With the pressure all on Texas, Tigers can play loose in the Playoff

Sammy Brown has had a good time in a standout freshman season.

David Hood - Senior Writer - Friday, December 20 2024

A relaxed and confident head coach Dabo Swinney boarded the bus to Greenville-Spartanburg Airport Thursday afternoon for the flight to Austin. Relaxed? He’s looked that way all week.

We wrote a story earlier this week stating that saying that Clemson was playing with house money this week. No one expects the Tigers to win except for a few analysts around the nation, and that means all of the pressure and the expectations sit with the home team.

The Longhorns were a trendy pick in the preseason to win it all, and as long as they don’t have to play Georgia again, are good enough to once again win it all. The Longhorns were the No. 3 seed a year ago and battled Washington in the Sugar Bowl, losing 37-31 after Texas was stopped on its last offensive possession.

This team is talented across the board, the defense is nasty, and the folks in Austin are looking for a return on investment after bringing in players like wide receiver Isaiah Bond this past offseason.

Clemson? The loss to Louisville damaged Clemson’s hopes of reaching the ACC Championship, much less the College Football Playoff. Instead of folding and despite a plethora of injuries, the Tigers reeled off wins over Virginia Tech and Pitt and The Citadel. With a rise in the rankings and Playoff hopes still alive, South Carolina walked (or LaNorris Sellers ran) into Death Valley and stole a win.

But Miami lost later that night, the Tigers beat a favored SMU team to win the ACC and earned the No. 12 in the playoffs. No one expects them to go any further.

Time to fire up the ROY bus? This just feels different. Those Clemson teams were good enough to win it all and still didn’t receive the respect that Dabo Swinney felt they had earned. This time around, this is a team that feels like it has a chance to be special, but haven’t put together four quarters against good teams. You can hope they will Saturday, but as one former player told me, hope isn’t a gameplan.

Clemson can go out and play free. Conservative play calling? Forget about it. Throw the proverbial kitchen sink at the Longhorns. Turn Cade Klubnik and those wide receivers loose. If you lose, well, you were supposed to lose, right? Wes Goodwin? Don’t be afraid to bring pressure for four quarters. Don’t be afraid to play the best players. Just go have fun.

Swinney and his Tigers are double-digit underdogs, a situation unfamiliar to those around the program. Instead of the ROY bus, this feels like one of those times when Swinney can play the “chip” card.

In many ways, this game can be a springboard into next season. With only a few losses across the board and Swinney using the transfer portal to fill needs (and Clemson proving it will play the NIL game), this program has a chance to make another run next season. So much talent is back, and many of those folks on the offensive side of the ball will be in their third year.

But before we get to next season, Saturday looms. And with nothing to lose, maybe the Tigers play the complete game Swinney has been looking for and the season continues. All the pressure is on the other sideline.