CLEMSON — Dabo Swinney was very blunt following Wednesday’s practice at the Allen Reeves Football Complex.
In his post practice interview, the Clemson head coach was asked about a comment that came from linebacker Wade Woodaz earlier in the day, describing how Swinney addressed the team to go and finish the job and close the season strong, something they failed to do in 2022.
“I think the biggest thing in ’22 is we screwed it up,” Swinney said.
The Tigers were ranked No. 4 in the country and undefeated as they headed to South Bend, Ind., to take on a 5-3 Notre Dame team.
Sound familiar?
Louisville comes into Saturday’s game with a 5-3 record. However, Swinney is motivating the 2024 team to not repeat history.
The Irish pummeled Clemson that night at Notre Dame Stadium, jumping out to a 35-0 lead before the Tigers scored two late touchdowns to make it respectable, 35-14.
“That team was good enough to be (in the College Football Playoff),” he said. “We won the league, but we had one really bad outing and then we had one of those three losses we have had at home in the last decade-plus and we lost by one point at home.”
That one-point loss was to rival South Carolina, which snapped the Tigers’ 40-game home win streak, which was the longest on the country at the time. After beating North Carolina in the ACC Championship Game, Clemson closed the year with a loss to Tennessee in the Orange Bowl.
After starting the year 8-0 in 2022, the Tigers won just three of their final six games and finished 11-3.
“We lost by one point at home with a lead in the fourth quarter. We did not finish,” Swinney said. “So, that is what has really kept us from being great is finishing.”
Clemson (6-1, 5-0 ACC) finished the season strong last year. The Tigers won their last five games. However, before that, they were 4-4 and failed to finish in earlier losses to Florida State, Miami and NC State.
Two of those losses came in overtime, while the third was a seven-point defeat.
Besides playing Louisville (5-3, 3-2 ACC), Clemson also has a visit to Virginia Tech (Nov. 9) and No. 18 Pittsburgh (Nov. 16) coming up before closing the year against The Citadel (Nov. 23) and the Gamecocks (Nov. 30).
“Last year, we finished really well, but we did not get off to the kind of start that we wanted,” Swinney said. “It is the same thing, we did not finish those games early in the season, overtime, double overtime, one-score-pick-six-game. We had plenty of opportunities at Duke. Two fumbles at the one-yard line, we did not finish the drives.
“So, we finished the season well and we had a good season, but if you are to have a great season, you have to put it all together. So, here we are, right where we were a couple of years ago.”
The question is can this team do something that the 2022 team did not.
“These guys, they have an opportunity right in front of them and we will see if they are committed enough to do what they need to do to finish.”