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Clemson football head coach Dabo Swinney didn't mince words when asked why his team had a dismal second half against Georgia.
“When you get beat like that, that's on the head coach, that's on me,” Swinney said, via Chapel Fowler on X, formerly Twitter. “So, it's just complete ownership of just an absolute crap second half and just really disappointed, but I've done it long enough. Sometimes you get your butt kicked like we did today and that's not what we came here to do. But you got to give Georgia credit and we got to move on, we got to learn from it.”
Clemson’s Dabo Swinney after the 34-3 loss to Georgia: “They kicked our tails.” Says he’s “really disappointed” and a loss like this one is squarely on the head coach. He takes full responsibility for a performance he describes as “crap” pic.twitter.com/SoAo1mCEyc
— Chapel Fowler (@chapelfowler) August 31, 2024
The first half for Clemson football was very surprising. They limited Georgia to six points and forced eight punts. However, football is a game of two halves. The Bulldogs surged and scored 28 points in the second half to put an emphatic stamp on a Top-25 matchup.
Clemson football did have an opportunity to score in the third quarter. A third-down conversion and a roughing-the-passer penalty helped push Clemson to the Georgia 6-yard line. However, they weren't able to convert due to the Georgia-induced quarterback pressure on Cade Klubnik. Besides that scoring drive, nothing else worked for Clemson. Even with Georgia being the No. 1-ranked team in the country, it was no excuse in Swinney's eyes.
How can Dabo Swinney improve for Clemson football?
Obviously, starting the season against Georgia isn't exactly the most favorable matchup for Clemson. However, that's the standard for Clemson. After a disappointing 9-4 season where they didn't win 10 games for the first time since 2010, they wanted a challenge. Swinney wanted that intensity that comes with a tough matchup like playing Georgia.
Unfortunately, the task proved to be too tough for Swinney's squad. The schedule doesn't make things easier for Clemson for the rest of the season. With an increase in teams for the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), teams like Stanford and California could prove a challenge. While their respective records aren't close to Clemson, the increase in teams could prevent Clemson from being at the top of the ACC.
Swinney will have to coach up his team and make sure they bring it for both halves. The Clemson football coach will also need a better performance out of the highly touted Cade Klubnik, who suffered through a brutal game against the elite Georgia defense. Based on Saturday, Dabo has his work cut out for him.
