Expect a Salty Dabo Swinney in Blacksburg on Saturday

Dabo Swinney did not have a great day last Saturday in Clemson, South Carolina. Entering the contest, the 11th-ranked Tigers were considered a good bet to make the A.C.C. Championship. After getting drubbed by Georgia in the opener, Clemson responded nicely by winning six straight games.

Louisville came into the contest unranked with a 5-3 mark. Louisville manhandled the Tigers. The most concerning stat line is that Clemson uncharacteristically gave up over 200 yards on the ground, Clemson’s blueprint for success this season has been owning the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. Expect Clemson to try and exploit a porous Virginia Tech run defense, much like Syracuse did last week.

With S.M.U having a clear shot to the title game, Clemson must win out to have a chance. With the bad loss against Georgia and a worse home defeat to Louisville, it’s unlikely the Tigers can garner an at-large bid to the 12-team playoff.

This was supposed to be a return to glory year for Dabo and the Clemson Tigers. This offseason, many in the media were questioning Dabo’s reluctance to use the transfer portal to beef up his roster. Dabo pushed back and defended his culture and his family's approach to his team.

With a couple of lackluster seasons (Clemson’s standards) this year was kind of make or break for his ideaology. Saturday’s loss certainly threw some gas on the fire for a somewhat spoiled Clemson fan base, so the Hokies should expect Clemson’s best. Swinney certainly sounded frustrated in the post-game presser, but make no mistake: Clemson is still a very good football team and will try and take their frustrations out at Virginia Tech.