The "Put Up or Shut Up" Edition

As Clemson looks to rebound from a poor start, Swanny says it's time to take the next step for Dabo Swinney's 2025 team.

Episode Transcript

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

Speaker 2 (00:16):
Now finally, Clemson Sports Talk has come back to drive time.

Speaker 3 (00:51):
Hello everybody, lot and 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
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(01:15):
Put the dot com on it, dog on it. That's
Clemson Sports Talk dot com eight oh three four five
zero zero zero eighty six. That's the text line and
the phone line all right out of the gates. Sort
Of an interesting topic of conversation in the midst of

(01:35):
obviously Clemson is starting one and two. I know you
might not want to talk about that. Dabo Sweeney hot
and bothered yesterday a little rearview mirror livin for Dabo,
as I said on the program, But I want to
talk about the decisions at UCLA and Virginia Tech to
fire their head coaches just three games into the twenty

(01:57):
twenty five season. For a multi t reasons, and I
want to know what you think. What's the right thing
to do here. So if you're a UCLA fan, if
you're a Virginia Tech fan, and you're catching this, give
me your feedback and we can respond to it on
the show tomorrow. But in this era that we currently

(02:19):
enjoy in college football, the nil slash transfer portal era,
one of the things I may have said, error, that's
almost beautiful, right, But one of the things that we
deal with in this era is the fact that players
can red shirt after four games, or can't red shirt

(02:43):
after four games.

Speaker 4 (02:44):
Right.

Speaker 3 (02:45):
So in the situation that we're looking at with these
two teams, every player hypothetically on those two teams can
red shirt, every single one. I don't know a reason
that a player at this point would not be allowed
to red shirt. I can't really think of a scenario where,

(03:07):
given the current rules, anyone on either of these rosters
would not be eligible. To say, thanks, but no thanks,
I'm not playing anymore. I want to preserve a year.
I want to go play somewhere else. I want to
make some nil money. I'm getting out of Blacksburg, I'm
getting out of Los Angeles, like, I can't tell you
that there's a player on either roster that doesn't have

(03:30):
the right to leave. I can't think of a reason
that anybody wouldn't be able to or to at least
press Pauls on their playing career. So what is a
school to do? And what does the right thing to do?
Because UCLA and Virginia Tech could have waited another week
and every player who would have played four games or

(03:51):
waited another two weeks technically till the fifth game, and
every player that will would have played more than four
games would then be ineligible to get a red shirt
this season. So what's the administration to do? Right? Fans
frustrated by zero to three starts and terrible losses want

(04:12):
somebody's head, But the administration also has to weigh the
best interest of the student athlete. Because there's one thing
you can't overcome, in my opinion, and it's not Deshaun
Foster and it's not Brent Prye. The thing you can't
overcome is the rumor mill and the speculation out there

(04:36):
and the conversations that exist amongst recruits that, oh, they
don't treat their players right. The university is bad to
the players. The university doesn't do enough to help the players.
The university knew they were going to fire the coach
and they burnt all of those years for those players
by keeping that coach employed through five games and then

(04:57):
they cut him loose. What's the right thing to do
if you're UCLA and Virginia Tech at this point, because
I don't think there's a good answer. I think you
cut your coach now, you risk utter disaster for this season.
The only bright spot that I can see for either
school is if you can go ahead and line up

(05:19):
the next guy, and the next guy is a winner
and somebody that can make a big difference for your program.
Outside of that, I don't know why you do it
right now other than to protect your interest in the
mind's eye of recruits and other individuals who might potentially
come to your school to play for another coach at
some point down the line, because the administration's got your
back at Virginia Tech. The administration's got your best interest

(05:42):
at heart at UCLA. And then there's the other thing.
Just let the coach coach it out, and I think
that might actually be the best choice. In this era.
The best choice might be to just let the coach

(06:02):
coach it out, and if Deshaun Foster and Brent Pry
just goes stink apotomus the entire season, that's just what
it is, and then you can fire them. You can
fire them at the end of the year. You can
feel like you did right by the players. You didn't
get rid of the coach. You let him coach his
way out of town, and then you try to mitigate

(06:26):
things on the back end with recruiting and things of
that nature. But what is the best move I really
don't know, Like the ability for players to play in
four games in the regular season and still red shirt
throws decisions about coaches and coaches futures all out of whack.

(06:50):
If you do it before and or after the four games.
If you do it before, some people might say you
look foolish with all these players that'll sit out. If
you do it after, people might say you look like
a jerk because you stole the year from these kids
and you knew you were gonna get rid of the coach.
So what is the best situation, I'll be honest with you.

(07:13):
If the other choice is let the coach coach it
out and finish, that's number one, in my opinion, Number
two is option two. I think where excuse me, option one,
where you allow the players to understand that, hey, we've

(07:34):
got to cut ties with the coach right now. We
don't want to burn your red shirt year. So if
you want a red shirt, you can. And I think
the worst option is keeping a coach for five games
and then getting rid of the coach and burning all
those student athletes. What do you think is the best move?
Let me know in the comments if you're watching on

(07:54):
TikTok or text us eight oh three four or five
zero zero eighty. I think it's an interesting subject. It's
a new subject. It's not something we've had to deal
with or talk about in the past. Really, and you know, honestly,
the more I think about it, maybe there is an
option D in this scenario. And this might be option D.

(08:18):
You carry things out to five games, so players have
already played their five games, they can no longer a
red shirt. Then you go to the coach and you say, hey, look,
we're not going to be renewing your contract at the

(08:39):
end of the year. We just want to let you know.
This is it. You can rally the troops and do
the best you can, or if you want to step
away and give somebody else a shot, you can, but
we're not firing you right now. That's coming at the
end of the year. And then you gotta let the
coach decide. Does the coach want to look at players

(09:05):
in the eyes and say, hey, guys, look, it's not working,
so I'm gonna step away from the program, and I
want you guys to put everything you've got into being
successful and reaching the goals that we have. And the
reason I say that, the reason I feel that way

(09:31):
is because maybe in that scenario as a university, you
get what you want the coach out, but you're not
the ones that decided that it had to be this week.
And so if parents of recruits or student athletes are like, man,

(09:52):
you guys burn our program, why'd you fire coach, you say, well,
we didn't want him to go right now, but we
knew we were getting rid of him at the end
of the year, and we wanted to make him aware
of that so that he could, you know, do what
was best for him. And he walked out on you,
And that's not really our issue. The coach packed it up.

(10:16):
We didn't pack him up. He chose to a zero
three four five zero zero eighty six text line phone line. Again,
be a part of the program anytime, any place, anywhere
on our website. Of course, don't forget the show that
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(10:39):
Com two two six seven one o eight. That's Mets
Plumbing two two six seven one oh eight. Yeah. But
what a weird What a weird situation, Because if you
go back to the days where you couldn't couldn't red
shirt after you played one game, I don't think it

(11:03):
really mattered. Like you play a game or two and
the coach is terrible and you fire them. It's not
that kids felt like they got burned because they didn't.
They didn't. Yeah, they didn't have a chance to get
those games back. They were a part of the and
two start or the oh and three start that cost
the coach their job. And to feel like you deserve

(11:27):
to have something back in the eighties, I don't think
kids felt that way.

Speaker 1 (11:33):
I really don't.

Speaker 3 (11:34):
I think this whole I don't want to call it entitlement,
but I think what we've done with the over empowerment
of players is allowed for just some ridiculous scenarios to
present themselves to us as consumers of the sport. And

(11:55):
some of those issues are things like the trands for
a portal and firing coaches before players play a certain
amount of games. In how you look if you were
to just wait for five games, If you wait for
five games, I think as a program, you look like jerks.

(12:19):
To me. You look like you don't have the best
interest of the student athlete in mind. And in this
day and age, to not have the best interest of
the student athlete in mind is an immediate red flag

(12:42):
about your university and your athletic department. Like it doesn't
matter if it's Dabo Sweeney, Nick Saban, it doesn't matter
who the coach is in this day and age, because
of the exs of the student athlete, you you better

(13:02):
make sure that these guys are given the benefit of
the doubt in terms of decisions that are made about
the program, because I don't know, like if you ranked
the schools from being sort of pro player if that's
the right word, but you know, advocates for their players

(13:26):
and their players' rights and their players' opportunities. I would
imagine that the best schools in the country are probably
closer to the top end of that list than the bottom.
And I don't know who's at the bottom, but it's
not a place you want to be. You definitely don't
want to be the school that's considered the one that

(13:49):
does the least to protect the best interest of the
student athlete, because that, to me, crosses lines of what
sport you play, basketball, volleyball. It doesn't matter if the
perception exists in the world of recruiting for all of

(14:11):
these different sports that school X is not a kind
of pro athlete institution. They fall more in line with
the coaches or whatever. Man's that's a pretty bad place
to be. I think I don't think kids want to

(14:34):
come play for you in that scenario. I mean, in
twenty twenty five, being pro player as an institution is
probably as significant as anything. And now with revenue sharing,
by the way, we will hear from Kate Klubnick on
that front. He was asked about rev share its impact,

(14:56):
and I thought Kate had a pretty pretty interesting comment
on it, and we could certainly hear it. But he said, man,
I didn't grow up and this is probably true. Well
I don't. I'm not saying it's probably true because I
think it's not true. But it's probably true for most
players at this point, and maybe absolutely true for all

(15:21):
players at this point. Is they didn't grow up thinking, hey,
I'm gonna play college ball and make money, like that's
a relatively new concept. Hey I'm gonna play college ball
and I'm gonna make three million dollars. But that's in
twenty five years. Well less than that technically, but eighteen

(15:42):
years or so. For sure, every kid growing up in
high school will see their opportunity to make money playing collegiately.
I think the more interesting aspect of it would be
over the long haul. You know. I think we had
this movement away from football for many years because of

(16:02):
the aggressiveness and the hits and the things like that,
and I think parents said, hey, maybe maybe I can'll
play another sport. But now with college football making the
money that it makes, maybe more people put their kids
back into football and think, son, look, maybe you don't
make it to the pros, but you could be good

(16:24):
enough to play in college. If you're going to good
enough to play in college, maybe you can make six
eight million dollars, and you're not gonna make six or
eight million dollars working at nine to five. So we're gonna,
you know, work your rear end off from the time
you're about eight till you're eighteen. We're gonna put in

(16:44):
ten years of development and money and effort, and if
you're any good, we're gonna keep rolling with it and
we'll get you to college. You can make some coin.
The other thing that I would say when I think
about it like that is I think about the US
and soccer, and I say, well, why don't we do
that with soccer. Let's make college soccer the place where

(17:08):
you can make some coin. And I would venture to
guess that the number of individuals that are playing soccer
would probably continue to increase to the point of where
we're placing more guys from the United States on some
of these soccer rosters collegiately as well. Speaking of soccer

(17:32):
rosters collegiately, your Clemson Tigers. We've talked about this before, Leonard,
with players from all over the country, excuse me, all
over the world, including several guys from over in Africa.
But man, what blows my mind is what happened last
night at historic Riggs Field. The Tigers fourteenth rank. There

(17:58):
were just number two a couple of weeks weeks ago
lost to Queen's College, won nothing. Clemson now three two
and two on the year. The Tigers tied out at
SMU last weekend. The Royals scored with sixteen minutes to
go to take a one to zero lead. Clemson totaled

(18:18):
eighteen shots in the match, but couldn't put one in
the net. Goalkeeper Joseph and Dima had five saves, that's
a new record high for him. But on eighteen shots,
the Tigers get nil. Could not scratch a goal, and
so Clemson loses a weird, weird loss there. In my opinion,

(18:40):
I don't know anything about Queen's College, I truly don't,
but the fact that that Clemson roster lost that game
tells you everything you need to know about soccer. I mean,
it's a it's a strange sport, and the greatest teams

(19:05):
can get beaten when they're not finishing in eighteen shots
but no goals. And I mentioned Clemson and a bunch
of guys from Africa. I think there are six five players,
maybe six on the team from Ghana alone. I mean,

(19:26):
it's wild how the recruiting of Clemson soccer has just
ballooned immensely. Now. They've always had some different coaches over
the years, or excuse me, some different players from other
countries over the years with different coaches as well. But

(19:47):
man alive after a couple of national titles. This is
an international program on the soccer pitch with a quick
break and come out. We'll hear something from k Klubnett
right after this. Stay with us, rocking and rolling along
with you Clemson Sports stall out and swan on a Wednesday.
Kate Klubnik, Clemson quarterback, met with the media earlier today

(20:10):
in Tigertown, and he was asked about what stood out
to him on film from the Georgia Tech game. And
I've watched that game obviously at link a couple of
times now and man definitely missed opportunities. Kate had that
one run the little draw where it looks so similar

(20:30):
to the pit game some errant throws. I think that
Ky's just a little bit off right now, and I
don't know how you get him back to good. He's
not lived up to the expectations this year. He hasn't
been bad like get blown out bad, but he hasn't

(20:53):
been win games good, and you gotta be win games good.
Here's what Kate had to say about what stood out
to him after watching the film on that Georgia Tech contest.

Speaker 5 (21:07):
Yeah, I mean, I feel like we gotten a really
good flow throughout the game. Was really good to see,
you know, kind of been something that we've been talking about,
so I was really good to see, you know, just
putting a seventeen play drive together, fourteen play drive together
was really fun to just kind of see the offense
really going to work. Really proud of the offensive line. Man,
they dominated, I feel like the whole game and just
just really played just really well together. Well maybe you know,

(21:27):
something didn't go their way or or you know another
guy you know kind of didn't make a play.

Speaker 1 (21:33):
They just responded really well and really held our offense together.

Speaker 5 (21:36):
Him and Adam played his tailoff man receivers from making
plays and it was good watching, but it was you know,
it was definitely tough one of you know, one of
those plays back and really really close. So it's exciting,
it's but you know, it's also hard to watch and
realize how close you were and how one or two
plays you know, could have changed the game.

Speaker 1 (21:55):
So yeah, it's it's tough and we'll learn from it
and continue to move on.

Speaker 5 (22:00):
But you know, feel really good about just the overall
feeling of the offense and we just kind of focus
in the details and make the routine plays club.

Speaker 3 (22:09):
It was also asked about the mood that practiced this week.
Obviously after a big upset like that.

Speaker 1 (22:14):
Yeah, it's hard, that's that's not an easy thing to do.

Speaker 5 (22:17):
But I feel like we've responded really well and really
just kind of brought a lot of energy and just
trying to bring some joy every day.

Speaker 4 (22:24):
You know.

Speaker 5 (22:24):
That's that's kind of what we're trying to do, and
trying to bring some joy every day and be a light.

Speaker 3 (22:28):
You know.

Speaker 5 (22:29):
One of my mentors told me, whatever you're going through
a hard time, trying to go level on people. Well,
so that's all I'm trying to do is just you know,
be a light in this building. And saw a long
season ahead, you know, way way I talked about, you know, man,
we dreamed of playing Clemson football, So you know, let's
go play some Cleinson football and just go live out
our dream and enjoy every single day and enjoy every
week and that's really what it comes down to.

Speaker 3 (22:50):
Kate Club That was also asked if he felt like,
you know, the response to adversity back in twenty twenty
three could potentially be the thing that helps this team,
uh this season.

Speaker 1 (23:02):
Yeah, we want to respond faster, that's for sure.

Speaker 5 (23:06):
So I mean a little bit of that, But yeah,
this is this is not the same team, that's for sure.
This is a much better team than we were in
twenty three. And we've we've got two losses and both
of them have come down to the very last play
of the game. We're right there, which kind of put
it all together and keep keep striving, you know, I
believe that every dream we have is still in front
of us, and let's just go back after it and

(23:29):
go back to work and.

Speaker 1 (23:30):
Just keep chasing, keep keep chasing.

Speaker 5 (23:32):
You know, we got nine more guaranteed games and hoping
to chase some more after that.

Speaker 1 (23:35):
So just keep chasing. You know.

Speaker 5 (23:37):
It's it's a long season, and we're ready to get
back after it and ready to go practice today and
ready to get back to Death Valley on Saturday.

Speaker 3 (23:45):
So Club it was also asked what gives him the
confidence that this Tiger team will be able to respond.

Speaker 5 (23:52):
I think that we you know, we've done it before.
We've got a veteran crew that's you know that's done
it before. And just watching the tape, you know we're
really close and feel good about it. You don't feel
good and yeah, just excited to kind of go back
and go play some football. You know, we only get
a few opportunities, so just go enjoy the one we got.

Speaker 3 (24:11):
That's Clemson quarterback k Clumbing and yeah, that's I mean,
he's right, like, you got to enjoy these opportunities regardless
of the outcome if you're a player. I was on
the Chuck Oliver Show today and that was a question
he asked me about attendance at the game this weekend,
and I think it's going to be a real good
attendance for Clemson because of scarcity. College football creates scarcity,

(24:31):
and fans love seeing their teams play, almost regardless of
how your team's doing. And so what I said in
that moment to Chuck Oliver was I said, look, I
think the corners of the upper deck will be sparsely attended,
but that's the case outside of a lot of big games,
but fans understand that you only get a certain amount

(24:53):
of weekends to go tailgate and Tigertown to have a
good time. And I think people are going to turn
up for this game and turn out for this game.
Uh pull up? Maybe what the kids would say? Am
I right? Club? And it was also asked about how
this offense could take those next steps.

Speaker 1 (25:07):
Just eleven guys doing their job. A few times we
just had ten, and and that hurts.

Speaker 5 (25:12):
Eleven guys doing their job and doing it really really
well and just.

Speaker 1 (25:16):
Being really efficient.

Speaker 5 (25:17):
You know, I feel like probably our best game offensively,
but you know, the two turnovers that I had really
hurt us.

Speaker 1 (25:23):
And just a couple of third.

Speaker 5 (25:24):
Down either miscommunication or you know, just didn't make a
player or something like that. That that definitely hurt us
kind of in the third quarter when I felt like
we really could have put it away. So that was
that was tough, especially just watching on film and realizing.

Speaker 1 (25:38):
Man, we're you know, we're right there, and we'll.

Speaker 3 (25:40):
Keep that on K Club. It was also asked to
give some insight into his interception down near the goal
line where he stared down his wide receiver and it
was certainly a big play, although it didn't really cost
Clemson directly indirectly, it definitely did.

Speaker 1 (25:56):
I mean he made, you know, first of all props
with him, and he made a heck of a play.

Speaker 5 (25:59):
I mean he he just about jumped before I even
threw the ball.

Speaker 1 (26:02):
It was unbelievable.

Speaker 5 (26:04):
But I mean, going back at it, i mean, pre snap,
he's a little bit wider than I felt on the field.

Speaker 1 (26:10):
Man. He crashed all the way in and I'm just
trying to read that guy. And he made a really
good play. So looking back on if I could go
back and change it, obviously I'd want to hand it off.
But you know, it's just you know, he made a
really good play and kind of props to him in
that moment.

Speaker 5 (26:25):
And uh, I mean I felt him trigger all the
way down. Try to pull it. But you know, looking
back on it, maybe.

Speaker 1 (26:30):
Just preussure handed off, but uh just our run game
was right there. Just you know, it's second down.

Speaker 3 (26:37):
That's Kay Klebnick explaining the interception that he had deep
in Georgia Tech territory. Here he has talked about Adam
Randall and his impact at the running back spot.

Speaker 1 (26:46):
Yeah, I think just you know, it's cut of nobility
and The biggest thing is just his heart. Man.

Speaker 5 (26:51):
He plays just with so much heart. You know, he
wants to so bad and I do too, and he's
just he's he's laying his body on the line every
single week, every single day, and he's really leading us
really well. He's a webbing for us and super super
happy to have him back there, and you know, it's
really good to have him in there, and he's been
balling for us.

Speaker 3 (27:10):
So that again is some of Clemson quarterback K Clubnick
from his time with the media earlier today as well.
I think we got Sammy Brown and I believe I
remember Ronan Hannathan also getting a chance to speak with
the media today. So we'll have some of that for
you over the next couple of days. We'll probably try

(27:30):
to put a little bit more of K Clubnic in
our number two stay with us Clemson Sports Stall, Lawt
and Swan on a Wednesday afternoon, Hey, don't forgive our
friends up in Alumni Hall on the corner of campus
on College Avenue with downtown Clemson. It's Alumni Hall, Broll.
You're officially licensed Clemson merchandise hats, T shirts, Tailgate, Gary

(27:52):
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all military get ten percent off when shopping in store
at Alumni Hall. It's Alumni Hall where Tiger fans shop

(28:14):
all right now talking about college football obviously earlier, and
teams getting rid of their coaches, like Virginia Tech, who
is oh and three. Well, the Watford Terriers, my dad's
Walford Terriers. They are in a completely different oh and

(28:40):
three scenario by comparison to a lot of schools. Walford
is currently oh and three. But get this, they've lost
their three ball games by a combined six points oho

(29:05):
and three. They lost sixteen to fifteen to South Carolina State,
they lost fourteen to ten to Richmond, and then got
beat last weekend on the road at Mercer twenty two

(29:26):
to twenty one. Like you, just if you're a Wallford alum.
I mean, that is about as tough of a three
and zero to swallow as any I've ever seen. Two
to one point losses and a four point loss, and

(29:54):
all of those games are low scoring like one little
I know, Dabo swing right, Davosweni has talked about Clemson
being a play away in these ball games. Dude, Wafford
a play away from a great season and instead now

(30:16):
they are oh and three and they'll head up to
Blacksburg to face off within oh and three Virginia Tech squad,
and that oh and three Virginia Tech squad heavily favored
in this game. But for the Watford Terriers, I don't

(30:37):
know what the I don't know what the record losing
streak is for that program. Uh, They've been a pretty
proud football team through the years, especially when I was
growing up. But if you go back to November of
last year, Wafford lost to the Citadel and followed that

(31:00):
up with a loss to South Carolina, meaning the Terriers
are currently on a five game skid. And when I
was growing up, I mean, that was a pretty proud program.
But man, I was looking back, I was looking back,
and it has been I don't know what happened Mike Ayers.

(31:24):
I don't remember what year he finally hung up the whistle.
Let's take a look and see. Mike Ayers coached at
Watford from nineteen eighty eight to twenty seventeen, and they
were pretty steady, Eddy, I mean, I don't remember him

(31:47):
just stinking it up at all. Maybe there was a
handful of years here and there, but since COVID, since
the COVID year when they played their games in February,
I don't know if you remember they had spring football
that year. In the spring football, they had three games

(32:09):
canceled and they finished that season one and four. Then
in twenty twenty one, they won their opener against Elon
and then promptly dropped eleven consecutive games. In twenty twenty two,

(32:30):
they dropped their first six contest. I mean, they had
a seventeen game losing streak, and then they won three
of their final five games to finish three and nine.
Then in twenty twenty three they lost their first ten
games before beating the Citadel in Furman to finish two

(32:55):
to ten. Then they were five and seven a year ago,
and now starting off oh to three and almost feel
certain that they are going to drop to oh to
four this weekend. So for all my terriers out there,
who man, I'm feeling it for you, feeling it for

(33:16):
my dad right now. I didn't know the Watford program
had fallen on such hard times. But man, when I
was looking back, I was stunned. Stunned. But man, the
way they've lost this year, just gut punches sixteen, fifteen, fourteen, ten,

(33:40):
twenty two to twenty one to one point losses. All right,
speaking to college football this weekend, how about the schedule?
What we've got cooking on the docket. We do get
the week rolling tomorrow as Rice comes to the Queen

(34:04):
City to take on Charlotte at Jerry Richardson Stadium. Rice
is a one and a half point favorite. You could
catch that game on ESPN. Charlotte's the forty nine ers.
Rice is what the owls? I believe, Yeah, I'm I'm

(34:26):
pretty sure the Rice owls. Bingo. I wonder how many
of a quiz. I wonder how many mascots I could get, right?
I might. I might do a little bit of that
here during the next segment when we're looking through these games. Anyway.
That's the Thursday matchup seven thirty on ESPN, up in Charlotte,

(34:46):
and then a couple of games on Friday. Tulsa is
at Oklahoma State at seven thirty on ESPN. In Iowa
is at Rutgers at eight o'clock on Fox. Tulsa Golden
Hurricanes or just Golden Hurricane. Singular had to punch that
one in the Google machine. It is Singular Golden Hurricane.

(35:08):
Stay with Us, Lawton, Swan, CLEMPSES Sports, Instagram, TikTok. We
are where you are go, follow us, support us, help
us grow. You can become a premium subscriber on our
website for just sixty three dollars and seventeen cents. That's right,
I said it, sixty three seventeen for you to be

(35:30):
a part of what we do for one year that
supports us directly and of course support all of our
sponsors on the program. So mention the Thursday and Friday matchups.
Here's what we got coming up on Saturday. Pretty good
game out of the Gates on Fox as number sixteen

(35:51):
Utah and number seventeen Texas Tech face off. Utah a
three and a half point favorite in that one. Then
you've got Clemson and Syracuse also at noon. That one's
on ESPN. Clemson favored by seventeen and a half. That
Watford Virginia Tech game we talked about in the last segment,

(36:14):
that's a noon kickoff. You can watch it on ESPN
Plus and then also at noon I think worth watching
here SMU at TCU. TCU favored by six and a
half Crosstown rivals in this game. And I think from

(36:35):
the standpoint of the Atlantic Coast Conference, there's no denying
this league needs to pick up some wins outside of
the league. And for Clemson's sake, any team on your
schedule you need to have continue to win. You need
every team possible that you face to win. You need

(36:57):
a little bump whenever you get a chance to play
these guys. So that's what I'll say on that front.
You've also got out in Oregon at three o'clock, number six,
Oregon and Oregon State facing off. That's on the Big
Ten Network from Eugene, Oregon thirty four and a half

(37:17):
point favorites over Oregon State. Then at three point thirty
on ABC out in Norman, Oklahoma, Brent Minnables and the Sooners,
who are undefeated. They face Auburn, Oklahoma, a six and
a half point favorite in that one. You've also got

(37:38):
a game this weekend between Nebraska and Michigan. Michigan going
out to Lincoln. The Wolverines are ranked twenty one and
they are two and a half point favorites. But Nebraska.
I saw this stat today that game three thirty on CBS.
Nebraska is the only team in the country that is

(37:59):
yet to give up a passing play of twenty yards
or more. How's that for a stat It kind of
got me thinking, I'm like, man, you three weeks in
you haven't give him up a pass of twenty yards
or more? Then, of course, for our fine feathered friends
hanging out with us here on the program each and

(38:19):
every day, and of course we do appreciate you guys
and gals, you game cocks, for being here so you could.

Speaker 6 (38:27):
Continue to peek over the fence at the best radio
showing the nation.

Speaker 3 (38:32):
Seven o'clock ESPN number twenty three, Missouri hosting South Carolina,
the Battle of Columbia. Missouri ten and a half point favorite.
Still and we're waiting to find out what the you know, what,
what's it gonna be for Lenora Sellers. I'm hard pressed

(38:54):
to say he doesn't play, and if he doesn't play
in Carolina loses another ballgame, another conference game, like with
the schedule they have remaining, ooh Bowl season. I don't
want to throw out too much like hyperbole or whatever.

(39:17):
On this thing. But if South Carolina loses to Missouri,
are they going to win six games? That schedule is daunty.
I don't know. I wasn't sure they were gonna win
six games before, but I thought they would start five
to zero. So there you go, Hey, good news. Game

(39:39):
Cocks at Clempson games looking like a little little easier
than it did. Although, in fairness to Dabo swinging the Tigers,
it's not as if Clympsons just laid down and died.
I mean, they've battled in these games. He's right about that.
They have come down to a play here, are there?

(40:03):
So that's what we've got. Miami at seven thirty hosting Florida,
the Hurricanes seven and a half point favorites, and an
interesting game on the NBC at seven thirty since Notre
Dame is on the road Indiana, or actually Notre Dame
might be hosting an earlier game. Yeah, they're hosting a
three thirty game against Purdue. Because of that, NBC has

(40:26):
a night window open and they will have number nineteen
Indiana hosting number nine Illinois. And I think Indiana, I
believe they're favored by five and a half in that game,
even though they are not ranked as highly as the

(40:47):
Fighting ALIONI so that'll be an interesting matchup in the
Big Ten, especially given the fact of what Indiana did
a year ago by making it into the College Football Playoff.
And finally, I would say a little late night affair
on Fox eleven o'clock on the Big Network, Southern col

(41:10):
hosting Michigan State. Nothing like a good old fashioned Big
Ten battle. I just can't this. This whole thing is
bizarre when you have games like that. I think it
was another one I saw earlier, a Stanford at Virginia.
I just wowsers. Anyway, Southern Cal favored by seventeen and
a half there. But that's kind of a look at

(41:31):
some of the big games this weekend. Obviously, for Tiger fans,
it's Syracuse coming to Clemson and the Tigers finding a
way to break through, get to two and two and
get the feeling better about themselves offensively, defensively, I mean
all over the field quite frankly. Dabo Sweeney talks about

(41:54):
complimentary football and Clemson really needs to up in that
direction because it has been the opposite of complimentary at
this point.

Speaker 4 (42:05):
Uh.

Speaker 3 (42:05):
There's an old saying, remember in boxing, I guess if
the left one don't get you, the right one will.
The problem here with Clemson is when the left was
getting you the right ones not and when the right
was getting you the left ones not. All right, quick bray,
We'll come back hour number two of the show that
Shakespeare south Land. Right here, Fox Sports Radio fourteen hundred
is around the bin. Keep it locked.

Speaker 2 (42:26):
Each time for Clipson Sports Talk with luwten Schwan.

Speaker 3 (43:07):
It is our number two that's drivetime right here on
the show This shakes to south Land, Clemson Sports tal
log Swan. Ain't it with you on a Wednesday afternoon
A three four five oho zero zero eighty six text
line phone line. And again you can be a part
of the program anytime, and you play somewhere on our

(43:28):
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our work there. That always helps. Especially Facebook love what
we're doing on the drive to twenty five. And lastly,
I will say that TikTok is exploding as well for us,

(43:48):
So thank you to everybody. I don't know how to
grow Instagram. I've been trying. I have no idea Instagram.
You are the enigma for me, man, But I also
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(44:13):
All right, So, obviously we've talked a lot about Clemson
and the Tiger situation in terms of the College Football
Playoff and what has to go into them getting there.
But at least they have a path right to the
ACC Championship and the possibilities. And you'll say that's a
long shot, and I'll say no doubt about it. I mean,

(44:33):
you already look at the schedule that's ahead of Clemson.
The way they've played, there's no guarantees that they could
certainly win out. It almost sounds comical to say that
they would win out. But if they do went out there,
there's still the problem that you've got Georgia Tech in
your way. You've gotten you've got Miami that could potentially
block you out of the a SEC Championship, but in
conference championship in this era, guarantees you a spot in

(44:56):
the College Football Playoff from the Power four. So Let's
talk about Notre Dame for a second. The Fighting Irish
are currently zero and two. They lost it in their
opening to Miami twenty seven to twenty four. They lost
this past weekend to Texas A and M forty one
to forty. I talked about Walford earlier and having three
losses by a combined six points. Notre Dame has two

(45:18):
losses by a combined four. They host Perdue this weekend
three point thirty start on AB excuse me on NBC, duh,
No kidding? Right, Well, the reason I bring up Notre
Dame for this conversation is this they are still ranked
twenty fourth in the polls. In a year ago, they
lost to Northern Illinois and still made it back into

(45:41):
not just a college football playoff, but made it to
the National Championship Game. And I just wonder in twenty
twenty five, with two losses out of the gate in
ten games remaining and not being in a conference, is
there enough meat on the proverbial bone for the Fighting

(46:02):
Irish to get into the college football playoff? So if
they beat Purdue, I'm gonna run through their schedule for
you real quick. If they beat Perdue this week that
would make him one and two. They go to Arkansas,
they host Boise they host n C State, and they
host Southern cal Then they're at Boston College versus Navy,

(46:28):
at Pitt versus Syracuse, and at Stanford. Here's what I'm
looking at right, winnable games the rest of the way,
ten and two, but no conference championship. Now, there's no guarantee,
much like Clemson, that you're gonna go ten and oh

(46:52):
the rest of the way. As a matter of fact,
there could be several missteps along the way. But what
teams like Clemson and other teams in conferences currently have
that Notre Dame does not, And I don't know, and
I'm sure they probably they probably discussed this on the

(47:13):
radio in Chicago and South Bend and everywhere about what
could happen if Notre Dame went oh in two? And
certainly a ten game winning streak is something that helps.
But if it's Purdue in Arkansas and Boise State and
NC State in Southern Calm and Boston College and Navy
and Pitt and Syracuse to Stanford, does that jump off

(47:37):
the page? And you might say, well, what if Clemson
played a similar schedule Swanee in the Atlantic Coast Conference
and I would say yeah, but they'd be playing it
in a conference. And if Clemson played those exact same
schools n C State, Boston College, Pitts, Syracuse, Stanford beat
those teams and got into the College Football Playoff, then

(47:59):
excuse me, into the a SEC Championship game and won it,
that would qualify them for the College Football Playoff. But
does just beating those teams, the teams we just went
through in your mind, would that make Notre Dame a
college football Playoff team this year, because unlike the teams

(48:21):
currently in conferences, that might be zero to two, might
even be oh to three depending on whether the losses
were in league or out of the league. Clemson technically
could have lost to Troy, Clemson could still lose to
South Carolina. But if they were to win out the
rest of the way through their conference games and get

(48:41):
to the a SEC Championship and win at Clemson would
be in which would mean that Notre Dame, because they
continue to be stubborn about not being in a conference,
could have already backed themselves into a situation where making
the college football Playoff in twenty twenty five, for a
team that played for the national championship in twenty twenty four,

(49:04):
there might not be enough there depending on what happens
around them, to get them into the College football Playoffs. Now,
if you went out, you're probably considered one of the
top twelve teams. I understand that. But what if that

(49:25):
margin of era is too be and what if they've
already lost too much in twenty twenty five. I do
feel this way about it. You know, with Clemson, you
could have lost to Troy and still been in. You

(49:48):
could lose to South Carolina and still be in. Like,
when you have a conference, one of the things that
you do create is the chance that you could lose
four non conference games and get into the college football playoffs. Like,

(50:11):
if you want to talk about a current benefit of
this system for the teams in conferences is that you
could go eight and four, and as long as the
eight wins come against the teams in your league, and
in a conference championship game you win, you're in the

(50:35):
College Football Playoff. And it doesn't matter who those four
losses came to. Southeast Missouri State, What dabos when you
say the other way the other day? North? No, what
do you say East West University.

Speaker 5 (50:53):
Like.

Speaker 3 (50:55):
It doesn't matter. Non conference games in terms of getting
to the College football Playoff don't really matter, which is
why I encourage teams to play them. Now, you might say, well,
that means those games don't matter, but I think they do.

(51:18):
And I think LSU is currently benefiting from a non
conference victory over Clemson, even though the Tigers don't look
like the menacing program that everybody expected them to be
out of the gates. You think the fans in Baton
Rouge don't feel better about themselves winning that game than

(51:38):
losing it. But here's the thing, even if they lost it,
that's why you should play it. Because even if you
lose it, you take a little hit. But if you're
a legitimate threat to the College Football Playoff, if you're

(51:58):
a legitimate threat to winning your conference, non conference games
against vaunted and talented opponents are something you should desire.
I think because at the end of the day, those
games now only help you. Non conference games only help

(52:24):
only help schools. I don't see how they hurt you.
I mean, if your quarterback gets hurt playing a big,
you know, big name team, then yeah, I get it,
Like you lost your main player, why'd you losing? Well,
we could have played Northwest excuse me, East West State
or whatever. But other than that, dude, you can go

(52:48):
zero for four. You could play Clempson, could play a
non conference schedule if they could get these schools to
schedule them. And now that the leagues are going to
nine games, you know it's going to get more difficult.
But if you really wanted to, I mean, Clemson could
play Alabama, Michigan, Florida, and Georgia out of conference if

(53:18):
you could get them scheduled. With the way it's currently
set up, you could do it every single year. And
you know what, that would kind of remind me of
pro football, because really, in pro football, if you win
your division, you're in so and look, I'm not trying

(53:41):
to get rid of the Wafford's on the scheduled. Dad,
don't don't think that. I'm sure, my dad, I'm sure
my dad's listening. Well, what about Watford, Jannie. Well, I
just think that one thing that we've got to concer
with the way this thing is framed up in this

(54:05):
day and age, is playing the best games and the
best teams you can play, play the best teams and
the best games that you can play because your conference schedule.
If you're in a conference, you just need to be
able to win that. And I think that winning your

(54:28):
conference is not impossible just because you're willing to go
play tough teams. As a matter of fact, I might
argue then, as a program, if you could say to
a recruit, say, hey, look, we play in the Atlantic
Coast Conference, and I know a lot of people will
try to downplay that and talk about, well, they're not
playing in the ASHC Boys, but guess what we're going

(54:53):
And Clympson has already got this on the schedule, right,
They've already got Notre Dame. We're going to Notre Dame,
We're gonna play Georgia in a neutral site game in Atlanta.
We're gonna play South Carolina, and we're gonna go across
the country and play Oregon. Those are our non conference games.

(55:18):
Now you might look at that and think, well, that
team is not gonna go undefeated, and you might not.
I would argue you probably won't. You might even argue, well,
that team's gonna struggle to stay in the top twenty five,
and you might be right. But you know what, maybe
that team is battle tested. Maybe that team has the

(55:43):
grit and determination to finish, and maybe they play those
three non conference games except for South Carolina, out of
the gates, and they give themselves a little bit of
a measuring stick now again wear and tear. Maybe because

(56:07):
you play tough games out of the conference, you can't
win your conference. I mean that that's kind of the excuse.
I think that some teams out of the Southeastern Conference
make you know, like, well, we play tough teams. It's
tough for us to win. Because we play tough teams,
we get beat up. And so maybe that's an excuse

(56:27):
that you could have at that point if you played
that type of ALEC conference schedule, if you were Clemson,
and the Tigers do generally do a really good job
with their ALI conference scheduling. I mean, they face South Carolina,
they face another big power for team, and then there's
typically kind of a mid level cupcake, not a low

(56:48):
level cupcake. You know, they get a Troy in there,
they go get a Marshall in there. Then you know
they're not going to the bottom of the barrel to
find the their opponents. But where we currently are in
this world of college football, you know, we got teams

(57:09):
that have blue turf, and we got teams that got
seventy five jerseys and jersey combinations, and we don't have
a team right now really outside of maybe Notre Dame,

(57:31):
and some of their ties to the Atlantic Coast Conference
sort of tie their hands on who they can play,
and the fact that they're not in the conference kind
of eliminates them from this talking point a little bit.
But if you're in a conference, what we really don't
have right now is a team that just goes out

(57:52):
and says we are going to kind of have the
Notre Dame scheduling concept and we're also going to play
in a power for a league. And what if that
was sort of the driving force to bring in bigger

(58:13):
and better recruits. I mean, there's a reason people have
gone to play at Notre Dame, even when Notre Dame
hasn't you know, won the national title of forty years
give or take Notre Dame. I know Swanny don't be
so rude to us, but I bring that up because

(58:39):
in a conference, as a conference team, I should say
you could adopt a schedule like that. I can't think
of reason why you couldn't have a schedule like that
with the current format, like in the old days, where
you had to finish in the top two, that would
be a foolish approach, absolutely foolish. Why would anybody have

(59:05):
a schedule like that when you had to finish in
the top two. Why would anybody have a schedule like
that when you had to make the top four. But
when the schedule says, hey, you just have to win
your conference, why not why not go play all power

(59:32):
for teams? Why not book that schedule? I mean, I
think I think for some schools, especially and Clemson may
not be one of them because of their sort of
their footprint right in the world of college football, but

(59:57):
maybe it would make sense for I'm just trying to
pick a team here. Don't want to offend anybody, somebody
who's kind of down trying to climb, you know. Maybe
maybe it would make sense for a school like n

(01:00:20):
C State to to do something like that, to say, look,
we are playing out of conference. We're gonna play Texas
A and M, we are going to play South Carolina,
we are going to play a matchup with Notre Dame,

(01:00:41):
and we're gonna play a game against Oregon, and then
we're gonna play our conference games and we're gonna see
how we do. We're gonna we're gonna take our players,
the players at in C State, and we are gonna
play some of the at some of the best destiny
nations in the best programs in college football. And you

(01:01:04):
could even go Bobby Bowden style and we'll play them
at their venue and we don't need a return trip.
We just want to go play the best of the
best to get us ready for the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Why not. Heck, even if you're in the Southeastern Conference,

(01:01:26):
why not? Well, our schedule in the Southeastern Conference is tough,
so it doesn't doesn't make it any easier. Yeah, but
we're getting to rest our.

Speaker 4 (01:01:36):
Guys.

Speaker 3 (01:01:38):
Man, go put it on the line that maybe that's
where we're headed. You know, we often talk about where
where college football is headed. Maybe that is the place.
I can't imagine that wouldn't be better for the sport, because, man,
did you hear some of the games I read off earlier?
Those are the good ones this week? Can you imagine

(01:02:03):
what the bad games are? If the ones I read
you were the good onstitune in the watch and for
a sport with scarcity. That should never be a thing.
Every weekend, every game should be desirable to fans from
coast to coast. All right, well, hit quick break. We'll
hear more from Kyklubnick when we return. Lawton Swan, Clemson

(01:02:26):
Sports thought back with you on a Wednesday afternoon, getting
you over to Hump Hump Day tomorrow, tim Beray. We
should also be joined by Chad Morris tomorrow, so gonna
be a loaded show there. We'll have Tommy Balden on Friday,
Will Van Dervoort from the Clemson Insider, as well as
we get you ready for the matchup between Clemson and
Syracuse in Death Valley. Well, Kay Clubnick met with the

(01:02:49):
media earlier today. We played some of that for you
in the opening segment, but Kay was asked specifically about
players and how they have handled in his opinion, you know,
nil in this era, and maybe even more specifically now
that there's revenue sharing, how that's kind of affected things
for players collegiately.

Speaker 5 (01:03:08):
Yeah, that's a good question. I mean, I think everybody
really handles it differently. I mean, for me, I mean,
you know, I didn't grow up dreaming to play college
football to go make money you know that just that
wasn't me.

Speaker 1 (01:03:19):
I grew up dream to.

Speaker 5 (01:03:21):
Play college football, to go play college football and run
out in the stadium of you know, one hundred thousand fans,
and that's what I dreamed of. And I'm just I
feel like I'm a guinea pig. And this whole in
il era came in the first year that was going
on and happened for my senior high school got announced
and then so that you know, I didn't really have
to do the recruiting process.

Speaker 1 (01:03:39):
But I feel like every year it's been different.

Speaker 5 (01:03:41):
It's it's been an interesting journey, and you know, I
feel like I've handled it really well in terms of,
you know, football is number one for me, and you
go ask anybody that you know it's you know, family agent,
whatever it is. Like, I'm not messing with any of
that stuff any time close the season. That's all in

(01:04:02):
May and June, like it doesn't affect me or even January.
So yeah, I mean, it's it's part of the game now.
It's not necessarily that I asked for. It's just kind
of something that's happened. So I don't feel like I
should be, you know, held responsible for that.

Speaker 1 (01:04:17):
I guess if you know what I mean.

Speaker 5 (01:04:18):
But it is something that's happened, and I think that
different people handle it differently, and I feel like we've
done a really good job of handling it here. So
we just guy to continue to just love the game.
And that's that's kind of what I guess start off
this answer with. But just find the joy of the game,
you know, that's really quote it comes down to and
what Wade said, and just just enjoy the game every
single week and go play, go play free, and make

(01:04:42):
it fun.

Speaker 3 (01:04:43):
Okay club. It was also asked a question from the
Syracuse Media Tune it in to his press conference yesterday
about what is mindset is sort of heading into the
remainder of the twenty twenty five football season.

Speaker 1 (01:04:57):
I mean, every week matters, you know, you know, week one,
week ten.

Speaker 5 (01:05:01):
I feel like I said that, you know, even before
the season, But every week matters, and you know, obviously
it's it's a big game this weekend at home.

Speaker 1 (01:05:09):
They're always a tough.

Speaker 5 (01:05:10):
Team with you know, a great, great team with great
coaches and great players. So with my third time playing them,
and it's always been a battle so and acc acc plays,
it's always it's always battle, so every week matters, especially
now K Club.

Speaker 3 (01:05:26):
It was also asked about the past that he got
to throw to Ian Shefflin, the former Clemson basketball player.
There was a pass interference on the college Shefflin nearly
made the catch, but for for K Clubnick, just what
that's like to seean out there playing, Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:05:41):
It was, it was great. I think we're still hoping
to get them one.

Speaker 5 (01:05:43):
So hopefully hopefully we end up getting them one, that'd
be that'd be awesome for him.

Speaker 3 (01:05:48):
So, yeah, it was cool. Club Nick was asked to
give his insighty into what he's seen from the Syracuse
defense so far.

Speaker 5 (01:05:55):
Play really hard, you know, they're they've got athletes all around,
you know. They they fight to the ball and they're
flying around. They play really physical. Their heart, you know,
is is seen through the film. And I've talked to
one of their players before. I haven't you know, even
you know, really heard much about them. I guess like
talking to them, but I can see the heart that

(01:06:17):
they play with, and I think that starts with their
head coach and just the way that he influences them.
And it's it's it's an easy thing to see on
tape and you know, it's it's it's it's.

Speaker 1 (01:06:28):
What you want to have opponent.

Speaker 5 (01:06:29):
You know, you want opponent to play hard, and we
know that they're gonna give it their best versus and
we expect that every single week.

Speaker 1 (01:06:36):
So we got to go give it our best.

Speaker 5 (01:06:37):
You know, we got to play with that energy, and
you know, whoever wants it more.

Speaker 1 (01:06:41):
Is gon gonna win the game. And that's really what
it comes down to.

Speaker 3 (01:06:44):
So club It was also asked about the difficulty in
facing like a defensive coordinator that he's never faced off
with before.

Speaker 5 (01:06:51):
I mean, I feel like it helps to play defense
again or a defense coordinator again. But I feel like
every week, you know, you're almost every week different, I guess,
And was that your question?

Speaker 1 (01:07:02):
Is it tough to play DVID sport for the first time?

Speaker 5 (01:07:04):
Yeah, every week's different, and I wouldn't I wouldn't say
in particular, but I mean every week's different, and you
got to prepare the same, you know, week in week out,
and you know, watch the film that they have and
obviously they got the second year now there and just
get ready for it just like any other week, and
prepare and and go through the script that.

Speaker 3 (01:07:22):
I have and my plans so K Club. It was
also asked about you know what the adversity is like,
or what it's like to not have Antonio Williams out
there impacting the team at wide receiver.

Speaker 1 (01:07:35):
And there's just something about playing ball with somebody for
a while.

Speaker 5 (01:07:38):
You know, you just you know where they're gonna be, uh,
you know how you know the feel of certain things
that they're gonna do, and you know whether it's an
option route or the way he's gonna you know, run
a certain route and just certain things. But obviously been
missing him, but I've you know, there's not that big
of a drop off, you know, between him and Tyler Brown.
Tyler's been killing it. I don't think that there's a

(01:07:58):
you know better second, you know, slot backup slot. He'd
probably st start it. I'd say ninety eight percent of
Power five.

Speaker 1 (01:08:07):
Schools right now. So he is, he's elite.

Speaker 5 (01:08:10):
And but it's it's it's gonna be great to get
toned back whenever we do. And but man, Tyler's been
killing it, and I've been really proud of him, and
he's he's just he's been falling.

Speaker 1 (01:08:20):
So I've been really proud of him and being in.

Speaker 3 (01:08:22):
There final thing from Cage Club Nick, and we can
have We've got some more of what he had to say.
We're on our website. We'll have that full interview up
for you at some point today. But he was also
asked about how playing at a high level in Texas,
how his high school career prepared him to play collegiately.

Speaker 5 (01:08:40):
Yeah, I think just you know, playing the playoffs on
high school and stuff. You really just got to take
it one week at a time, and that's what it
is right now. I think that that's something that I've
just kind of grown up in and this week is
the only week that matters, you know, It's it's like
a playoff game because you know, the rest of your
season kind of relies on it, you know, so you
got to give it your all every single week. And
this is the most important you know, we get the
week of the year, most important game of the year.

Speaker 1 (01:09:01):
So I would I would say that from that perspective.

Speaker 3 (01:09:06):
So there you go. That k Club at Clemson quarterback
as the Tigers get ready for this matchup against Syracuse,
And it really has been a major let down for
Clemson fans, especially all the talk about Cad and his
draft status. And we kind of warned about it. K

(01:09:29):
clubnic fifty two of eighty eight, three touchdowns, three interceptions
for six hundred and thirty three yards. I mean, that's
just putrid numbers by comparison to where he should be
at this point given the talent around him, even if
Antonio Williams is out, CA just hasn't played well. And

(01:09:50):
I know a lot of people want to know, did
it have to do with Antonio blah blah blah, But
I think it's all on Kate offensively. And one other thing.
I'll tell you that when we get back and swan
Clemson's sports talk again. Our friends at Alumni Hall shop
where I shop at Alumni Hall on the corner of
campus on College Avenue right there downtown Clemson. While you're
officially licensed Clemson merchandise, those sweet Nike dry Fit Polos,

(01:10:16):
You're gonna love them. Go check them out next time
you're in Clemson. If you're up there for the Syracuse game,
dive in say hello, don't forget to ask about their
Alumni Hall rewards program. And remember if you're a Clympson
student faculty, remember or in the military, you get ten
percent off. You can also shop online to Alumni Hall
at alumni Hall dot com. And it's not just for

(01:10:37):
Clemson on their website, tons of other college football programs.
You got a friend, Virginia Tech fan boom, you got
it right there. Go check it out alumni Hall dot
com or get to their site through our site, and
then we'll get some support from them as well when
you make your purchase online at Alumni Hall where Tiger

(01:10:59):
fans shop. High Noon Clemson Syracuse Death Valley. The Orange
two and one lost the Tennessee and the opener Clebson
one and two lost the opener the LSU and lost
this past weekend to Georgia Tech on the road. Both
very tight games. That's a silver lining. I mentioned the

(01:11:22):
silver lining about Adam Randall. The silver lining is, honestly,
it's not your Clemson didn't get be bout twenty five
here and twenty there. These aren't. These have been tight
games now, whether or not it's actually a one play
difference or not, eh, eh, I won't go there, and
I can't really support Dabo Swingey's thoughts on that. I mean,

(01:11:43):
I do agree certain plays along the way, if they're
different outcomes, you probably win. But that's that's just about
every game you play, quite frankly, just about every game. Anyway.
I was talking about kay Klubnick in history, and they
are struggles. I mean, at this point, you can't watch

(01:12:05):
him put the ball in peril, put receivers in peril
while another guy is standing wide open and not go. Man,
Kate is just not seeing things. It's like he's watching
the game through a straw. You gotta watch the game
through a megaphone. Man, You gotta see the field. You

(01:12:26):
gotta have wide eyes. But one thing I will say
is that this is not totally on Kate Clubneck. I mean,
Clempson's defense has to get the ball. They have to
give you the ball. They have to force turnovers, they

(01:12:48):
have to make an impact. And Clemson's defense has not
done enough to get off the field and to give
this Clemson offense the opportunity. Now, Cad Clubnick put the

(01:13:11):
ball on the turf after Clemson's defense stood up and
stopped a huge seventy three yard opening drive from Georgia
Tech in Atlanta. And when Clemson got the stop and
Cad and the offense got the ball and they're driving
out towards midfield thirty thirty five yard line wherever that
hit takes place. When Caid costs that ball up, that's

(01:13:34):
when you know you got your hands full of the day.
The defense has done their job, and Kate put it
back on the turf and gave Georgia Tech the ball
and the chance to take the lead. But the defense
has to make more plays. And right now, neither side

(01:13:54):
is really helping the other. That complimentary football piece that
dabos win he's talked about so much, it's just not happening.
But that defense has got to do more to help.
Daniel listening to the program in Greenville, says Swanny. By
the way text line eight O three four five H
zero zero eighty six, he says, Swanee, I hate to

(01:14:15):
say it, but Kye just hasn't looked sharp.

Speaker 4 (01:14:18):
Two.

Speaker 3 (01:14:18):
Mandy mess throws bad decisions. If klub Nick doesn't settle
in fast, this season could slip away. Some would say
Daniel had already has, and that's maybe part of the
reason that Sweeney ranted the way he did. But but
the good news is you still have I believe you

(01:14:44):
still have talent to win every game remaining on your schedule.
And Kai Klebnick's just gotta hit a few plays, get
that confidence up and and then I think things can
work out. So Daniel, you know listening to us up
in Greenville. Appreciate your Appreciate you sending us a message,

(01:15:06):
my man. It's always great to hear from the listeners.
And as I say, you guys can call too. All
you gotta do is give me a text eighth three
four or five oo zero zero eighty six, and if
you get with me, if I'm still here doing the show,
I'll get you on the air. We got a text
message from Trevor in Rowing out Rapids, North Carolina. He said,

(01:15:30):
somebody called Tyler from Spartanburg and get him on to Dabbo.

Speaker 7 (01:15:36):
Hey, Tyler, I've listened to enough for you, but all
this bull crap you're thinking, all these narratives you read. Listen, man,
you can have your opinion all you want, and you
can apply for the job. And good luck to you now.
I have I have been a part of failure many times,
but there ain't one thing in my life that I've
ever failed at Tyler.

Speaker 3 (01:15:59):
But you're not.

Speaker 7 (01:15:59):
I'm not Gonne. You sit here and let you call.
I don't give a crap how much money I make.
You ain't gonna talk to me like I'm like I'm
twelve years old. It'll be freaking kidding me. Amen, So
you don't ever have to call back.

Speaker 3 (01:16:16):
And guess what. Since then, thanks Tyler, nobody's been able
to call. We have to hear the text line for
Davos Winny Show anyway. Speaking of Dabos Swinney, Tiger Chuck
hit us up and said, Davos press conference really was
the last straw for me. I'm ready for new leadership.
The program is toast anyways, and we have nothing for

(01:16:38):
next year. If we don't get a bunch of transfers,
we have nothing coming back and nothing coming in clean house.
All this guy does anymore is talk to his own
talk talk trash to clean that up, Bubba talk trash
to his own fan base after every loss. You can't

(01:17:00):
take any criticism. That's Tiger Chuck. Tiger Chuck, I was
drinking for play man, all right, Well, two hours nearly
in the books. We'll hit a quick break, we'll come back.
We'll put a bow on it. Thanks for your text again,

(01:17:21):
A three four or five zero zero eighty six, and
that is a twenty four hour, seven day a week
text line. Some of those do come in at odd hours.
Trust me, what have you done for me lately?

Speaker 6 (01:17:37):
It's a fair question. Just don't lose sight of the
bigger picture, don't forget history. Lucky for us at Clemson,
the answer to the questions what have you done for
me lately?

Speaker 4 (01:17:52):
And what have you done? Always are the same windy time.

Speaker 3 (01:18:46):
Final segment on a Wednesday, Tommy Bowden Friday, Will Vanderwart
Friday Tomorrow, Tim Bray and Chad Morris. We've been guest
free for two days. We're supposed to have Chad Wore
on today. Oh Man, working in a new guests on
a Wednesday is tough. I totally forgot should have recorded

(01:19:07):
with him yesterday, did not. But we're gonna have him
on tomorrow and we'll straighten it out that week or
the week next week as we get him on throughout
the college football season and and talk with him about
what he's seen from Clemson. And it'll be interesting when
we talk to tomorrow because I saw some breakdowns of

(01:19:29):
Clemson's play. Former Clemson offensive lineman Eric McLain puts out
some stuff and there's some ugly there're some ugly and
some of it, you know what's really shocking to me
about some of it. Some of it's offensive line stuff.

(01:19:50):
Now I didn't play offensive line, so I don't know
all the nuances of what they're trying to do.

Speaker 4 (01:19:57):
But you know.

Speaker 3 (01:20:00):
He did, I mean, Eric mclan did. And when he's
telling me, hey, when you see this signal here, and
that's telling the you know, telling the guard that we're
about to shift this that way, but then you know,
the opposite side, people don't know about it. He's like,
they didn't get communicated. And so one thing's for sure,

(01:20:27):
there were mistakes. Right when Clemson won the national championship.
There were games and moments where guys went the wrong
way and you know, blocker pulled the wrong way, or
running back and the quarterback exchange didn't go well. There
have been mistakes. Those teams that Clempson ran out there
in twenty sixteen and twenty eighteen that won national titles,

(01:20:49):
and that team in twenty nineteen that went undefeated into
the national championship game. Quite frankly, that team Trevor Lawrence
sophomore year, that team's the reason Clemson fans are as

(01:21:11):
spoiled as they are, and you have every right to
be spoiled. Okay, I'm not listen, don't be the child
that can't admit they're spoil This is what spoiled you though,
fifty two, fourteen, twenty four to ten, forty six, six,
fifty two, ten, twenty one, twenty forty five, fourteen, forty
five to ten, fifty nine, seven, fifty nine, fourteen, fifty five, ten,

(01:21:35):
fifty two, three, thirty eight, three sixty two, seventeen, twenty nine,
twenty three, and then losing in the National Championship game.
I mean, those scores are absurd. The way Clemson just
beat the breaks off of people back then. Two years

(01:22:00):
of that, I mean, you got to give twenty eighteen
credit too. I'm sorry, I have to do it. Forty
eight seven, twenty eight, twenty six, thirty eight, seven, forty nine,
twenty one, twenty seven to twenty three, sixty three three,
forty one, seven, fifty nine, ten, seventy seven, sixteen, twenty seven, seven,
thirty five, six, fifty six, thirty five, forty two, ten,

(01:22:20):
thirty three, thirty two, three, forty four to sixteen in
the National title I mean, those twenty nine games from
September first, twenty eighteen to January thirteenth, twenty twenty, are
the reason that there has not really been like you

(01:22:43):
can look at that twenty twenty schedule and the run
to the College Football Playoff that was the weird COVID year,
But look look after that. The only games in twenty
twenty one where Clemson did anything close to that forty
nine to three over sc State and forty four to

(01:23:06):
seven over Yukon, and Clipson did beat South Carolina thirty
to nothing. But these other games fourteen to eight against Tech,
nineteen to thirteen against Boston College, seventeen fourteen against Syracuse.
I mean, that's a stark contrast. You haven't just blitzed

(01:23:27):
teams the way you did back then. I mean, all
these games for five years have been like battles in
the trenches. Six point wins, eight point win, ten point win.
You hadn't seen that forty fifty point win the way
you did back then. There are a couple of those

(01:23:49):
sporadically last year, but again it was against the lesser teams.
Sixty six to twenty against APPS State, fifty four to
fourteen against the Citadel. But Clemson hadn't been on that
other island from the rest of the country in college
football in five years. And you feel it because there

(01:24:09):
was a two year twenty nine game span where you
were just absolutely unbelievable, and because you're not close to
being unbelievable, dude, you feel like you're in the doghouse.
Go out and win this weekend. Turn the momentum, start
to feel better about yourself. You still have a conference

(01:24:31):
to play for. Even though you don't control your own destiny,
you do control the opportunity. Go win the games. Put
up or shut up, all right, We'll be back tomorrow
four o'clock. Until then, as always, y'all take care now
and go Tigers.