“Best is the Standard” might be a great line, but last night Dabo Swinney showed it is nothing but a line. The only standard the Tigers showed in Baton Rouge was the standard of mediocrity, incompetence, and a return to LSU football from the Tommy Bowden era. This loss was worse than the Orange Bowl, worse than 2013 FSU, and worse than losing 5 in a row to the Gamecocks. It was embarrassing, inexcusable, and just plain ugly.
Best case this is a coaching failure for week 1, a few cupcake games followed
by an easy schedule in the ACC means the Tigers show improvement over the rest of the season for a 9-3 type season. We may look back at week 1 as an odd game, or just a recognition that the mountain top is further away than we would like, but Clemson is climbing the mountain. But Clemson no longer gets the presumption of competence. Since 2021 the Tigers have shown an inability to compete on the biggest stage without a QB. Big moments are where the Tigers wilt, no longer blessed with 5 star talent, or even 5 heart talent if we are being honest.
It has been 13 years since Clemson has looked this incompetent and defeated from kickoff. We can’t even judge the offense because the OL did such a great job of imitating orange traffic cones. The DL looked ok until they were on the field so long that they became traffic cones as well.
It’s Dabo’s move now, but based on the evidence over the last 5 seasons it is hard to say anything is going to change. Buckle up everyone.
