Down, Not Done

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If you've been a fan of the Clemson Tigers for any amount of time, you're bound to have had those days where you've lost a game and hoped the next morning that the loss was just a dream.

You staggered out of bed, unmotivated and determined to forget about what happened the day before, but you couldn't.

Maybe it was the 70-33 loss to West Virginia in the Orange Bowl. Perhaps it was a No. 3 Clemson's 51-14 loss to No. 5 Florida State in Death Valley that left you with that same sinking feeling. Trust me, everyone has a game like that in the back of their minds.

One Clemson fan recently told me that following the debacle against the Mountaineers, "I didn't want to put on my orange that next day. I just wanted to puke."

You were down and rightfully so.

You shouldn't feel that way about what happened in New Orleans.

This was supposed to be Clemson's "down" year. 2017 was going to be the year that Clemson Tiger football came crashing back to reality.

Instead, the Tigers won their third straight ACC Title and played in the College Football Playoff for a third consecutive season.  

So you are feeling a little bit down. Get over it. The best is yet to come.

Heading into the season minus Deshaun Watson, Wayne Gallman, Mike Williams, Jordan Leggett, Ben Boulware, Carlos Watkins, and Cordrea Tankersley, every single Clemson fan would have taken a chance to play in the playoff. Win, lose or draw.

Following Clemson's 24-6 loss to Alabama, Dabo Swinney remarked, "At the end of the day, when you take a deep breath, and you step back a little bit, this will be one of the best teams that we have had. I mean, this has been a remarkable team. It really has."

Truth be told every team in the country except for Alabama and Georgia, who get to play for the title on Monday, would love to be where Clemson is today. The Tigers were on the biggest stage, ranked No. 1, and playing in a game that felt like a national championship was on the line. 

In addition to Clemson's playoff berth and conference titles, Swinney has built a program with a rare level of consistency lead by a small group of seniors. In fact, the smallest group by far compared to the other college football playoff participants. The Tigers have just six scholarship seniors leaving the program.

Speaking of the seniors, Swinney stated, "To see those guys win 50 games in their career and 40 in the last three years, it's been a heck of a run."

It really has, that run 40-4 (2015-2017) to be exact, is the second best three year run in the history of college football. Only Nick Saban, who managed to go 40-3 (2014-2016) has been better. Saban can set a new mark going 41-3 (2015-2017) in three seasons if the Crimson Tide can win the national title Monday.

So no one outside of Nick Saban and Alabama has ever matched what Dabo Swinney and Clemson have achieved.

The Tigers are a perennial contender for the playoff, and they are the top team in a Power 5 conference. They are bringing in a loaded recruiting class with possibly more additions in February.

There will be more opportunities for Clemson in the College Football Playoff. 

So you're down, and Clemson was supposed to be "down," but the Tigers delivered a playoff berth and the first trip to the Sugar Bowl in 59 years. 

As Christian Wilkins put it after the game, "We would have been in the Potato Bowl if it was up to everybody else."

It stinks losing. That's never going to change. But if this is what a "down" season looks like for Clemson, I'll take it because I know that the Tigers aren't done.