Misery Index: Dabo Swinney and Clemson aren’t having a lot enjoyable this season

In future years, Clemson being ranked No. 4 within the preseason Associated Press ballot goes to appear like a type of unusual cultural artifacts that don’t make a lot sense looking back, akin to the recognition of waterbeds, stuffed celery being thought-about elite cocktail celebration meals and drawings of apes buying and selling on the Internet for tons of of hundreds of {dollars}.

But worse than the rating — which by no means made sense within the first place — was the narrative surrounding Dabo Swinney’s seventeenth season as head coach.

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It wasn’t simply that individuals thought Clemson was going to be a nationwide championship contender once more after 4 fairly mediocre years by Clemson requirements, it was this notion that Swinney’s continuity-based method to crew constructing was going to be rewarded in methods it hadn’t been because the begin of faculty soccer’s switch portal period.

Here’s the humorous half about that: As Clemson sits at 1-2, wanting like probably the most disappointing crew within the nation, its greatest participant has been Purdue switch Will Heldt.

Even Heldt’s All-American-level play as an edge rusher wasn’t sufficient to avoid wasting the Tigers from a 24-21 loss at Georgia Tech, a extremely entertaining recreation that ended with a 55-yard field goal by Aidan Birr as time expired.

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But the difficulty for Swinney isn’t about one robust loss, and even the Tigers’ season opener towards LSU when their offense couldn’t do a lot of something towards a gifted protection. It’s the pile-up of losses like this towards high quality opponents which have utterly undermined the credibility of his program.

Sure, there’s a situation the place Clemson will get its act collectively, rolls off wins towards the likes of Duke and Boston College, beats Florida State at dwelling and finally ends up cosmetically again within the College Football Playoff combine by the point it faces South Carolina on Thanksgiving weekend. We’ve seen that act earlier than.

In reality, we’ve seen it sufficient that the one applicable response could be to roll our eyes.

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Nobody’s going to purchase it.

“I’ve had enough praise and criticism to last three lifetimes,” Swinney advised reporters after the sport. “I’ll be fine. But I hurt for our team and our fans. These are great kids. They care. It’s not the start we wanted, but we’ve got to find a way forward.”

Here’s the best way ahead: It’s time for the dialog round Clemson to vary dramatically. And if we assume Swinney goes to proceed in his job making greater than $11 million per yr — as a result of why wouldn’t he? — small tweaks in employees and philosophy aren’t going to chop it anymore.

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When you win two nationwide titles, get all of the sources essential to compete in perpetuity and play in an ACC the place you solely face a pair actually large video games per yr, this isn’t simply ok.

Real management in school soccer isn’t cussed and doesn’t enable itself to get deluded in regards to the true state of affairs.

Clemson isn’t a contender anymore, and it’s not a top-10 program within the nation. Before Swinney had his first actual style of success, he would have acknowledged that actuality and completed no matter it took to tug his program to the mountaintop.

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But is that this new model — a bit of older, an entire lot richer and far more cussed about how he does issues — going to be up for a full program reinvention?

Whether Swinney actually sees what’s essential continues to be up for debate, which is why Clemson reigns as America’s most depressing fan base in Week 3.

Big Ten: To the extent UCLA soccer followers exist (and also you wouldn’t actually understand it judging by the crowds that present up on the Rose Bowl today), they have to be asking what the purpose is of all this. And by this, we imply taking part in Big Ten soccer when you possibly can’t even beat groups within the Mountain West. Friday night time’s 35-10 loss to New Mexico not solely confirmed that the 30-23 loss to UNLV one week earlier wasn’t a fluke, it pointed to a grim risk that this crew would possibly go 0-12. Maybe the Bruins can discover a win towards Northwestern or Maryland, however UCLA doesn’t appear critical sufficient about soccer at this level to make the inconvenience of taking part in within the Big Ten price it. That’s the way it ended up hiring DeShaun Foster on a budget within the first place after Chip Kelly’s departure. Sure, it’ll solely price a bit of greater than $5 million to purchase him out, however the institutional points appear deeper than teaching.

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Big 12: A yr in the past, Florida State was ranked No. 10 to start out the season, misplaced a heartbreaking season opener in Ireland, got here again stateside and spiraled to a 2-10 document that no one noticed coming. Well, it seems we’ve got a brand new archetype for the Dublin Curse with Kansas State. The Wildcats went to Ireland ranked No. 17, misplaced a nailbiter to Iowa State and have been stunningly dangerous ever since. Actually, it’s worse than that. Kansas State isn’t simply 1-3 (and the win required a really lucky comeback towards North Dakota), it seemed like a crew that was disinterested in a 23-17 loss at Arizona. Coach Chris Klieman promised adjustments after the sport, however Kansas State is so dangerous alongside the offensive line that you simply ponder whether they’ve the psychological and emotional stamina to combat for a season that’s already gone. That’s what occurred to FSU final yr, and we shouldn’t be stunned if Kansas State struggles to cease the freefall.

SEC: How would Tennessee’s fan base spend their time if not for the what-ifs they’ve lived by means of over time? So right here’s one other one for the ages. If Josh Heupel simply sends Max Gilbert out to kick from 38 yards relatively than snapping it another time to middle the ball, does Tennessee beat Georgia with a walk-off subject objective? The reply might be sure. Instead, the Vols dedicated a false begin penalty. That backed the kick up 5 yards, Gilbert missed, and the sport went to time beyond regulation the place Georgia escaped Knoxville with a 44-41 victory. Sure, it’s a choke job. But in the end, each groups are nonetheless very a lot in rivalry for the CFP and the Vols are ok to get there in the event that they play in addition to they did Saturday. But that’s a tricky technique to lose to Georgia for the ninth straight yr.

Group of Five: Washington State went 8-5 final season, however the head coach from that crew is now at Wake Forest, the offensive coordinator and quarterback are at Oklahoma, and the defensive coordinator is with the Denver Broncos. The end result? At least this week, it was a 59-10 loss to North Texas. That’s an terrible robust blow — particularly when you think about that North Texas’ head coach, Eric Morris, was the Cougars’ offensive coordinator in 2022 with quarterback Cam Ward, who left for Miami and have become the NFL’s No. 1 total draft decide this yr. Most of these losses occurred as a result of the Pac-12 fell aside and left Washington State and not using a steady dwelling, and also you surprise in the event that they’ll have that a lot brainpower coming by means of the doorways ever once more.

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Headset Misery

Luke Fickell: Maybe he ought to change his identify to Luck Fickell, as a result of if it wasn’t for two-star recruit Desmond Ridder defying all odds to turn out to be an amazing quarterback at Cincinnati, Wisconsin’s coach wouldn’t be in place to gather a $25 million buyout after this season. Yes, Fickell was a scorching identify in 2022 after taking the Bearcats to the CFP one yr prior — an astounding accomplishment for which he deserves a variety of credit score. But his 14-14 document at Wisconsin, which doesn’t embrace a single notable win, ought to get much more scrutiny after an uncompetitive 38-14 win at Alabama.

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Brent Pry: Nobody within the historical past of faculty soccer has been extra fired earlier than truly being fired than Pry. It’s an all-systems failure at Virginia Tech, which trailed 31-0 at dwelling to Old Dominion earlier than dropping 45-26. What else are you able to say? Pry, who rode shotgun with James Franklin at Vanderbilt and Penn State, will virtually definitely finish his tenure with three dropping data in 4 seasons at Virginia Tech. That’s a tricky take a look at a spot that strung collectively 25 consecutive successful seasons till 2018. Virginia Tech is a tougher job now than it was again then, however there must be penalties for a tenure this embarrassing.

Jamey Chadwell: Liberty pays Chadwell like an influence convention coach, with a contract reportedly price greater than $4 million per yr. But they’re not getting energy convention outcomes these days. In reality, in case you return to the top of final season, Liberty has misplaced 4 of its final 5 video games to the likes of Sam Houston, Buffalo, Jacksonville State and most lately Bowling Green. None of these packages come near Liberty in monetary sources, and but Chadwell has misplaced to all of them. Chadwell has had a variety of good seasons as a head coach, which is why the Flames paid a lot to lure him from Coastal Carolina. But the trajectory at Liberty must be regarding.

Kirby Smart: Sure, Georgia made plays when it had to make them and got a huge road win in Knoxville. But Smart have to be tempted to start out tearing hairs straight out of his scalp after watching that protection hand over 496 yards to Tennessee. When Georgia was at its zenith in 2021 and 2022, it seemed like a facsimile of peak Alabama as a result of Smart’s protection was so deep, gifted and cruel. But the physicality and fundamentals have deteriorated precipitously, and Georgia barely looks as if Georgia anymore on that aspect of the ball. Maybe that’s simply the best way it’s within the NIL period now that Smart can’t horde expertise the best way he used to.

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Steve Sarkisian: When reporters requested earlier within the week whether quarterback Arch Manning had a shoulder injury — an affordable query based mostly on how he grimaced whereas throwing the ball final week towards San Jose State — Sark responded with snark. “I’ve never filmed any of you guys when you’re using the bathroom, so I don’t know what faces you make when you’re doing that,” he mentioned. Though we’re nonetheless confused what level he was attempting to make, it is a robust state of affairs. If Manning is injured, Texas shouldn’t be taking part in him as a result of he’s not performing well at all. But if he’s not injured and taking part in this fashion, that’s most likely even worse. After Texas muddled by means of an unimpressive 27-10 win over UTEP, we will now not fake like all the things is hunky-dory in Austin.

Moments of Misery

Brian Kelly received worn out: At 63 years previous, give him some credit score for taking a blindside hit from his personal offensive deal with Weston Davis on the sideline and bouncing again to teach the remainder of the sport. Kelly was operating towards an official to name a timeout throughout LSU’s 20-10 win over Florida when Davis’ wrestling match with a Gators participant spilled over to the boundary and ended up bulldozing an unsuspecting Kelly into the bench. Kelly is fortunate he didn’t get damage too badly, however he’s going to wish an ice tub on Sunday.

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Deion Sanders made a dumb excuse: After Colorado lost to Houston 36-20 on Friday night, he instructed in his press convention that there is perhaps a correlation between struggling in night time video games and the truth that his crew practices usually at 8 a.m. Beyond the irony of Coach Prime’s crew being dangerous in prime time, the apparent repair could be to maneuver follow to later within the day in case you actually imagine morning practices trigger dangerous night time performances. More possible, Sanders is simply struggling to spin the truth that Colorado doesn’t have a lot expertise now that his son is now not the quarterback and he doesn’t have a Heisman Trophy winner on the roster.

LaNorris Sellers took an unfortunate damage: Late within the first half of South Carolina’s 31-7 loss to Vanderbilt, the Gamecocks’ quarterback took a success from Langston Patterson that didn’t look dangerous to the bare eye however was dominated as concentrating on due to some helmet-to-helmet contact. Sellers left the game with an undisclosed injury, and that was principally the loss of life knell for South Carolina’s offense. The Gamecocks had simply 97 yards within the second half earlier than rubbish time kicked in over the ultimate couple of minutes. That’s a tricky technique to go down when it’s exhausting to even see how your quarterback received damage.

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Arkansas blew an unimaginable alternative: When the Razorbacks received the ball again with just below 4 minutes remaining at Ole Miss, it had all of the makings of an upset. Arkansas was transferring the ball virtually at will and had the Rebels on their heels, needing a landing for a large win in Oxford. Instead, popping out of the two-minute warning, Arkansas threw swing move to Jalen Brown who was preventing for first down yardage close to the 23-yard line however fumbled it in a crowd for his or her solely turnover of the sport. Ole Miss was in a position to kill the remainder of the clock with one first down and held on for a 41-35 victory.

Alcorn State received mercy dominated: At halftime of Mississippi State’s 63-0 win over Alcorn State, the varsity despatched an announcement that the pinnacle coaches had agreed to shorten the sport to 10-minute quarters within the second half. If you didn’t know that was allowed by rule, don’t fear. It virtually by no means occurs. But it additionally illustrates why SEC colleges must be taking part in opponents their very own dimension relatively than colleges like Alcorn State.