The "Low of Lows" Edition

Dabo Swinney calls Clemson's 3-5 start after a 46-45 loss to Duke, "A low of lows." 

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Each time for Clipson Sports Talk with Lawton Swan.

Speaker 2 (00:42):
Finally, Clemson Sports Talk has come back to drive time.
Hell everybody, Swan back in the saddle once again. It
is the show that shakes the south Land. Clemson Sports
Talk for you each and every afternoon as you make
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(01:04):
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(01:28):
com two two six seven one o eight. That's Mets
Plumbing two two six seven one oh eight. Clempson Tiger
Basketball men's basketball getting underway today, the women on the
hardwood a little bit earlier and giving away Clympson football
has played maybe thankfully, maybe thankfully it's basketball season. Uh,

(01:52):
it's been a comedy of errors. It's been almost it's
like you're in an alternate universe if you're a Clemson
Tiger fan. Forty six forty five the final score, Duke,
I did predict the Blue Devils to win. Not gonna
toot my horn too much, A little tiny for that one.

(02:14):
But I did project the Blue Devils to win. What
I did not expect necessarily was that they would come
out and pounce on Clempson early twenty one to seven,
that the Tigers would respond and have a seven point
lead with a minute and one second remaining in the
first half. I mean, talk about a quick turnaround only

(02:35):
to allow the Blue Devils man to drive right down
the field. Busty coverage. Khalil Barnes again, his dad is
salty on social media and his son is not playing
good football. I mean, it's it's bad. Khalil Barnes has
been atrocious. And when people question your work ethic, how

(03:07):
hard you're playing your hustle man, that's tough. And then
dad's out there defending him on social media, you know,
telling people to keep his son's name out of his mouth.
And this was the Syracuse game where he was clearly
loafing on a play, not hustling. And then on Saturday,

(03:29):
he gives up a forty three yard touchdown with eleven
seconds remaining in the half seven play seventy five yards
Clemson allows do to go to tie the game at
twenty eight. I mean, just huge, just a huge moment
in that ball game. You don't get beat deep. You

(03:51):
don't get beat deep. Instead Kayshawan Brown forty three yards
for the score to tie the game. And then late
Clemson gets a brilliant punt and allows the Blue Devils
to go ninety four yards on eleven plays to tie

(04:11):
the game well, to potentially tie the game, but they
decided to go for two and they converted, and with
just forty seconds left, the Blue Devils took a one
point lead. Kate Klubnick was emotional after the game. We'll
hear from Kate Klubnick in just a little bit. You'll
get a chance to hear from Dabo Sweeny. Dabos Sweeney
was fined for his comments after the game about a

(04:34):
missed call, a call that he thought should have been
offensive pass interference. I don't think it was defensive pass interference, Okay,
I will say that I think it was defensive holding,
but defensive holding happened much earlier in the play, and
when the flag was thrown what I think the flag

(04:57):
should have been thrown for would have been offensive past interference.
You follow that like I think that it was offensive
pass interference. I also believed that before that it was
defensive holding. I think defensive holding would have been the
correct call. But Dabo Sweeney had a lot to say

(05:24):
about it. We'll hear some of his postgame comments coming up.
He was not happy about it. As a matter of fact,
he questioned the media members in attendance to get their
thoughts on it, which I thought was one of the
funnier moments of the whole ordeal. Because Chapel Fowler from
the state newspaper, man, I've just had to I've had

(05:44):
to resign myself to laughter after the way CLEMPS has played,
in the way some of these games have gone. But
when Dabo Sweeney polls the media about it or responds
to apple Fowler's question about it, and Sweeney's statement is, well,

(06:08):
did you see it? What did you think? In Chapel Fowler,
you could basically hear him kind of knowing the altered
situation that's happening, say I didn't have a great angle
of it, all right, So here's dablosh sweety. These are
the comments that got in trouble with the acc That's one.

Speaker 3 (06:27):
Of the worst calls I've ever seen in a game
ever in my entire coaching career. So really really frustrated,
some critical penalties. I don't I don't even really know
what to say about the last call. I mean, it's y'all,
sa I shouldn't come down to that. You know, we
have plenty of opportunities to win the game, but you
know that that's one of the worst calls I've ever
seen in a game ever in my entire coaching career ever,

(06:52):
in a situation like that, I don't really know what
else to say. But I don't want to I don't
want to make that a deal because won the game.

Speaker 4 (07:01):
I mean, we had plenty of opportunities to win the game.

Speaker 3 (07:03):
But but you fight your butt off and you scratch
and you call, and you get in a situation.

Speaker 4 (07:07):
Like that and you just have you have you have
a call like that.

Speaker 3 (07:13):
Man, I mean, it's it's really that's that's that's just
more soft in the womb, you know. Again, Uh, that's
not why we lost because we had plenty of opportunities
to win.

Speaker 2 (07:28):
So that's essentially part one of Dablosweeney's comments. He gets
to ask about the call later, and this is where
you get the exchange with Sweeney and several members of
the media trying to hash out their thoughts on what
took place late in that game in Death Valley.

Speaker 5 (07:45):
The appearance play already and that it's not the reason.
It's like, you just take us through what you saw
on that playground.

Speaker 3 (07:51):
I saw hop I what'd you see? Well, I'm asking you.
Did you watch it? I didn't get a great angle
or anybody else? Why watch it? Did you watch it?
Do you think it was defensive passing?

Speaker 4 (08:04):
Ingrans? Okay? Anybody else? Anybody else got an opinion? Did you?

Speaker 1 (08:15):
I thought?

Speaker 4 (08:17):
Okay? I mean I was wondering.

Speaker 3 (08:18):
I mean, am I the only one that's all questionable?
I mean, yeah, that's what I thought he was calling.
That's what I thought the call wasd I was shocked
he didn't call. I was shocked there wasn't a flag.
And then when I saw the flag, I was like,
oh goody called O p I and so it didn't

(08:40):
go away. Must have seen something I didn't see. I mean,
maybe y'all saw it on TV.

Speaker 2 (08:46):
Different than me, So that's what ended up getting Dabbo
Sweeney in the clips of Tigers fine from the a
c C a reprimand from the league. They have called
the matter closed. The Atlantic Coast Conference issue to public
reprimand of Dabo Sweeney following the loss to Duke for

(09:08):
violating the acc sportsmanship policy. In addition, the league announced
an institutional fine issued to Clemson for ten thousand dollars
as a result of the violation. The funds from the
imposed institutional fine will be placed into the Weaver James
Corgan Swafford Postgraduate Scholarship account Sweeney's postgame comments regarding the

(09:30):
officiating were in direct violation of the AEC Sportsmen policy
that states public criticism of officials or public comments evaluating
the officiating a particular contest is not in the best
interest of intercollegiate athletics. Individuals associated with the athletics department
are prohibited therefore from commenting while acting in an official

(09:53):
capacity all officiating, other than directly to the conference office.
So Sweeney did talk about it more during his Sunday teleconference,
and we could certainly get into that later but for now,
let's put that play in the rearview. You know, some
people say, hey, one play doesn't win a game or

(10:15):
wouldn't lose a game. You know that play, that play
would have. I mean, technically the game is over there,
Clempson takes knees and gets out of town. But I
thought defensive holding was probably the correct call and at
the point of the flag offensive pass interference. Now, for

(10:39):
Clemson it's a three and five season, and for the Tigers,
you've got a huge matchup coming up this weekend with
Florida State because the odds that you make a bowl
game have fallen so far that Clempson is not even

(11:00):
in the conversation amongst national outlets of what bowl they'll
land in. Clemson has four games they need to win
three They've got Florida State coming in this weekend. It's
a seven o'clock start on the ACC Network. This game
is probably what feels like the second most winnable game.

(11:22):
Clemson is incredibly favored in this game. Tigers continue to
be favored two and a half point favorites is where
it opened according to ESPN. I have seen it at three.
ESPN's matchup predictor, however, has started to q in on

(11:42):
the fact that the Tigers just aren't playing very well.
It actually has Florida State projected to win this game
fifty three point eight percent of the time to forty
six point two percent for your Tigers. I don't think
Clempson is gonna win on the road at Louisville. I
feel like they've got a chance to beat Furman. And
South Carolina may be as big of a mess as Clemson,

(12:03):
even though they look to be playing better. They fired
an offensive line coach a couple of weeks ago. They
fired Mike Schuler, their offensive coordinator on Sunday, So to
kind of project what South Carolina will be when Clemson arrives,
who knows the game Cocks have been really, really bad

(12:24):
offensively this season. The North Sellers has struggled, and what
cures your al's game cognation for a bad performance by
your team is certainly playing against Clemson. That cures the ills.
Think about some of the things we've seen this season

(12:48):
just over the past couple of weeks. I mean, SMU
came in and just up and down the field against
the Tigers, and then they go to Wake Forest and
can't do deadly. They bounce back and they do beat
Miami this past weekend. But it's kind of like, you
play Clemson, you're gonna have a big day. Clemp's is

(13:08):
gonna figure out a way to give up one hundred
and two yard kick return. Clep's is gonna figure out
a way to have a busting coverage. I mean, it's
so bad. Let me tell you how bad it is
from the standpoint of Clemson's secondary and Khalil Barnes more
than anything. There are people on social media and out
there that actually think that Khalil Barnes is on some

(13:31):
kind of you know, you know, he's on the take.
Khalil Barnes is, you know, letting people score to you know,
make money. Like these are the things people are floating
out there that that's how bad Khalil Barnes has been. Now,
I don't personally believe that. I just I recall that
Khalil Barnes was the three star prospect that was committed

(13:52):
to Wake Force and maybe he played above his head
for his first season in Tigertown and has really struggled recently.
We know he was injured in the preseason. We I
mean like there's a lot going on with Khalil Barnes.
The attitude that looked to be defying on the sidelines
Dablohsweeney was asked about that. Sweeney said he didn't he
didn't notice. You know, I don't know if he'll even

(14:15):
go back, or if he even cares to go back.
The look that Khalil Barnes gave, though, I will say this,
the look that Khalil Barnes gave in that moment was
the look that you give somebody when you don't give
a crap what they're saying. That was the look I got.
I've seen it. I've been an educator for twenty some

(14:39):
odd years. I have seen that look in my career.
That's the look a student gives when they don't give
a crap. That's what that was, and people called it.
It was called on television in high definition and honestly

(15:01):
based off of that look. If I was the coach,
and again I want to reiterate, I'm not one of
these conspiracy theory people around Khalil Barnes. They are out there.
I just think though that that response from a player,
if I was a coach and I saw it would
be a reason for me to not put you out there,

(15:23):
because I would rather play with players who are going
to give me one hundred and ten percent, then players
I feel like are giving me seventy five percent, or
players that I don't think are body in there, players
that I don't think maybe care about what's happening. And
you know, Khalil Barnes, when he had a chance to
speak with the media earlier this year, made a couple

(15:45):
of statements that kind of jumped out to people. You know,
he talked about not embarrassing his family, that you know,
he was playing hard so that he his parents would
have to hide the name on the back of their jersey,
you know, and things like that. But you know a

(16:06):
lot of people looked at that moment and what he
had to say there, and we're shot that he didn't
say more about, you know, representing Clemson, that it was
more about him than Clemson. I mean, it was just
it was odd. And ever since then and his father
on social media, everything is just snowball badly on Khalil

(16:27):
Barnes so much so I'm gonna be honest, and I
have no inside information on this at all, but I
would be surprised if Khalil Barnes is back at Clemson
next season. That's how bad he's played in gamecock fans.
When he came into Williams Brice Stadium a couple of
years ago, he had a scoop and score out of
the gates and an interception and was a spectacular player

(16:48):
as a freshman. But that was when you'll tell you
it's a developmental game, and this is I didn't expect
this to be a segment all about Khalil Barnes. It's
not fair to make it all about Kaleleil Barnes, but
he has had some moments this season that just jump
off the screen and you go, what is Khalil Barnes doing?
And people on social media are noticing and he is

(17:12):
getting dragged because of it. Personally, I think a lot
of US coaching and I think Mickey Conn is definitely
in trouble. Mickey Conn has been there for a long time,
but for whatever reason, with this group, it hasn't clicked.
Remember you had Andrew mccuba leave a couple of years ago.

(17:34):
That was a surprising move. You wonder if maccuba felt
like he wasn't being developed the way he needed to be.
Or utilized the way he needed to be. And I
just think that the way Barnes looked looked like a
kid I wouldn't want to play. And I hate that because, Dude,
when I interviewed this kid when he was coming out
of high school, man, it was such an awesome story.

(17:56):
A kid that grew up right there in the shadows
basically of Sanford Stadium, you know, Georgia Bulldog's backyard, big smile,
jovial kid, not super nice kid. But something's amiss and
he may just be unhappy with his coaching. He may

(18:17):
just be unhappy with, you know, his position coach, or
the change at defensive coordinator. I mean, there's a lot
that certainly goes into it for all these guys. But
for Clemson, man tough sledding on Saturday as the Tigers
fall forty six forty five, kay Clubney twenty seven to

(18:38):
thirty six, three hundred and eighty five and two touchdowns
with no interceptions. But Darien Mensa, the quarterback for the
Blue Devils twenty seven to forty one, three sixty one
with four touchdowns. I mean, just look at look at
the big plays they had. The seventy seven yard touchdown
on a busted coverage with six ZHO seven left in
the first quarter. On a second and eight seventy seven yards,

(19:04):
they had a forty three yard touchdown, and then on
their final drive, facing third and seven at their own
nine yard line, they split the safeties and hit a
fifty six yard play that puts them in position to
score and then ultimately win the game. Yeah, it's crazy.

(19:25):
It's crazy, just what's happened. And you know, I do,
in some respects feel bad for Khalil Barnes because of
the way people are kind of looking at the way
he's played and thinking that there's something more to it.
I certainly again don't think so, but I just I
have the drop off that we've seen from him has

(19:46):
been shocking. And you know, Dabosweeney was asking about what
the issues are and he said recruiting was a part
of it. We'll see where they go from here. All right, Well,
a quick break we'll come out with here from k
Klubnick right after this stay with us Clempson Sports Saloon.
Swan back with you on a Tuesday afternoon. Unrecognizable this team,

(20:07):
just the culture, it feels, the way some of these
players respond to Dabo Sweeney. You know, as I mentioned
in the opening segment, certainly major changes coming to this program,
but one of the guys has taken the brunt of
the heat this year has been k Clubnick and rightfully so.

(20:28):
Look when you are the quarterback of a team that
has the preseason hype that Clemson did, the preseason expectations
that the Tigers have. When you have all of that
and this is the result, even if you score forty
five points in the game and lose, there's so much

(20:50):
of it that falls back on you. And I get it,
like k doesn't play defense, k didn't on special teams.
But there does seem to be a difference in k
C and DJ willyunglile A in that it certainly feels
like Kate really cares about this team, about this program,

(21:11):
and about being at Clemson. And he got emotional, and
we put it out on our social media accounts. He
got emotional at the beginning of his press conference, which
we'll hear in just a minute, and then near the
end as well. But so many people rooting for him,
even though this season has not played out the way

(21:33):
people thought. I mean, at this point in the year,
many people thought you'd be talking about ka Clubnick for
a Heisman Trophy candidacy. Many people thought you'd be talking
about Clemson for the college football playoff playoffs, Like I
feel like I need a little Jim more there playoffs.
We're just trying to win a game, and whether or
not they can get to a bowl game is certainly

(21:58):
in a media at peril. As I tweeted during the game,
an image of the Titanic sinking, that's definitely what this
feels like. Clemson was one of the Clemson was one
of the powers of college football before this nil era,
and now they are really a joke, a punchline for

(22:24):
a lot of people, and a punchable team for a
lot of people, and given how good they were for
so long under Dabo Sweeney, teams are relishing in the
opportunity to take down the Tigers. But for the players,
they're like Kay Clubick, I mean, it's clear he cares,
It's so clear. And I don't know that that's the

(22:45):
case for every player on that team, as I mentioned earlier,
but here's ka Klubnick ask about just kind of the
emotions of the moment, the hurt, the pain, and he
doesn't much here and I don't know how this will
translate to radio, but you could tell he's emotional in

(23:07):
this moment, especially when you watch it. I'm hoping, I'm
hopeful that this will sound good to you listening.

Speaker 6 (23:17):
Oh Man, just hurt many and you could almost hear
ka Klubnick's voice cracking in.

Speaker 2 (23:29):
That moment, and he really got even more emotional. Will
jump to the end of this interview with him when
he was asking about his last four games of the season,
and you know, essentially it's gonna take a lot for
Clemson to have a bowl game. This is it. I mean,
he's down to basically a month at Clemson in terms

(23:52):
of being the quarterback, and here's Kate sort of pondering that,
and again you could tell he's emotional.

Speaker 7 (24:01):
And in terms of my motivation, yeah, I mean, you know,
I lean on my faith a lot, and God says,
whatever you do, do it as as if you were
ordering for the Lord. So I'm going to continue to
play quarterback and contain the lead as if I'm working
as if I'm working for the Lord. And I think

(24:21):
that the biggest thing other than that is I love
this place, you know, I love everything about it and
I got a few more days here, and you know
how I want to just give it everything I have
and I feel like I have and you know, just
the fans that are here and the community and everything

(24:43):
of what it means to be here. It's just been
a dream to come true. So just continue to fight
for four more weeks.

Speaker 2 (24:50):
So that's Kay club Nick again following Clemson's loss to Duke.
And you know, as as I went through all the
gates here on the program, I mean, his numbers were
really as good as we've seen from him, certainly this season,
and really he looked as comfortable as he's looked in

(25:11):
a while. And that was all dealing with a high
ankle sprain and all the while, after being out a
week ago or two weeks ago against SMU, it almost
looked like it was it was fresh for him. Twenty
seven to thirty six, three eighty five and two touchdowns
with no interceptions, but not enough and you could hear
the pain. And he's definitely a kid that cares. I

(25:33):
don't know that every kid there right now cares, and
that's a problem. But every time Clemson, every time Clemson
did something well, they did something to shoot themselves, right
in the foot here's Kate Clemen. They talking about the
message that Debosweeney gave the locker room after the game.

Speaker 7 (25:53):
He's gotta play better, man, I mean all around. And
you know, Creutch a duke. They played a great game.
But you know, I think that there's some stuff where
you know, Clemson was hurt and comes in and uh,
you know, I think that just kind of clean up
that stuff, and uh, you're not gonna win much whenever
that happens.

Speaker 4 (26:14):
So I gotta go to.

Speaker 7 (26:18):
Just play cart Murray football at its finest and play
as a team.

Speaker 2 (26:23):
And it's been that lack of complimentary football. Like I
don't know what the opposite of complimentary football is in
that sense, Like I know the opplement the opposite of complimentary.
If you say, well, you give somebody compliments, then you'd
obviously be like degrading them or or shunning them or something.
But complimentary in terms of working together. Yeah, it's just

(26:45):
not It just feels so out of sync. Maybe that's
maybe that's the word disjointed. You know, when the right
hands hitting you, the left one can't do anything, and
so you make a big play on offense and then
your special teams give up gives up a huge play,

(27:07):
you make a great play on special teams with a
beautiful punt late, and you give up a ninety six
yard scoring driver, ninety four yard scoring driver, whatever it
ended up being. That's just frustrating. And that's kind of
been the story of this season. This team has not
played well together outside of a handful of moments, and

(27:27):
that's part of the reason. It's not the whole reason,
but it's part of the reason that you're sitting where
you're sitting right now. Lawton swan Clemson Sports taught the
show that shakes the south Land on a Monday, back
at it again. Don't forget about our friends in Alumni Hall. Yeah,
it's been a rough season, but it doesn't have to
be rough for you and your Clemson gear as you

(27:49):
can stop by Alumni Hall right there on the corner
of campus on College Avenue in downtown Clemson for all
your officially licensed Clemson merchandise. Had Steet shirts, Telgate, Geared Moore.
Get to ask them about their Alumni Hall Rewards program
and tell them swanee sent you to get those sweet
Nike drive Bit pollos that you know I love again.
Catch me in store when I'm up in Tigertown and

(28:10):
Alumni Hall right there on the corner of Campus of
College Avenue. It's Alumni Hall where Tiger fans shop. Dabo
Sweeney post game after the loss to Duke. Here's his
opening statement, after just a stunning defeat.

Speaker 4 (28:25):
Well obviously.

Speaker 3 (28:27):
Incredibly disappointing, all its heartbreaking. Give credit to Duke. They
made they made the critical plays that they needed to
make the critical times. But just you know, to win,
you got to not lose. I mean, it's just as
simple as that. And you have to you know, not
lose to Clemson in order to win. That's where you start.

(28:51):
We did some really really dumb stuff that were one
thousand percent.

Speaker 4 (28:59):
You know, on us.

Speaker 3 (29:00):
You know, you don't take anything away from the opponent,
but one thousand percent on us just not doing what.

Speaker 4 (29:06):
We're supposed to do. And it's just incredibly disappointing.

Speaker 3 (29:08):
So and it's really a shame because there were so
many good things in the game, so many good things
that get overshadowed because of the sting of a loss
and how we lost. Uh So that's the that's the tough.

Speaker 2 (29:20):
Part that established when you following Clemson's forty six to
forty five loss to Duke. He also talked about what
he thought about the way the offense played in the game,
which was really really good even though the Tigers lost.

Speaker 4 (29:32):
I mean, I thought offensively they were awesome.

Speaker 3 (29:35):
It's the second most yards we've had in one hundred
and thirty years with a loss.

Speaker 4 (29:40):
So a lot a lot of good stuff in the game.

Speaker 3 (29:43):
We really knew we had to get the run game going,
and I was really proud of how we were able
to run the football. We won the line of scrimmage.
Thought Kaid competed his butt off. I mean, wasn't one
hundred percent. He was tremendous. I mean, he played a
heck of.

Speaker 4 (29:58):
A ball game.

Speaker 3 (29:59):
I thought that uh Antonio had an amazing game. All
the receivers had some big plays. Adam Randall was awesome.

Speaker 4 (30:06):
Gid.

Speaker 3 (30:07):
It was great to kind of have a breakout day
for Gid and really get him in the rhythm of
the offense as well.

Speaker 4 (30:12):
I mean, he was a real bright spot uh in
the game.

Speaker 3 (30:16):
So just just so many good things, big plays, explosives again,
run game, good balance. I mean, there's a lot of
a lot of great stuff. We blocked a punt, you know,
all those things were were were excellent, and you know,
but at the end of the day, you know.

Speaker 4 (30:35):
Just horrible, horrible pass defense debo.

Speaker 2 (30:41):
Sweeney goes on to elaborate about what happened on some
of those plays and why he felt like or maybe
at that point just sort of why it ended up
being what it was on the field.

Speaker 3 (30:52):
It's not acceptable, just that simple. So we gotta we gotta,
we gotta get better there. And again some routine stuff,
they six stuff. We bring a corner cat and we
got nobody playing over the top eighteen seconds before the
half and we let a guy, i mean, just run
by us and throw a fifty yard touchdown. Just really
poor awareness of the situation. I mean, just just really unbelievable.

(31:16):
The kickoff return for a touchdown was a huge play
in the game. You know, their conversions on fourth down
were a big difference in the game. You know, they
didn't run the ball great, we couldn't stop passing h
and again, a lot of it was just not doing
what we're supposed to do. Just just poor, poor, poor execution.

(31:37):
And that's coaching. So, I mean, that's just where we are, so.

Speaker 4 (31:40):
Really really frustrated, Sween.

Speaker 2 (31:43):
You would go on to talk about that penalty that
we played for you earlier, but he just talked about
the fact that you had him pinning in deep and
couldn't get a stop.

Speaker 3 (31:50):
Because we had plenty of opportunities to win. We got
him pinned on the they got to go ninety four
yards and we'd give third and long and we give
up a big play to the tight end again, another bust.
Uh So, really just just didn't just didn't deserve to
win the game.

Speaker 4 (32:07):
And you know, we gotta we gotta get it fixed.

Speaker 3 (32:10):
But you know, we can focus on all the bad,
and there's plenty of bad, but there was also a
lot of good in that game.

Speaker 4 (32:15):
There was a lot of good.

Speaker 3 (32:17):
We had a young young lineman named Braidon Jacobson there
battling his butt off. I was super proud of him.
He's getting better and better again. You know, some of
the receiver play that we had gid. Obviously, he's a
young guy, a freshman. It's great to see him make
some make some plays. And uh so, there there were
some positives, but you know, not we we didn't deserve

(32:37):
to win the game.

Speaker 4 (32:37):
You can't make the mistakes that that we made.

Speaker 3 (32:40):
And the bust that we made and give up those
those type of plays and deserve to win the game.

Speaker 2 (32:46):
And so I'll leave it right there because a lot
of people will say that, you know, when dabos Winny
was talked about the play, he's he's basically, you know,
saying that Clemson wins that game. And I don't disagree
if that plays called the other way or whatever. Clemson wins,
no doubt. But right there you heard him. We didn't

(33:08):
deserve to win the game. And by not deserving to
win the game, that means Duke did deserve it. And
as I wrote, Duke answered, every time Clemson did something,
the Tigers made a big play, Duke answered, Clemson's the
team in that game that failed to play complimentary football.

(33:28):
Cleps is the team that didn't force any turnovers. Clempses
the team that gave up one hundred and two yard
kick return. And last night during his teleconference, Dabosweeney had
one of the great dry kind of humor responses that
you will ever hear to a statement like that, so
much so that I busted out laughing when dabos Sweeney said,

(33:51):
on the question where he's asked what went wrong on
the one hundred and two yard kick returns. His response was,
and I quote, we had eleven guys covering and nobody
touched him. Not not dudes are in the wrong lane,
not hey, you know this guy made this mistake, just
straight up, we had We had eleven guys on the field,

(34:16):
nobody touched him. And a lot of people are chomming
in on social media. One person said, thank you, Captain Obvious.
The other said it's funny because it's true, and that's
why I laughed when he said it. I'm glad my
mic wasn't unmuted. I don't think he would have appreciated
me laughing, but I could not help but laugh at
that moment when Dapo Sweety said, yeah, we had eleven

(34:39):
people covering and nobody touched him. The dude looked like
he was shot out of a cannon, and I did
kind of wonder. And I don't know if anybody's asked
Debo this or not. I don't remember it coming up.
But Clemson hasn't given up all that many kick returns
because you know, Robert Gunn's just been great kicking the
ball off. Maybe they called him, maybe they got caught

(34:59):
a little by surprise. Maybe they did. All right, Well,
hit the quick break, we'll come back. We'll talk about
the World Series coming to a conclusion. As the Dodgers
go back to back still with us final segment of
our one coming up, our number two, we qualkin Bush
joins the program. Eight oh three four five H zero
zero eighty six. That's the text line in the phone line. Well,

(35:22):
major League Baseball in the books, look us all the
way in November, and boy, the series between the Dodgers
and the Blue Jays phenomenal, epic, awesome. I mean, I
enjoyed that series so much. And you had the eighteen

(35:47):
inning affair, you had Game seven going to extra innings.
You had Yamamoto, the pitcher for the Dodgers, pitching in
Game six and getting the win, and then coming in
in Game seven and getting the win. It was like

(36:09):
phenomenal two plays, bang bang at the plate, bases, loaded
force outs at home in critical moments. The Dodgers certainly
cementing their dynasty with the win, but just an epic

(36:30):
back and forth series like watching it, there wasn't a
team that could have lost that you would not have
felt bad for. And I'm sure there are people that
just hate the Dodgers, and there are probably people that
just hate the Blue Jays, But it was hard to
watch that and not feel for Vladimir Guerrero Junior Vladdie

(36:52):
when he's in the dugout after the game. Hard not
to feel for the Blue Jays manager and all the
fans there that were hoping to win a title for
the first time since nineteen ninety three. I mean, it's
it's gotta be one of the top three or four
series of all time. Gotta be Tim Kirk jen er

(37:18):
whatever from ESPN. He thinks it is, he thinks it is,
he said, with apologies to nineteen ninety one. The Los
Angeles Dodgers in the Toronto Blue Jays just finished the
greatest World Series. Not because all the games were great,
some weren't, all were flawed, but all were marvelously fun

(37:42):
and interesting and entertaining. It was the greatest World Series
because of his compelling storyline, some of which were impossible
to believe. In eighteen inning game historic, a historic pitching
performance by a twenty two year old, the first pinch
hit Grand Slam in World Series, his the first World
Series game to begin with back to back home runs,

(38:04):
the first game ending seven to four double play in
a World Series history. It was awesome from starting to finish.
And I don't love baseball. I loved this series, absolutely
loved it, and you just were kind of waiting to

(38:29):
see who would become the star, who would the storyline
surround with a b shohe Atani And it turned out
to be one of his Japanese teammates, Yoshinobo Yamamoto, who
was the World Series MVP through ninety six pitches in
Game six in the win and pitched the final two

(38:50):
and two thirds dings of Game seven, throwing thirty four
pitches to become just the fourth pitcher to win Game six.
In Game seven of a World series, Kirchton called it
called it the greatest pitching performance in World Series history.
It was so much fun, even that final game with

(39:13):
the Dodgers rallying late Will Smith with a home run
in the eleventh inning to give the Dodgers their first
lead of the game after being down three to zero
in the third, just to keep battling. And you know,
another guy felt bad for that twenty two year old
I just mentioned, who was sensational. You savage man. Oh,

(39:39):
just so so good. That to me is what baseball
is supposed to be. It really is. That was a
gem of a series. And for baseball fans who lock
in for the entire year, good for you for getting
a chance to watch that conclusion. And I do feel

(40:02):
for the Toronto Blue Jays, but they seem to have
a really good core and I would imagine they'll be
back in the mix as well as the competitive American
League East next season will certainly tape shape take shape
with the Blue Jays, Yankees, and Red Sox battling for

(40:24):
supremacy there eight zero three, four to five OO zero
zero eighty six as the text line and the phone
line again William qualking Bush coming up around the bend.
And tonight, as I mentioned earlier, Clemson basketball tipping off

(40:44):
as New Hampshire comes to town. The Tigers women got
their season underway with a seventy six thirty eight victory
over usc Upstate. Junior guard Russin Augusttinight scored nineteen points,

(41:06):
hitting four to three pointers to lead all scorers in
that seventy six thirty eight victory. Today at Little John Coliseum,
Maya Moore scored seventeen points of the game, The Tigers
had a twenty one to two run to close out
the first half, outscoring the Spartans by a total of
twenty nine to seven in the second quarter, so seventy

(41:31):
six thirty eight the final score double them up at
Little John Coliseum. The twelfth straight season opening win for
the Clemson women's program, and again under the leadership of
Sean Poppy. The skis the limit. We'll certainly talk with
William Kawalkinbush about that and about the men's team as well.

(41:56):
I'm excited for the opportunity to be able to see
this clips and men's basketball team because this is not
the norm. Usually you know a little something about this group.
You'll have to watch it on the ACC Network Extra
tonight at seven o'clock to learn more about this team.
All right, quick break, we'll come back. William Qwalkin Bush

(42:17):
joins us right here on the show The Shakespeare Southlae
clympses sports Talk called Fox Sports Radio fourteen hundred and
on the iHeartRadio app.

Speaker 1 (42:26):
It's time for Clips and Sports Talk with lowten Schwann.

Speaker 2 (43:07):
It is our number two. That's drive time. Right here
on the show. The shakesare south Land, Clemson sports tall
on Swan hanging out with you on a Monday, William
Quaalkan Bush coming up around the Bend and the show
The Shakesare south Land, brought to you in part by
our good friends over at Metz Plumb Man metz Plumb
dot com. Two two six seven one oh eight. That's

(43:29):
two two six seven one zero eight. All right, out
of the gates hour too. Qual joins us. William qualkan Bush.
What's up, buddy? How are you?

Speaker 8 (43:37):
Swanny has been good?

Speaker 9 (43:39):
Uh, spent the morning in Little John with like forty
five hundred ish uh school kids in about one thousand
and fifteen hundred other people, and watched Whimen's basketball domination.
So you know, I don't know of any other results
that matter in my entire life right now, and that
one athletically.

Speaker 8 (43:58):
Uh so maybe you can help me with that.

Speaker 2 (44:00):
Listen, we can start with that, because I was talking
about Coach Poppy and this program before you came on,
and look, I mean today's victory over USC Upstate, it
is what it is. It's the future of this program
that looks so bright, and you look at what they've
done recruiting, and again you still have to finish up

(44:21):
and get these girls on campus, et cetera. But when
they hire Chum Poppy, I felt like it was the
right guy to bring in. And Amanda Butler, to her credit,
I know you were friends with her when she was there.
I'm sure you guys are probably still in some way,
shape or form cordial and may speak from Tom to Tom.
But she did get this thing back in the right direction.

(44:42):
But this is the first time since atora Umo Coleman
was playing for Clemson in that group when I was
in college, that I felt like this Clemson women's team
might compete for the ACC Tournament championship in a couple
of seasons and will be a contender in the NCAA tournament.
I think he's putting that kind of roster together.

Speaker 9 (45:03):
They're gonna do it. I don't know what it is, because, man, it.

Speaker 8 (45:07):
Is hard to crack that upper acrust of the ACC.

Speaker 9 (45:10):
When you consider Notre Dame and Duke and North Carolina
and NC State and you know, Florida State. You know,
like there are some programs that are your peer that
have been up there, and like a Florida State, Louisville.
I mean, there's so many really really good I'm sure

(45:30):
I'm leaving somebody, well.

Speaker 2 (45:31):
Like North Carolina. I mean I don't think you said
North Carolina. But they've had their years in the past
where they were one of the best women's teams in
the country. I mean there are a lot of teams
Virginia back in the day. I mean, teams are up
and down. This league have been really good in women's
basketball over the years.

Speaker 8 (45:46):
Yeah, so that so I'll counsel with that they're gonna
do it. What is it?

Speaker 9 (45:51):
Are they gonna play in an ACC championship? I mean
I think he could scheme it. I think they could
have a team good enough. Do I expect that? No,
I don't expect, because to me, expectations are what gets
you fired if you don't meet them. I think they're
going to. I feel confident that they're they're going to
and it will be above and beyond.

Speaker 8 (46:11):
The expectations of the program.

Speaker 9 (46:13):
Now, I will say this, when you bring in the
top three recruiting class, which Shan Poppy is is poison
to do in the next week or so, then you
change the level of expectation a little bit. I mean today,
the you know, a bench player goes off for nineteen
and I'm sitting there going text them with somebody who's
very plugged in that said, you know, when we got

(46:35):
her out of the portal, Reusino Gustineda from Georgia Tech,
she's park plugged.

Speaker 8 (46:41):
I mean, she's a budcket.

Speaker 9 (46:42):
Whenever she gets that in the gym, she's gonna shoot it.
And I'm thinking, well, else he's coming.

Speaker 8 (46:47):
Here to start.

Speaker 9 (46:47):
Well if she ain't starting, and she's gladly taking a
role when she's playing a bunch of minutes. So like
John Poppy can coach because he's relational, because he builds
years long relationships with people, because he understands how to
build a team and a roster, and they've got a
staff that reflects that. I'm very excited about the future
of Clemson women's basketball. I think the community is as well,

(47:10):
and I think this year is going to be a
precursor to something. I don't know how they're gonna do
this year. I expect them to be bubble conversation. They
could very well get in the tournament. They're gonna be
better than they were last year. I can tell you
that they're already a better roster in terms of just
competing in the league. Like physically body typers they can
do that. We'll see, We'll see how it looks. But

(47:32):
I'm I'm incredibly bullish about the future, and I'm pretty
bullish about this team.

Speaker 2 (47:36):
Yeah, no, I am too. My hesitation would would be this,
and it's just a kind of a correlation between two
different coaches. Like I thought Moni Lee was gonna have
huge success at Clemson and it never quite tipped over
the scale, you know, And that would be my one
hesitation to Tiger fans, is I get it shown Poppy

(47:57):
looks to part. He's recruiting the part, he's coaching the part.
But man, I'm hoping that he will be able to
finish unlike Mony Lee when he was at Clemson. Again,
William Qualkinbush with us on Twitter at Quawk Talk. All right,
let's turn our attention to the elephant in the room.
Quat forty five years you're not even forty five years old, brother,
and you saw something that happened for the first time

(48:17):
in your life with Duke winning in Death Valley. It
happened once in my life, qualk But I don't remember
those days in nineteen eighty What were you thinking as
things played out because I did pick the Blue Devils
to win. I don't know about you, but I did
pick them to win.

Speaker 9 (48:32):
Well, I said something, and I didn't mean it as
a slide.

Speaker 8 (48:35):
I'm in it as a credit to Duke people.

Speaker 9 (48:37):
But I got a phone call from somebody who is
as actually a college football coach that was listening to
our pregame, who said, you know, you were talking about
in the nineties, people showed up just because of his homecoming,
and the difference is that we beat Duke in the nineties.

Speaker 8 (48:51):
And he said he.

Speaker 9 (48:52):
Thought that was hilarious, and I was like, well, you know,
I really meant it as like Duke is really good
and back then Duke was terrible. But that's really how
I felt like. The difference between Saturday and the nineties
is that people expected Clemson to lose to Duke. And
that's the sign of the time. Swannye that Duke can
pour a bunch of money in the program. And I
don't mean that in the way that people mean it

(49:13):
when they're talking about it in a nefarious way. I mean,
Duke is just they're just doing it in all the
ways that you're allowed to do it. They're just doing
it and so I give them credit for that. I
thought they schemed really well. I thought that two point
conversion played.

Speaker 8 (49:26):
With excellent scheming. Here's the bottom line, Swanny.

Speaker 9 (49:29):
I felt like Clemston's pass offense was good enough to
win by long shot. I thought their rush offense was
good enough to win by long shot. I thought their
rush defense was good enough to win by a long shot.
I thought their special teams was good enough to give
you a chance because they gave up a touchdown, but
they also blocked a punt. So I wouldn't say that
they lost quote unquote special teams. I would say that

(49:52):
they drew even or even like if you lost it
by a little bit, you're still like you're able to
win it. The only area Clemson's football team that was
a loser on Saturday was past defense, and so it
makes it hard to talk about. You know, you can't
do a two hour postgame show about past defense twenty
So you're talking about the game and you're thinking, Okay, well,
they moved the ball tremendously. They was juice in the

(50:14):
stadium for the first time, maybe since the LSU game.
I would argue, there's been better juju in the stadium
than there has been.

Speaker 8 (50:20):
All year long.

Speaker 9 (50:21):
Maybe half someone LSU, but I listen, I do halftime
in the stadium now, and there was a guy that
yelled at me for a straight minute while I was
on the air, angry as all heck. At halftime of
LSU in Clemson was a head. Okay, that guy probably
regrets that because it was like one of the brightest
spots of the year now, But there was none of
that at halftime of Duke. It was just it was

(50:44):
so so poor in past defense. Duke goes three for
fourteen on fourth down on third down, and they go
five or five on fourth down, and that's not even
fim the first down that they got that doesn't count
in a convert I mean twenty That's just that's brutal.

Speaker 8 (51:02):
And I don't know what that means.

Speaker 9 (51:03):
You know, normally you would say if you're if you're
not a good team on third down, it means that
you just are technically falling short. You're like striving and
training too much and you're you're over exerting, You're you're
not in the right spot because you're trying so hard
or you know you're not good enough to do it.
But like normally that would you go up on third and
fourth down. I have no idea why Clemson was able
to stop Duke repeatedly, almost exclusively on third down and

(51:26):
yet on fourth down. I mean, it wasn't like it
was fourth and three and they got three, you know,
like somebody just tackled and they wrestled.

Speaker 8 (51:33):
To the ground and the guy just reached the ball cross.

Speaker 9 (51:35):
It was like fourth and three ten yards, fourth and
four seven yards, Well, not to close.

Speaker 8 (51:40):
It's not even close the.

Speaker 9 (51:41):
Conversion, and so it's your fourth down defense and your
pass defense just remains a horrnt. And some of it
is on the defensive line, for yes, they played their
best game but still not being disruptive enough. But a
lot of it is just on absolute capital be bus
in the secondary. And that's where I do want to
say this before we get started, like talking about that.

(52:04):
There's been a lot of people talking about Tom Allen.
This is second straight home game where I'm watching Tom
Allen empty the bag like empty. It's like you're sim pressures.

Speaker 8 (52:15):
Man zone two, one, four.

Speaker 9 (52:17):
Six, Like if every coverage you can imagine Matt coverage,
buzz coverage, trap coverage, Pampa, like he is running every
single thing because the team's not really good at running
any of it, and so you have to just keep
doing it. And then yeah, they run some mans because
you can't just play a football game.

Speaker 8 (52:36):
Running all zone if you're not getting.

Speaker 9 (52:38):
Pressure on the quarterback with four. Eventually, zone is just
it's just swift cheese if you're blitzing enough people. And
so I just, once again, I felt bad for Tom Allen.
And I know a lot of people aren't gonna feel
that way because they're gonna be like, well, he coordinated
his defense and they got worse. Look, man, if you
if you understand the schematics of what he's asking of
his people, like, he is going as d into his

(53:01):
bag of tricks as he can and they just aren't
good enough to do anything. And that is a that
is a skating and diamond the whole operation in my opinion,
that they just can't do anything in coverage.

Speaker 2 (53:14):
You know, the irony qualk is that after the Syracuse game,
I wrote an article and I titled it bust is
the Standard, and it has just turned into that. What's
crazy to me is that Sweeney's ask after the game, Hey,
do you see these busts that practice and he says, no,

(53:35):
we've practiced good. Uh you know you know him very well.
Do you believe him? Uh?

Speaker 8 (53:44):
Yes, I do?

Speaker 9 (53:47):
Now do I believe him all the way?

Speaker 8 (53:49):
Nah? And I don't.

Speaker 9 (53:50):
I don't think I would believe any coach all the way.
In fact, I don't think a coach worth a sack
assault would actually say yeah, they busted all the time.
You know, like even at the practice is bad. You
notice how you really only hear that practice was bad
after a win or like after a loss, where it's
very much like I told the team, if you don't
practice better, you get what you deserve. But you never

(54:12):
hear the practice is bad until some result happens that
makes you think that it's worth it to mention it.
You know, if you win the game, you go, hey,
our practice stunk. But like on Wednesday, after practice, you're
not gonna hear, man, our practices have been horrible. Normally
you have to hear through the grape vine that practice
is bad. So I would say part of that as
is being a head coach that you're not you're not.

Speaker 8 (54:32):
Gonna say that.

Speaker 9 (54:33):
I think it's fair to question, like, are the practices
preparing you for what you're gonna see in games. And
I don't know if it's the periods and how you
divide at time. I don't know if it's the level
of scout team. I don't know if it's the good.
I think Pumpton us more good on good than most anybody, So.

Speaker 8 (54:51):
I don't think it's that.

Speaker 9 (54:52):
But you do wonder, based on like what has happened
over a period of years, now, if practices is adequately
preparing this team, and if not, then exactly what about
it is not preparing? Ultimately, I think some of it
is that they just they underestimated. And I don't say
just them, I think everybody. I think people without a

(55:13):
dog in the fight are underestimated the deficiencies in the roster,
and they overestimated the strengths of the roster. And when
you realize a roster that is not just deficient in areas,
but deficient in ways you didn't see, then how do
you recalibrate your expectation for like a practice week If

(55:33):
you know, like, all right, I thought this guy was
at a certain level, but he's clearly shown over two
months that he's at actually this much lower level. Well,
you still have to use that guy to prepare your team,
and you still have to get that guy ready. I
think that's what's happening in the secondary right now is
that they are just like, Okay, our team is really, really,
really poor right now in this area, but we have

(55:56):
who we have. We can't just add people, and we
have we have in terms of getting these guys ready,
and we just have to do the best that we can.

Speaker 8 (56:05):
And if they're not.

Speaker 9 (56:06):
Seeing in practice, I would say that is a that
is two things. That is one, that is an indictment
of your process, whether it's for predictable and controllable reasons
or for uncontrollable relatively uncontrollable reasons. And two it is
also I think a pretty strong, a pretty strong statement

(56:27):
to what it is that this team has not had.

Speaker 8 (56:29):
To work with.

Speaker 9 (56:30):
It's an indictment on the personnel and who you haven't
had and the talent that's not in those rooms. Because
like ultimately Swanny, I know David likes say every day
matters and practice matters all stuff. Ultimately to somebody know
on game, they eventually outweighs that other stuff. And the
fact that they're not even turning to some dudes in
the secondary, they're just like they're just playing the hits man.

(56:50):
It's key rolling the same dudes out there, and we
got people second third year in the program that can't
see the field at all when the guys in front
of them are busting left and right.

Speaker 8 (57:00):
The job as coaches is to get those guys ready.

Speaker 9 (57:02):
And that's what.

Speaker 2 (57:05):
Yeah, that's what's blowing my mind a little bit. It's like,
would I rather play Okay, Let's say we had a
pick up game of fight, right, would I rather play
with a guy that look the part but had no
clue how to play, or a guy that was okay
but maybe wasn't the best. I'd rather play with the

(57:28):
guy that was okay but maybe wasn't the best. That
the guy that maybe looks the part but it's just
killing us when he's out there. Yeah.

Speaker 9 (57:36):
I mean, listen, as somebody who was proudly the guy
that played way better than he practiced or played way
better than he looked getting off the bus, I would say, like,
you understand why coaches want to put people out there
that they feel they can.

Speaker 8 (57:50):
Predict their behavior.

Speaker 9 (57:51):
I would say coaches, coaches would rather have a high
floor than a low ceiling all day and fans might
disagree with that. Ooh, but like yeah, I can say, hey,
you know, if I can scheme around you, I don't
need you to be great. As long as I know
what I'm getting. I'd rather know what i'm getting, so
I can schem around what I know you're gonna bring.
The reality is wanting there's nobody in this safety group

(58:12):
in particular and in some places at cornerback that is.

Speaker 8 (58:16):
Bringing you anything worthwhile.

Speaker 9 (58:17):
That what you know you're getting is you're getting capital
b bus all the time. And that is a really sobering thought.
For the first time in like a quarter century, you're
saying that about Quinch the secondary that just absolutely cannot
do the job.

Speaker 2 (58:29):
So in your opinion, by the way, that's William Qualkin
Bush with us on Twitter at qualt Talk every day
nowon until three o'clock out of bounds with qualking bim
one of five to five they're or in the Upstate
is this fixable in a year, because like next season,
in the mindseye of most of us right observers, thought
that that would be a kind of a rebuild next season.

(58:51):
Is it fixable or is Clemson destined for a similar
And I'm not saying three and five, but you know,
kind of a middle of the row seven and five
season next year.

Speaker 8 (59:05):
Good question. I think anything is fixable in.

Speaker 9 (59:07):
A year with the schools that you have. Okay, you're
gonna have twenty five million. You got twenty five million
to spend. Go spend it, Go use it. You have to.

Speaker 8 (59:17):
You have no choice.

Speaker 9 (59:18):
Now you have to go into the portal and you
have to use your money. You can't just retain, retain,
retain because the players you're retaining are not as good
as you thought, and they're not they've not been developed.
You can also get new position coaches in here that
can look at some of that. I think that's that's necessary.
I mean, I think it's across the board that you're

(59:38):
gonna see some changes on both sides of the ball.

Speaker 8 (59:41):
I mean, I would also say.

Speaker 9 (59:43):
Recruiting process needs to be looked at as well. I
keep thinking about Grayson Littleton. You know Grayson Littleton. I
looked this up earlier today. Grayson Littleton, who is a
true freshman who decommitted from Clemson because Michigan bought him
out and then committed to Texas. It's seventh on their
team in tackles he's got two pp used in a
force fumble.

Speaker 8 (01:00:02):
You think that guy can be used as a strong
nickel or a corner.

Speaker 9 (01:00:06):
Or a safety right now, like you think you can.
You could probably play Man a little better with Grace
and Littleton on the field. Yes, so I think it
can be fixed. But the problem is that Clemson's still
is gonna have to build with high school recruiting and
the high school there are not enough high school recruits
that can play. Grace and littletonsdre to play, but they
can't get him to campus because they're not playing that
game the Michigan's playing in Texas playing, they're just not

(01:00:27):
And if they're gonna continue to do that without you know,
if you decide what you want to do, that's fine,
then you have to You're gonna have to get in
the portal and play that game with portal players. I
get not one to overpay the freshman, but if you're
not willing to overpay somebody in this market, you're not
getting them unless you're winning. And right now, Clemson has
lost the benefit of the doubt with recruits because they're
not winning. Like when you have a defensive lineman that

(01:00:47):
picks Miami, we know it's about cash, but also look
at Clemson's defensive line, look at Miami's defensive line, and
ask yourself, you really blame somebody who wants to go
play at Miami on the defensive line right now.

Speaker 8 (01:00:59):
I would say the end is no.

Speaker 9 (01:01:01):
The answer is, I mean, you probably should be a
little more loyal. Like I'm a big fan of loyalty,
but like, logically, I think Clinton has some work to
do to regain trust from prospects.

Speaker 8 (01:01:12):
And they're gonna have.

Speaker 9 (01:01:13):
Some work to do as well, because they're gonna need
to bring in I've said fifteen, they need to bring
in fifteen portal players, and you're gonna have to convince
fifteen quality players to come in here. And I think
that's gonna be a tough sell too.

Speaker 2 (01:01:26):
That's wayam Qualk and Bush with us here on the program.
We're gonna put them on hole. We'll come back. We'll
hear some more from Qualk his thoughts on how the
Atlantic Coast Conference is shaping up. The issues that are
surrounding the Miami Hurricanes right now is they lost at
SMU and can't get out of their own way, even
when Clemson in Florida State are down. Speaking of Clemson

(01:01:46):
in Florida State being down. Those two teams face off
this week in Death Valley under the Lights, and these
two you know, perennial. I mean, it's it's fairly consistent
that these two teams are battling for either league supremacy
or being in the conversation nationally, neither of which is

(01:02:10):
on the docket in twenty twenty five, which is incredible.
We'll talk, we'll qualk about that and a whole lot
more when we return right here. Keep it locked on
Fox Sports Radio fourteen under the Midlands and around the
world on the iHeartRadio app. Back at it on the Monday.
William Qualkinbush still in the guest line. We'll jump back
out to him in just a minute. You can follow
them on Twitter at qualk Talk, and every day noon

(01:02:32):
until three o'clock. Alabama's Will Qualk and Ben on one
oh five to five the roar in the Upstate. Qualk.
Let's turn our attention to the league. You mentioned Miami,
the Hurricanes. Now what under Mario Cristobal, I think what
four and eleven in November is that the number? Oh
my gosh, that's ridiculous.

Speaker 8 (01:02:50):
I believe it's four and nine. I mean it's four.
Nine is the number if memories. It's bad. Whatever it is,
it's real bad.

Speaker 2 (01:02:55):
Okay, I thought the recent two we're added into the
previous nine. But either way, whatever, it is, not great, Bob,
not great. And this is a team, right like they
you talk about teams that can't get out of their
own Wayqualk, these guys have Clemson in Miami swirling in
a toilet bowl and cannot get to the top of

(01:03:18):
the league. What in the world is it gonna take?
Like hurricane fans, qualk have to be going insane trying
to figure out what it's gonna take for them to
ever win the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Speaker 9 (01:03:31):
This was the year, to your point, Florida State's four
and four, Clemson's three and five. This is the year
you're good enough to beat Notre Dame.

Speaker 8 (01:03:40):
This is the year.

Speaker 9 (01:03:42):
And you fall in your face at home against Louisville,
and you fall in your face on the road at
an SMU team that I actually thought the spot was
pretty good for sem to cover. I thought Miami went
by like a touchdown. But I mean, there's no reason
for it now. I mean, if you start to if
you start to really look at it, Like Miami hadn't
played outside the state of Florida until Saturday, so like

(01:04:05):
two whole months of not leaving the state. You know,
you get a couple away from home and you feel like,
you know.

Speaker 8 (01:04:10):
Everything's great. I mean it wasn't. It wasn't great. Obviously,
you're your open day, you.

Speaker 9 (01:04:17):
Know, I mean, what what are open dates? When I said,
I believe they have open day either on either side
of Florida state or pretty close. So like you kind
of just burned your two open days right there in
the middle, so you kind of got what you got
right now. It's brutal, man, It's brutal because like I
thought it would be later in the November before Miami

(01:04:37):
would do Miami stuff when they have to go to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
and Blacksburg, Virginia and consecutive weeks where it's cold. I mean,
I remember when Kenny Tickett as a freshman did the
Miami what their quarterback is trying to do this year,
He's gonna do it again. This is a program that
just is not They're not tough on the road. They're
not tough on the road. They're good against good upon

(01:04:59):
its early the season, but as the season goes on,
they do not have program stamina, and I don't I
don't know what that means, but that November record sticks
out like a sore thumb, and especially early November against
an SMU team that's not as good as last year,
but does have some toughness about him, does have a
galvanizing leader at quarterback. And oh, by the way, Miami's
four million dollar quarterback basically took no responsibility for his

(01:05:22):
disasters within that SMU game. So yeah, things are things
that are looking great that for Miami. By the way,
I looked this up earlier, MIMI a one point six
percent chance to win the league when the two favorites
are Virginia and Georgia Tech. That I mean, if you're
a Miami fan, you gotta feel like this is the
end of days.

Speaker 2 (01:05:39):
And it looks like I'm not being the laugh of
a kid being out injured. But their tailback Mark Fletcher
Junior leads the team in Russian looks like he might
be out this week against Syracuse' as well. So the
hits keep coming for the Hurricanes. And you just mentioned
my next subjects like you got my notes right, here
in front of you, Virginia Tony Elliott. Dude, I couldn't
be happier for this guy. I know they've had some

(01:06:01):
very for two of this victories, but that's the way
it goes. Like if you're Clemson, and I'm not saying
this team's gonna go on and win the national championship
right at Virginia, But when you go back to that
twenty fifteen season for Clemson, I mean they were winning
these low you know, these type ball games, games under
seven points or less, and you just find ways to win.
And that's what this Virginia team is doing. And it's

(01:06:22):
so much fun to watch. I couldn't root for anybody
more than I'm rooting for Virginia right now. And to
see them at eight and one in five and zero
on top of the league. Qualk. What a story Tony
Elliot's become. And I think I kind of think it's
a bad thing. I think it's a bad thing because
he's gonna be on some of these programs that are
opens radar, and I hate that. For the Cavalier fans, well, I.

Speaker 9 (01:06:42):
Do think it's only one year, so there's something to
be said for that. You also, if you look under
the hood at the predictive metrics, Virginia and Georgia Tech
both are pretty well. When we saw Georgia Tech, there's
some vulnerability there. There's some like we're really good at
finding ways to win these games, but like at some
point you need to outplast some inferior opponents, and I
still think Virginia has an uphill battle that way. There's

(01:07:05):
the most impressive performance they've had in a while because
Cal on Saturday, in my opinion, going on the road
and do them what they did there.

Speaker 8 (01:07:11):
But even so, it's not great.

Speaker 9 (01:07:13):
If you look at the predictive metrics like sp plus
and FPI, which this will your audience gonna love this,
Clemson and Virginia are basically the same.

Speaker 8 (01:07:21):
In fact, you could look.

Speaker 9 (01:07:22):
At Clemson probably a little better than Virginia just in
terms of down for down, play for play, and look,
you can look at twenty twenty four and say similar
stuff like look at who Clemson beat in.

Speaker 8 (01:07:31):
The regular season in twenty twenty four.

Speaker 9 (01:07:33):
It was not a murderer's row, like they basically didn't
beat any bowl teams, and yet they were able to
win the acc Their best win of the year was
against that SMU and they go to the playoffs. That's
basically what Virginia's doing right now. They're beating a lot
of six and six fish teams or like non Bowl teams.
But you know what, in the past, Virginia has been losing.
Like you say, I ain't mad at the schedule for
a team that has found ways to lose these games

(01:07:54):
in the past, finding ways to win. I don't need
Virginia to play Murder's Row to feel good about what
they've accomplished, especially with all the off field stuff that
they have gone through and that staff has gone through,
with Chandlers Morton's career where he's been getting hurt and
and you know, getting beat.

Speaker 8 (01:08:09):
Out for jobs.

Speaker 9 (01:08:10):
Yeah, I don't I don't need all that to feel
good about Virginia. I hope they have a great pot
out Virginia and Georgia Tech Doke play because I think
it'd be a really good game.

Speaker 2 (01:08:17):
Qualk final thing. Obviously it's the Tigers and the Seminoles
under the lights. Definitely, this has been a rivalry that
has been outstanding for so many years, with teams in
this game that have had national championship implications on the
line and you know, see the college Football Playoff and
and BCS and and all that qualk when it's the

(01:08:40):
last time you really felt like this game was sort
of like h just a side show to what's going
on in the country in college football. I mean like
bizarro world.

Speaker 9 (01:08:49):
Man, Okay, I'm gonna actually ask this. I don't know
the answer, but I'm gonna I'm gonna speculate for a second.
Ross Taylor's not sent out the notes.

Speaker 8 (01:08:56):
I don't have a Meata guy in front of me,
so I'm just gonna speculate. Have these the.

Speaker 9 (01:09:00):
Team's ever played where neither team was over five hundred?

Speaker 8 (01:09:04):
Like, I'm not sure it happens.

Speaker 2 (01:09:07):
I would doubt it. Quot I would mean.

Speaker 9 (01:09:09):
Like this, this game not only is untethered from what's
going on in the country or in the conference, this
game is untethered from its own history. Like the the
AHC network is begging please do not pick this up,
because they're gonna rate very highly in this game. This
game is gonna pull raty So I guess gonna pull
a number. That's why it's just seven o'clock. But these
two teams, I mean, maybe Florida State has figured it out.

Speaker 8 (01:09:32):
We know that they're nothing if not.

Speaker 9 (01:09:35):
You know, once around every corner is a six game
win streak or a six game louse streak for for
Mike Norvell in Florida State. So uh, maybe they figured
it out. Maybe Clemson gonna figure it out. Actually, I
think Clemson probably played it's best game or maybe second
best game of the season relative to the opponent and
all things considered on Saturday.

Speaker 2 (01:09:53):
Quote, let me cut you off right there. We'll come
back and finish up with quot right after this, still
with us London Swan, Welcome back to the show The
Shakes of south Land. Clemson sports salt William Qualkinbush on
the guest line. But before we jump back to him,
let me remind you about our friends in Alumni Hall
right there on the corner of Campus on College. You
have anue downtown Clemson for all your officially licensed Clemson merchandise, hats,

(01:10:13):
T shirts, tailgate gear, those Nike drive fit polos that
you know I love, plus those Clemson magnets for your
vehicle car stickers, et cetera. I used to have one
that said, I don't know if they still make this
one or not. I'll have to look next time I'm
in the store. They used to make this sticker for
the rear windshow of your vehicle. You know, you get
one that says like I had a paw, it'd be
like engineering. It'll be a pau be, like nursing. Mine

(01:10:37):
was a paw, it said slacker. Yeah, oh yeah, they
probably still got those, but go check them out next
time you're in Tiger Town at Alumni Hall or online
at Alumni Hall dot com. It's Alumni Hall where Tiger
fans shop. All right, well, we're talking about this Clemson
Florida State game, and we'll get you out here after this.
But yeah, it's just it's really been tough sledding for

(01:10:59):
both of these teams all season. But you know, Florida
State had a really pretty solid performance this past weekend,
maybe shockingly to some against wake Forest, given the fact
that the Demon Deacons had beaten SMU the week before
the acc Wheel of Destiny or whatever they call it.
But then for Clemson, I mean, the offense just poured

(01:11:21):
everything they had out. It was probably the best performance
Clemson has had all season. And this one was in
a loss.

Speaker 9 (01:11:27):
I don't know if that you know, if it took
a lot out of them, Like in terms of the
life of the program, I don't know, but if it didn't,
I expect Clemson to play well against Florida State. And
we'll see if Florida State's as tough as they appeared
last week against Wake Forest, where they just absolutely would shedded.
A team that has been kind of like Virginia and
Georgia Texas finding ways to beat people.

Speaker 2 (01:11:45):
Well, I just looked back. I would guess not that
these two teams met at that point, But I had
to go all the way back to two thousand and
five to find a season where neither of the either
of the two teams met a ten win margin, both
teams that you're finished with eight wins. So it's been
a while since these two teams have kind of been

(01:12:07):
down when they're meeting, that's for sure.

Speaker 9 (01:12:09):
If Florida State Gota went out to get to eight,
I mean they like they they gotta win out to
get to eight unless they go seven to five and
win a bowl.

Speaker 8 (01:12:16):
Game, and like Clemson's.

Speaker 9 (01:12:18):
Gotta win out and win a bowl game to get
to eight. So you're talking about a down year being
both these teams with eight.

Speaker 8 (01:12:23):
If both these teams finished with eight wins, it will
be a November to remember for sure for both of them.

Speaker 9 (01:12:29):
In fact, I'm not even no. I mean one of
them's not after this game. Now, one of them's not
because if Clemson wins a both the five lost teams
and if Florida State wins, is no way clemchon looking
at eight. So no, it's not gonna happen. This would
be the worst in my lifetime. This would be the
worst clumps of Florida State match in my lifetime.

Speaker 2 (01:12:44):
There you go, will qualker Bush on Twitter at qualtak
qualt have a great week, my man.

Speaker 8 (01:12:48):
Thanks buddy, appreciate you, Swanny. Oh it's good to be
with you.

Speaker 2 (01:12:51):
There you go. That's William Qualkin Bush every day noon
until three o'clock. Out of bounds, will qualk a bed
one of five to five the roar in the upstate.
So Florida State leads the all time series twenty one
to sixteen. Clemson won a year ago twenty nine to
thirteen on the road in Tallahassee. The Seminoles, of course,
two years ago, ventured into Death Valley undefeated and escaped

(01:13:16):
with a thirty one to twenty four victory in overtime. Clemson, however,
had won prior to that, seven consecutive games in the series,
dating back to a twenty three to thirteen win in
twenty fifteen. Clemson in Florida State did not face off
in that twenty twenty season, or the Tigers probably run

(01:13:38):
that winning streak to eight. Your recall, Clemson went down
to Tallahassee, had the big you know, the Wringling Brothers,
like tent one player got a COVID positive test after
landing in Tallahassee, and Mike Norval said thanks, but no thanks,
And I went ballistic on this show because I think
Mike Norville feared was what happened in twenty eighteen, which

(01:14:03):
was when Clemson went down there, and the Seminoles were
coached by Willie Taggart at the time. But Clempson won
fifty nine to ten, and I think that twenty twenty
Clemson team probably put something like that on the Seminoles.
And in your life and my life, you know, the
team that had dominated this series in terms of like

(01:14:25):
wide margins was Florida State. I mean in nineteen ninety three,
they beat Clemson fifty seven to nothing. In nineteen ninety eight,
they beat Clemson forty eight to nothing. They beat Clemson
in two thousand and fifty four to seven. They beat
Clemson in twenty thirteen, fifty four to fourteen. And that
twenty twenty season, the way Clemson was playing and the

(01:14:47):
way Florida State was playing, that was going to be
another shall lacking. Now. Norvelle and the Seminoles absolutely turned
a corner two years ago, but fall going back. The
regression in this program over the past two seasons is stunning.
And when you think about like coaches and hot seats,

(01:15:10):
and the coaches that have been fired already, including this
weekend with Auburn moving on from Hugh Freeze, the number
of coaches out there that are going to be looking
for jobs, and how the hot seat is going to turn,
you have to wonder. We talked about like a soft

(01:15:33):
landing spot for Shane Beemer, and and Beamer's got that luxury.
And I'm not saying he's going anywhere. As a matter
of fact, I think he's I think he is sunken
in you know, he's sunking his heels in here. He's
going to ride it out in Columbia fired his offensive
coordinator this week, fired his offensive line coach a couple

(01:15:54):
of weeks ago. Shane Beemer currently on the seventh hottest
seat in college football according to the Coaches Hot Seat.
Mike Norvell at Florida State on the third hottest seat
in the country. Again, Norvelle's biggest issue, I think is
that because of the way this season and last season

(01:16:17):
played out, all of a sudden, it feels as if
what happened two years ago when they were undefeated and
complaining about not getting into the National Champion or getting
into the College Football Playoff was just you know, finding
a horseshoe up your rear end and not truly a

(01:16:43):
transformational shift in the program. And more than anything, if
this season continues down this path, given all the changes
other than this huge contract, I don't think Florida State
fans have much faith they're going to be getting any
better under Mike norvel It would certainly help them. It

(01:17:03):
would go a long way for him if you could
win against Clemson this weekend. The hottest seat in America,
according to Coaches Hotzie, belongs to Jonathan Smith at Michigan State,
followed by Mike Locksley at Maryland. Norvellis three. Luke Fickle
at Wisconsin is four. Justin Wilcox at Cal is number five,

(01:17:26):
and wait for it, Bill Belichick at North Carolina number six.
Final segment, flip side, What have you done.

Speaker 5 (01:17:35):
For me lately? It's a fair question. Just don't lose
sight of the bigger picture. Don't forget history, look you
for us. At Clemson, the answers to the questions what
have you done for me lately?

Speaker 4 (01:17:53):
And what have you done? Always are the same. We win.

Speaker 7 (01:18:37):
Sometimes.

Speaker 2 (01:18:48):
Final segment on the Monday afternoon Clemson basketball tonight, take
it on New Hampshire, lock in the a CC Network Extra.
Clemson women's basketball, as we mentioned with wa Qualkin Bush earlier,
get a victory to open the season as well as
they played this afternoon at Little John A little back

(01:19:09):
to back, a little double header action there. Tonight in
the NFL, Dallas and Arizona face off eight p fifteen
on ABC, and again Clemson in Florida State this weekend
seven o'clock on the ACC Network. I know in soccer

(01:19:29):
the Clemson men qualified for the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament,
and that is getting ready to get underway as well
up in Clemson, which the ACC Tournament is Honestly, it
is about as good as it gets in college soccer.

(01:19:52):
It's about as good as winning the whole shebang. Clemson
will face Pitt on Wednesday. That's a seven o'clock start
at Historic Riggs Field. Pitt and Clemson two of the
top teams in the country. When they faced off earlier
this season, Clemson won three to two. The Tigers were

(01:20:13):
ranked number three and Pitt was ranked tenth. Both teams
have fallen off a little bit, but it will be
a big, big matchup there at Historic Riggs Field in
Round one of the ACC Tournament. Clemson finished the year
as the number four team in the ACC. Like, let's
put this in perspective. They finished as the four team

(01:20:36):
in the ACC. When they played Pitt earlier, Clemson was
the three team in the nation, number three team in
the nation. Pitt finished the season at number thirteen in
the league, and they were tenth in the nation when
they last met. Now, the way the ACC does its
men's Championship is it's basically a full bracket. The only

(01:20:58):
team that gets a bye is the top seed, so
Virginia has a bye. They await the winner of number
eight Notre Dame and Number nine North Carolina. As those
two teams face off tomorrow, they'll shoot me on Wednesday.
Then number four Clemson and pit face off. That's seven

(01:21:18):
o'clock on Wednesday. The winner will face the winner of
number five or fifth seed Duke and twelfth seeded Cow
and those will be on campus, so of the lower seed.
So Clemson's got a chance to host through November the thirteenth.
That's next Thursday, not this coming Thursday, where they would

(01:21:41):
go to carry North Carolina at wakefed Wake Med Park
to potentially play Virginia, Notre Dame or North Carolina. Now
in the bottom half of the bracket, third seed of
DNC State faces fourteen seed of Louisville six seeded Syracuse
faces eleventh seed of Virginia Tech, seventh seed d SMU
faces tend s to Wait Forced, and second seed is

(01:22:02):
Stanford faces fifteen seeded Boston College and the championship game
will be held on November the sixteenth. That is a
one o'clock start on a Sunday on ESPNU, So we'll
see if the Tigers can make a run. I don't

(01:22:27):
think the women. I didn't see anything. I didn't I
don't remember a press release coming out about the Clemson
women being in the women's championship bracket. Let me let
me just pull that up real fast and see if
indeed it is.

Speaker 8 (01:22:45):
No.

Speaker 2 (01:22:45):
It looks like the women's tournament, for whatever reason, only
has six teams that qualify, and Clemson did not qualify
for the women's tournament. So I know why. I wonder
how many teams? Now this is now you're really dig
it into my knowledge. Let's see digging into my knowledge?

(01:23:20):
How many teams are in the women's I have no idea.
If only six teams get in, how many are in that?
Like eight? Here we go standings one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, forty.

(01:23:42):
Why wouldn't they have the same They've got like the
same amount of team. Why wouldn't they do it the
same for the women? I don't know. I don't know.
I don't make those decisions. Maybe I just miss something,
Maybe I missed the opening rounds. But I thought I
saw a note that say Clemson didn't get in first

(01:24:04):
round November two. Yeah, yeah, they just do a sixteen tournament.
That is that's kind of dumb, I think, Why wouldn't
you let all the girls play, you let all the
boys play. Oh well, you learn something new every day
here on the show. Again, thanking to William Qualkinbush for
hanging out with us. A lot of fun getting a
chance to talk with him. As always, tomorrow we'll focus

(01:24:27):
on the South Carolina game Cocks. We'll find out what's
going on over at Williams. Brice Stadium as Shane Biemer
makes another staff change, firing Mike Shula over the weekend.
Will that turned the fortunes for South Carolina or just
more of the same. I guess we'll have to find
out until tomorrow. As always, you'll take care now and
go Tigers.