When I don’t get the job done, I feel the pain.” With a 1-3 record, the Tigers and their Hall of Fame coach are in uncharted territory.

The Clemson Tigers are struggling to make sense of their historically sluggish start — and their quarterback has seemingly resorted to pointing fingers.

The pass attack played off the run game success with Johntay Cook II and Justus Ross-Simmons taking the lead. Both wideouts were targeted 11 times on the day, Cook making six catches for 113 yards and Ross-Simmons five receptions for 53 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

The Clemson Tigers (1-2) take on a fellow ACC foe when they host the Syracuse Orange (2-1) on Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025 at Memorial Stadium (Clemson, SC). Date: Sept. 20 In the past three meetings, Clemson owns a 3-0 record against Syracuse.

Prior to Saturday, the Tigers hadn't lost a home game by more than 12 points to an unranked team since 2001 against North Carolina.

Head coach Dabo Swinney and the Clemson Tigers entered the 2025 college football season as the No. 4-ranked team in the Associated Press Top 25 poll. Now three weeks into this year’s campaign, Clemson is unranked with a 1-2 record.

Dabo Swinney was right, His mid-week rant was on target. We should stop treating Clemson differently. Let’s stop pretending the Tigers deserve to be held to a certain standard, like an Alabama, Ohio State or Georgia. Clearly, this program doesn’t warrant that. It can’t even dominate the underwhelming ACC anymore.

Plus: Oklahoma is establishing itself, what happened to DJ Lagway and what team will represent the G5 in the CFP?