It was supposed to be a rebound. Instead, it was a rock-bottom, season-defining disaster.
In front of 75,809 stunned fans in Memorial Stadium, the Clemson Tigers found a new, excruciating way to lose, falling 46-45 to the Duke Blue Devils in a game that will haunt this program for a long, long time.
How do you score 45 points at home and lose? How do you rack up 538 yards of offense and lose? You do it by playing 30 minutes of defense.
This game was a microcosm of Clemson's entire season: an offense that shows explosive flashes of brilliance, undone by a defense that cannot be trusted and an inexplicable knack for the fatal, undisciplined mistake at the worst possible moment.