Right now, the Clemson Tigers fans will stay cocooned for a couple of days to get rid of their trauma. After all, the 2025 season marked their head coach Dabo Swinney’s worst start, a 1-3 record for the first time. And it was possible with their latest blow by Syracuse Orange (21-34) on Saturday, September 20 night. The game officially went into a weather delay at 2:13 PM Eastern. Lightning was detected within 8 miles of Memorial Stadium. Maybe it was just the universe’s way of saying what Swinney and his boys are going to face on the gridiron. Now that the Tigers got struck by thunder, even Swinney can no longer pretend ‘All is well.’
Remember what the head coach said just a few days before the 2025 season pulled the curtains? “From a football standpoint, we have to be ‘one’. We are stronger together; we’ve got to be one,” said the head coach. Four weeks and four games down, here we are, and Swinney has accepted his hard fate.
Right after the game wrapped up on September 20, Clemson Tiger Net analyst Grayson Mann tweeted, “I’ve been in a lot of painful locker rooms. That was up there near the top. My heart hurts for the team and for the fans.” Talking about Swinney? He’s experienced many difficult postgame situations after losses. Clemson lost to both ranked SEC opponents they faced last season, first to No. 1 Georgia to start the year and then to rival South Carolina.
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But the defeat at the hands of Fran Brown’s boys has left a deep wound in Swinney’s heart, as he admitted it was one of the “top” defeats he’s ever been part of. He wrapped up his short post-game message expressing empathy to all the Clemson loyals and team members going through this hard phase as Swinney’s boys dropped their second consecutive game. And guess which part hurts the most?
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Clemson’s path to the College Football Playoff is now slipping away. Not just this, with two ACC losses already on the books, even a shot at the conference title looks grim. Right now, Swinney’s program is trailing by seven points or more in all four of its games this season, very similar to only UCLA and Virginia Tech’s 2025 ride so far. It might be difficult for the fans to believe that it is the same Swinney who led the Tigers to CFP national titles in 2016 and 2018. Only once before in his tenure, back in 2010, has Clemson found itself with just two more losses than wins this deep into a season.
Against Syracuse, Swinney’s defense crumbled. Poor angles, tackling whiffs, and too many penalties, they did not run out of options. Clemson’s defense delivered one of its roughest outings under Swinney, surrendering 433 yards overall, with 303 yards and 18 first downs allowed before halftime. On top of that, the Tigers were flagged three times for 45 yards. “We just can’t seem to be on the same page and play complimentary football,” Swinney sounded frustrated. Now, how is his quarterback, Cade Klubnik, dealing with the fresh heartbreak?
Cade Klubnik’s confidence after Dabo Swinney’s quarterback’s drop off
Unlike his head coach, who sounded all low, Klubnik has shown his zeal, promising a turnaround. As Clemson Sports Media tweeted, “#Clemson QB Cade Klubnik when asked how much belief he has in his team: “I’ve got all the belief. I will continue to fight for this team….I’m not going anywhere.”” But will the fans believe his words after the fall against Syracuse?
When Swinney’s quarterback needed to be great, he couldn’t come through. In crunch time, the mistakes piled up. Klubnik kept the ball instead of handing off to Adam Randall on two critical downs. Swinney’s quarterback continued to struggle as he tossed a late fourth-quarter pick while trailing by 14, and misfired on several must-convert throws. So, maybe Urban Meyer was right about Klubnik with his honest opinion.
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Four games down, he has completed 52 of 88 passes, for 633 yards, and three touchdowns, dropping his completion rate to 59.1% and QBR to 43.8. Now that’s not something fans expected from Swinney’s quarterback, who has been considered one of the nation’s best quarterbacks. Meyer did not mince his words and said, “For some reason, Clubnik’s not playing well. For some reason, their team just, I think their schedule is going to lighten up here, and they’ll go on a run, and they’ll get it figured out.”