CLEMSON — There’s no way to sugarcoat it: Clemson may miss the College Football Playoff.
Louisville (6-3, 4-2 ACC) upset the No. 8 Tigers (6-2, 5-1 ACC) on Saturday at Memorial Stadium, winning 33-21. Entering Saturday, the Tigers had won 22 consecutive home night games since 2013, the nation’s second-longest active streak. Despite coming off an open date, Clemson played out of sync on offense, defense and special teams, and the Cardinals walked into Memorial Stadium and took it over.
“There’s no excuses. None,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said. “Ain’t got nothing to do with it. I just flat out got my butt outcoached today.”
Clemson was a virtual lock in CFP projections to end its three-year absence with it favored to win its remaining games. According to ESPN’s Football Power Index, the Tigers entered the Louisville game with an 18.1% chance to win the ACC, the third-highest, and a 30.8% chance of making the 12-team CFP, second-highest in the conference.
Saturday’s home loss to an unranked opponent, however, will dramatically reduce those percentages. For Clemson potentially to land one of the seven at-large bids, it needed to keep winning. A key reason is how its schedule stacks up compared to the other top teams in FBS. Clemson’s strength of schedule ranked 75th out of 134 schools heading into the Louisville game. Now, it must hope top ranked teams lose.
The Tigers were the masters of their fate to make the ACC championship for a chance to land an automatic playoff berth. But, with their loss and Miami (9-0, 5-0) and SMU (8-1, 5-0) winning Saturday, Clemson will need help from other conference teams to have a chance to win the ACC.
“We don’t control our own destiny anymore,” Swinney said. “That’s incredibly disappointing part because we were in control coming in, and now we’re not.”
Clemson was put in this situation through its overall play on Saturday. Its offense was off, starting the game with two three-and-outs. Quarterback Cade Klubnik, who threw a career-high 56 passes, was rattled early and did not hit on explosive plays. The Tigers had only two completions for more than 15 yards.
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Louisville gashed the Tigers’ defense on the ground, rushing for 210 yards with three touchdowns. Three defensive lineman exited the game with injuries, including Peter Woods, but it was an abysmal performance by the unit.
Clemson’s special teams struggled, too. Freshman kicker Nolan Hauser had two field goals blocked, and the Tigers gave up a punt return touchdown that was overturned because of a penalty.
The first College Football Playoff rankings of the 2024 season will be released Tuesday, and Clemson may not crack the top 20 because of its showing Saturday. Still, the team is confident it can rebound to become a playoff-caliber team.
“I think anything can happen,” Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik said. “Our next goal is going up to Virginia Tech and winning that game.”
Derrian Carter covers Clemson athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email him at dcarter@gannett.com and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DerrianCarter00