So last year when Clemson hired Dabo Swinney as the football head coach, I was happy with the decision. I was not completely 100% behind it, but more excited for the possibility of it being a good hire. I was totally behind Dabo, but I had some reservations. The beginning of this year when the team started 2-3, I started questioning what was going on. The offense looked bad, and the coaching staff was completely outmatched against Georgia Tech. I had seen them play in person against TCU and thought they had some grit to them, but they lost. After the loss to Maryland, I really was wondering what was going on. I know Dabo talks a good game, but it’s another thing to see it on the field. Still, the results were not very inspiring. Then they strung together a few wins, and won impressively over BC and Wake. The win against Miami was huge IMO. The game against FSU might have started off shaky, but they finished strong.

All this week the talk has been about finishing strong. The team would lock up the division with a BC loss OR a Clemson win, but Dabo was focused on the Clemson win. “We want to do what champions do and that’s take care of business.” I loved hearing that. My friend Scott called me this morning and asked me how I felt about the game today. I told him there was no way they’d lose. The way they have played the past few weeks has shown me that they’re completely capable of ‘taking care of business’.

I was able to watch the game today and they were a little shaky when UVa was running a lot of trick plays. I guess it’ll be good to play against that kind of stuff in preparation for the rematch with GT. Spiller didn’t have HUGE game like I was hoping, but I still think he deserves a chance to go to NYC for the Heisman ceremony. Clemson ended up winning rather easily, which is the most important thing. ‘Rather easily’ in that it wasn’t really in doubt, but there was some doubt and it could have gone the other way. The rematch with GT should be a good game, hopefully there won’t be any horrible coaching breakdowns like back in September.