Clemson loses in first game under new coach

They’re big on tradition and familiarity at Clemson, but the Tiger faithful aren’t about to become nostalgic about losing.  The Dabo Swinney era at Clemson began pretty much the same way the Tommy Bowden era ended—with a talented but mentally weak and character challenged Tiger team bumbling to another home loss in what was once the most feared stadium in college football.  The current Clemson crop doesn’t deserve to refer to the “house that Danny Ford built” by its longtime nickname “Death Valley”, so Memorial Stadium will have to suffice for now.  The latest team to waltz into Clemson’s home venue and breeze to victory is Georgia Tech, who opened up a 14-3 halftime lead before withstanding a token Tiger comeback attempt to prevail by a final score of 21-17.

At least Tiger QB Cullen Harper is probably happy—the utterly classless former starter probably got his job back at least for the time being.  Harper’s inept play got him benched and went a long way toward costing Tommy Bowden his job.  After Harper and his daddy spent the week crowing that Bowden “got what he deserved” by being fired, he was pressed back into service after an injury to Willy Korn.  After the game Korn’s MRI showed a fairly serious shoulder bruise, so Swinney named Harper the starter for the Tigers 11/1 game at Boston College.  Harper did try to “announce his presence with authority” upon entering the game, throwing two TDs to make the margin respectable but throwing two INTs to cost his team a chance at winning the game.  Of course the team’s well being didn’t matter to him, as he’s the sort of punk who likely spent last night “celebrating” his teammate’s injury.

Swinney spent much of the week gladhanding the locals and making a big show of embracing all of the beloved Clemson football traditions, but it’s apparent that he’s just there so the Tigers can limp through the rest of the season.  After the season ends, expect Swinney and the rest of the coaching staff to be gone as athletic director Terry Don Phillips guts the program to rebuild from the ground up.  For the time being, the only real expectation for Swinney is that he show up in time for kickoffs and makes sure he has eleven players on the field.

The Tigers mercifully get a bye week before playing at Boston College and then head to Tallahassee to play Florida State.  Certainly Seminoles' coach Bobby Bowden won’t take his son’s firing personally and seek to make a statement against a disorganized and hapless Clemson program.  After two likely road losses the Tigers will return home on 11/15 to face Duke before ending their train wreck of a season with games against Virginia and hated rivals South Carolina.