North Carolina’s Durham Clemson’s judgment night was Monday, and head coach Dabo Swinney anticipates a harsh decision from the jury.
Nineteenth in the Associated Press preseason poll when it arrived in Durham, Clemson was a clear favorite to defeat Duke, which hadn’t defeated a top-10 program since 1989.
After a 28-7 defeat in which Clemson faltered through four drives inside the red zone that resulted in no points, the Tigers left Durham bruised, bludgeoned, and completely perplexed.
“I’ve never played a game like that before,” Swinney remarked. “I was defeated. My behind has been kicked. However, that is the most peculiar game I have ever played.”
Prior to Monday night, Clemson had a 108-0 all-time record. They also had 12 more first downs, 48 more yards, and 200 yards of total offense from both passing and running. Swinney mentioned this statistic in the post-game analysis.
Clemson’s disastrous red zone performance—two short field goals that were blocked and two fumbles by the offense after a first-and-goal at the one—was the downfall.
Clemson mishandled the ball three times in total.
“What I just witnessed is almost beyond words,” Swinney exclaimed. “It is really annoying when you have so many opportunities. It’s everyday fare. the fundamentals. The essentials. Fundamentals, fundamentals.”
Midway through the fourth quarter, a scramble on fourth-and-7 resulted in a turnover on downs when quarterback Cade Klubnik slid short of the marker. Klubnik had thrown for 209 yards and ran for 34 more. Duke was given possession despite a flag being thrown for targeting during the play, a decision that Swinney later acknowledged was correct.
Klubnik, who was making his second career start for Clemson following the Tigers’ Orange Bowl loss to Tennessee at the end of the 2022 season, would learn from the play, according to Swinney.
