gotta go 30-0! We don’t got no choice! Because we don’t play nobody!”

Matt Dowell with WACH FOX shared the video of Swinney’s comments:

On the one hand, Swinney does have a point with Georgia’s home loss to South Caroline proving to be one of the worst among CFP contenders. To this point, that loss hasn’t affected Georgia’s ranking at No. 4.

Regardless of his comments, Swinney and the Tigers seem to thrive in an underdog role. All Clemson has to do is win the ACC Championship Game next weekend and they’ll be in the Playoff.

Paul Harvey

Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.