Ever since a 21-20 win over North Carolina way back on September 28, Clemson spent the next 2 month devouring opponents. Yes the ACC is nothing special, but Clemson has the look and feel of a team that can a win championship.
Today against a bad South Carolina team, but still one that went into Athens and beat Georgia, and had competitive moments with Florida and Appalachian State, Clemson went to Columbia and completely dominated the Gamecocks 38-3 and it wasn’t that close.
First downs: Clemson 30, South Carolina 9
Rushing yards: Clemson 211, South Carolina 69
Passing yards: Clemson 316, South Carolina 105
Total yards: Clemson 527, South Carolina 174
Turnovers: Clemson 0, South Carolina 1Pure dominance in every phase of the game.
— Orange and White (@orangeandwhite) November 30, 2019
Clemson is beating teams by 40 points a game, and Dabo Swinney is still finding ways to motivate and focus his team as the playoff nears.
Dabo Swinney, ranting about how Georgia lost to South Carolina, but Clemson won: “Obviously if we lose this game, they’re going to kick us out. They don’t want to us in there anyway. We’d drop to 20.” It appears Dabo has convinced his team no one wants to see Clemson earn a bid..
— Grace Raynor (@gmraynor) November 30, 2019
Clemson coach Dabo Swinney: “The storyline always seems to be we don’t play anybody and we’re 10-1 our last 11 against the SEC.”
— Eric Boynton (@ericjboynton) November 30, 2019
A lively debate on twitter with @MattThompson87 and @gumby6111984 got me thinking about Swinney’s ability to motivate.
This is classic Dabo Swinney and it is every bit as brilliant as formulating a new offensive or defensive gameplan. Despite winning games by 40+ points a game, Swinney pushes the right buttons for his team to play with an edge that makes them a national title contender.
Social media and statistically savvy Swinney will find any seeming slight against his team, and use it like a 47-7 loss. Some call it overplayed and/or unnecessary, but why should Swinney stop doing what’s working? One day, a Clemson team is probably going to tune out Swinney’s lack of respect card, but that time doesn’t seem to be in the foreseeable future.
As long as the media provides him easy fodder like questioning Clemson’s play after 1 close game, the strength of schedule, or something like Trevor Lawarence’s QB play after after a couple of mistakes, then as he should, Swinney will use it.
It’s an underappreciated part of Swinney’s coaching ability. That said, Swinney’s “little ole Clemson” mantra will wear thin nationally and with many opposing fans.
That’s understandable, but who can argue with the results?
Make sure you follow the All Sports Discussion Twitter account at @AllSportsDACC and please like our Facebook Page
Leave a Reply