It seems as if Dabo Swinney has had enough.
Clemson’s head coach said on his call-in show Monday night if he has to embarrass someone to assure the Tigers will make the College Football Playoff, then they will not make the playoff.
“If it comes down to style points, we will have to be on the outside looking in because I am not about that at all,” Swinney said in his answer to one of his callers. “I am just worried about playing well and playing to a standard.”
Despite winning five of its first six games in dominating fashion, though it has yet to play its best game, Clemson (6-0, 4-0 ACC) continues to catch slack about its schedule. The Tigers beat Florida State by 31 points last Saturday, but still fell a spot in the Associated Press Top 25.
Clemson pulled its starters against the Seminoles with 9:39 to play in the third quarter following Derion Kendrick’s 38-yard interception return, which gave them a 42-0 lead at the time. Quarterback Trevor Lawrence did not even throw a pass in the second half.
Both of FSU’s second-half touchdowns came against Clemson’s second-and-third string players.
Lawrence has played in just two complete fourth quarters this season and in one of those games—against Texas A&M—the Tigers led by 21 points until the final six seconds when the Aggies’ scored their only touchdown against mostly the second-team defense. Lawrence played just one quarter against Charlotte before being pulled.
Clemson has won its first six games by an average of 27 points per game.
“I do want to dominate the opponent, but I am not out there trying to embarrass people and things like that,” Swinney said. “I am not going to get a player hurt when you are up 45-0 and really the game is over. I know some people may not like that but that is just the way it is.”
Critics continue to harp on the Tigers’ schedule and punish them for Texas A&M’s shortcomings and the lack of star power in the ACC. Clemson is currently the only ACC team ranked in both major polls.
Swinney believes they should be awarded for trying to play the Texas A&Ms instead of being punished because the Aggies are having a bad year. He also feels the Tigers have earned the right where other teams’ shortcomings should not affect their resume when it comes to College Football Playoff Committee or anyone else for that matter.
“I think our resume speaks well for itself. We have beat them all to be quite honest with you. I don’t know what else to say,” Swinney said. “People have been saying for years that we don’t play anybody. There is no different story line this year than there has been the last eight years.
“Since 2012, let’s see we have beat LSU, we beat Georgia, we beat Texas A&M twice, we beat Auburn four times, we beat Oklahoma twice, we have beaten Ohio State (twice). We have beaten Alabama twice. We have beaten Notre Dame twice.
“So, I mean that is the same rhetoric that has been out there forever. Every year, apparently, we don’t play anybody. People need to focus on who we are as a team and who we are as a program and all of that stuff.”
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