Swinney has already compiled 158 victories over his 15 years in Death Valley. The Tigers had their string of six straight Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) titles snapped after going 10-3 last season. Clemson was a College Football Playoff (CFP) team each of those six years, appearing in four National Championship games, with a pair of trophies being hoisted at the end.
If Clemson is to get back to the CFP in 2022, Swinney may need to pull off his greatest illusion yet.
The Tigers are one of six remaining unbeatens in the country. While TCU is the biggest surprise in the country, the Tigers are the Jeckyl and Hyde program with the playoff push ongoing. Clemson has won 14 straight games, the longest current streak in the country. However, the Tigers should have seen the mark snapped at least twice this month.
It took two overtimes to knock off #21 Wake Forest 51-45 in Week Four, while junior quarterback DJ Uiagalelei was benched at halftime last week against #14 Syracuse. The Orange led 21-10 at the break, leading Swinney to turn to freshman Cade Klubnik. The Tigers scored 17 fourth quarter points, but still needed a key interception with the Orange driving in the final minute to secure the win.
Since the Tigers reached the National Championship game in 2015, Swinney is one of only two coaches to beat Sabin twice (2016 & 2018…both in the CFP). The other being Gus Malzhan at Auburn (2017 & 2019 in the Iron Bowl), who was fired after the 2020 season, in the largest buyout for a coach in college football history ($21.45 million).
Clemson currently sits fifth in both the AP and Coaches Polls, earning a first-place vote in the AP poll. Ohio State or Michigan will lose before the bowl schedule is announced, while Tennessee or Georgia will also leave the unbeaten ranks in the “Game of the Year of the Week” next Saturday in Athens. There’s also the chance that Saban may get his revenge against Georgia in the SEC Championship, which could further plow the road for Clemson to improve their seeding, while possibly knocking the Bulldogs completely out of contention with a potential second loss.
The Tigers still need to take care of business against Notre Dame, Miami and their Palmetto Bowl rivalry against South Carolina to close the regular season. The Irish and Hurricanes were ranked high to start 2022, but quickly fell victim to upsets. South Carolina currently sits at #25, which could certainly strengthen their resume for the pollsters.
Clemson’s strength continues to be their defense, which currently only allows 19.9 points a game (24th in the country). Trevor Lawrence and DeShaun Watson were both finalists twice for the Heisman Trophy, something that Swinney hoped Uiagalelei would blossom into. Ohio State has CJ Stroud, Alabama has Bryce Young, and Stetson Bennett is a defending champion at Georgia. All three are capable of winning the National Championship in 2022, complimented by their defenses.
In Swinney’s case this year, the controversy under center that has seemingly developed could not come at a worse time, when all of your final four opponents could end up bowl-eligible. Miami needs a little help, but the talent is certainly there to make a late-season run.
Klubnik was a five-star recruit, so the benching of Uiagalelei against Syracuse certainly was not a premature eulogy. Remember that Ohio State went to Cardale Jones in all three of their 2014 playoff games, resulting in the National Championship…beating Sabin in the semifinal.
-JC24