DURHAM, N.C. — Monday was judgement night for Clemson, and coach Dabo Swinney expects the jury will deliver a scathing verdict.
Clemson arrived in Durham ranked ninth in the Associated Press preseason poll and was an overwhelming favorite to beat a Duke team that hadn't toppled a top-10 program since 1989.
The Tigers left Durham battered, bludgeoned and utterly baffled after a 28-7 loss that saw Clemson stumble through four drives inside the red zone that ended without points. «That's the weirdest game I've ever been a part of,» Swinney said. «I've been beat.
I've had my butt kicked. But that's the strangest game I've ever been a part of.» Clemson had 12 more first downs, 48 more yards, and both threw and rushed for 200 yards — a stat, Swinney noted afterward, that had correlated to a 108-0 all-time record for the Tigers before Monday night.