As Clemson has emerged as one of the pre-eminent programs in college football the past decade, Dabo Swinney’s folksy optimism became the soundtrack of Lil Ol' Clemson’s rise to the top of the sport.
So it was jarring to listen to Swinney after Clemson’s 27-21 double-overtime loss to unranked North Carolina State on Saturday. Swinney summed up the Tigers’ sputtering offense with an assessment that could double as a diagnosis for the last time we remember Clemson flailing like this: “It’s been a long time, man. It’s been a long, long time.”
And it left a bigger question that looms over one of the sport’s dominant brands and the fleeting relevancy of the ACC: When will Clemson look like Clemson again?