Win Over Seminoles Was One For the Ages

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney has had numerous big wins in his time as the Tigers headman.

There was the win over Louisville in 2016, the win over Oklahoma in 2014, wins over Ohio State in Orange Bowl and then in the Fiesta Bowl—that secured their first trip to the CFP National Championship game, a BYOG game against Notre Dame, oh, and two national title wins over Alabama—just to name a few.

But Saturday the, then 4-3, Tigers' win ranks ahead of a lot of wins for Swinney—in fact, it is a top-five win for Swinney. 

"Thirteen years here and nineteen at Alabama, I would probably put (tonight) in top-five wins all-time,” Swinney said. “I can't put into words all that we've dealt with this year. They're just so resilient. You saw the foundation of our program tonight. You can build something great but also withstand adversity when it comes. Unshakable belief. That shined through tonight, that's what they stood on tonight."

Probably a major portion of the feeling of it being one of the most important wins of all time comes from the fact that this season has not panned out the way that the Tigers had envisioned.

With injuries, attrition and a multitude of missed opportunities through their first seven games, the Tigers could have splintered and fallen apart. They could have had players opt-out and call it a career—and really, who would blame them. But instead, they have fought through the tough times, they have persevered and just when it looked like the Tigers were going to fall victim to another heartbreaking loss against a much-improved Seminole team, they found a way to win. 

And that made this win special.

"It was the way intended to be: the offense had to go win the game, with how bad we've been this year,” Swinney said. “Most of our drives were scoring opportunities, even if we didn't finish. Our running backs were two freshmen. You think they're going to get better or worse? We ran the ball tremendously."

"Sometimes (the locker room celebrations) are sweeter than a 35-3, especially when you're trying to build and teach," Swinney added.