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

Clemson football's early-season struggles reached a new low on Saturday as Syracuse walked into Memorial Stadium and left with a 34-21 victory. The Tigers, once ranked No. 4 nationally, now sit at 1-3 overall and 0-2 in the ACC, their worst start since 2004 and their poorest conference opening since 2010.

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.

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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.

As expected, Clemson is receiving 0 votes in the Coaches Poll after their embarrassing Week 4 loss to Syracuse.