Never a Doubt: Tigers and Cyclones Were Always Going to Play

ORLANDO, FL—Multiple bowl games have been canceled in 2021 due to the COVID-19, and more to the point the Omicron variant. However, fans of the Clemson Tigers and the Iowa State Cyclones need not worry because there was never a chance that this first-ever meeting was not going to happen at the Cheez-It Bowl.

I know that coming from Ames to Orlando, there was no chance we were going to pass that off," Iowas State head coach Matt Campbell said in the coaches' final press conference Tuesday morning. "But no, I would just say you know we never had an issue or had anything to worry about. You know, our kids did a phenomenal job really over the last two years of understanding the challenges that are out there. Trying to do what's best for everybody inside of our walls in trying to do a great job of keeping health and safety at the forefront of everything we've done. And so I really appreciate our kid's ownership and buy-in value to that experience. And no, we were really looking forward to this opportunity."

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney echoed the sentiments of his counterpart, even though COVID protocols have two Tigers out for Wednesday's game and another player in quarantine due to protocols there was never a doubt about playing the game.

"Guys have done a great job all year. And you know we've had, everybody's had to manage a spot or two along the way. But no, we are super excited to be here," Swinney said. "It's been an awesome experience and really kind of fun because we've always, you know, even in six playoffs—last year didn't really count because that was a two-day away trip. There was no bowl experience just like the hotel rooms. But prior to that games, you know, all the way back...we've always tried to really value the experience. I've always really tried to make it a memorable experience for the families and our players. We've not changed that approach."

Swinney added that while this bowl game is not the same as the playoff the Tigers have experienced the previous six seasons, it is still special to see the players enjoying the time and funt that comes with a bowl game.

"We watch bowl games and playoff games, but we really haven't treated this any different from the playoff experience," Swinney said. "The cool thing for me though is we have a bunch of guys on the team that have never experienced this...So it was really cool. And they really didn't know what to expect. And so to watch them go through that it's been a lot of fun. It's been a great time. There's been no thoughts of not playing and anything like that for us to stay on the road."

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