Wrote Greg Wallace last Sunday:

Dabo Swinney resisted the temptation.

It was right there, sitting on a verbal platter.

Sunday afternoon, a reporter asked Clemson’s first-year coach if he had anything to say to his critics, so vociferous three weeks ago following an ugly 24-21 loss at Maryland that dropped the Tigers to 2-3.

Here was his chance for an I-told-you-so, one he’d so richly earned…

Sorry. While Dabo is certainly to be credited for putting together back-to-back wins — one of those on the road against a top-10 team — he has not earned any “I-told-you-sos”. That is, unless, he was being told that he would never beat a good team. That’s a very specific criticism that I never heard.

A season had been pulled from the brink following Clemson’s stirring 40-37 overtime win at No. 8 Miami, the first road top-25 win in three years and matching the highest-ranked opponent the Tigers had ever beaten away from Death Valley.

Again, sorry. Despite the euphoria from Saturday’s win — a win which cannot be understated — this season is still on the brink. A single loss in any of the next 4 games pretty much sends the season over the cliff. Lose to Coastal and, yeah, I think it will be hard to say the critics didn’t have a point. Else, get past Coastal and lose a remaining ACC game. Well then there goes the ACCCG and the season, like so many in recent past, will be unacceptably mediocre. Every remaining game is must-win.

Swinney, however, demurred.

Good for him. At least he’s smart enough for not taking credit before he’s actually accomplished anything.

Posted on Friday, October 30th, 2009 at 11:12 am by Broken Gnome

Filed under ACC, Clemson, Coaching, Football.

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