A disappointed Dabo Swinney on the loss to the Buckeyes: "Obviously, not our night"

Swinney looks over the play sheet during the loss to Ohio St.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Sat Jan 02 01:30:48 GMT-04:00 2021

A disappointed Dabo Swinney met with the media following Clemson’s Sugar Bowl loss to Ohio St., and the first words out of his mouth told the story of the 49-28 defeat.

It wasn’t Clemson’s night.

Ohio St. ran over and through the No. 2 Tigers and advanced to take on Alabama in the National Championship Game in Miami on Jan. 11th. The Tiges held an early 14-7 advantage, but Ohio St. reeled off a 28-0 run over the final 20 minutes of the first half and controlled the game from there.

“Well, obviously not our night. Incredibly disappointed in how we played. But, man, super proud of our fight in the second half,” Swinney said. “Obviously the game got away from us and our guys continued to compete, all the way down to the last play. And I'm really proud of that. Proud of how they battled.

“We had great preparation but wasn't our night, and you have to give Ohio State credit for that. They were awesome. They absolutely dominated the line of scrimmage. You can't win games like this if you can't stop the run and the big plays.”

Swinney said that Ohio St. 28-0 run was the difference.

“And I think they had five straight touchdowns and just really couldn't respond like we needed to. Had a chance there in the third quarter,” he said. “We got the score. Got the interception, got the score, cut it to two scores. So maybe if we could get one more stop and that was kind of our get one more stop, score again, now you've got a one score game going into the fourth quarter. But it just wasn't to be.

“And, again, the credit goes to Ohio State. They just absolutely dominated the game. You've got to give them credit for that. They were the better team, and they earned it. But very disappointed, certainly, in how we performed. Not what any of us expected. But, again, congratulations to Ohio State.”

Clemson opens the 2021 season against Georgia in Charlotte, and Swinney said the Tigers will take this loss and grow and learn from it. He then said that the Tigers still had a successful season.

“On a positive note, I will say this, we win and lose as a team around here and we'll grow from it. It's a hurting locker room in there. It's a hurting locker room. We haven't lost many games around here in a long time, and this one hurt,” Swinney said. “And this was an opportunity to go play for a national championship, and we didn't get it done.

“But I tell you what, it's a special group of people in that room. These guys, nothing about that scoreboard changes how I feel about this team and about the people involved in this team, our staff, our players. Their leadership, their commitment, their sacrifice this year has been incredible. We are 10 2. A lot of people didn't think we would even play. And we've been through a lot. We're 10 2 and ten 10 plus win seasons in a row, been to six of these playoffs in a row. And this one didn't go our way. But you have got to have a chance to get here. And these guys fought their tails off.

“These seniors went undefeated at home, first time ever in school history. Won 51 games in four years. Just a great group of people. We had the most graduates, the most 3.0s we've ever had this semester. We had 74 guys make a 3.0. This is a team full of great young people, great character, great heart. And nothing about the scoreboard changes that.”

Still, it was a night that produced as much pain as it did pride.

“We're all disappointed. Really hurt for our fans. Again, this is not what we envisioned. But all you can do is give Ohio State credit because they just flat out played a great football game,” Swinney said. “And we got off to a good start. Scored, I think, two out of the first three drives there. We just couldn't quite sustain it, and then they went on a run. I think it was five straight touchdowns. And we just got in a hole. And when we had a chance in the third quarter, just couldn't respond.”