written by Matt Hinton
http://grantland.com/the-triangle/college-football-week-5-wrap-now-and-gators/
It was fun at first, and maybe kind of useful, too. But at some point enough is enough. So please, for the love of god, can we finally retire the notion of “Clemsoning”?
For starters, as it has entered the sport’s mainstream lexicon, the term has been increasingly misused to describe almost any Clemson loss (or potential Clemson loss) in any circumstance, even when it runs totally counter to the reason “Clemsoning” was coined in the first place. A classic Clemsoning is a random, momentum-killing flop by a ranked team against an unranked opponent, the kind of defeat that Clemson used to supply with regularity.4 Applied to the 2015 schedule, Clemsoning would mean beating Notre Dame in dramatic, emotional fashion (check), then blowing next week’s game against a Georgia Tech team coming off three straight losses.
Besides, it’s been years now since the last true Clemsoning. The Tigers have taken 32 straight games against unranked opponents dating back to November 2011. (Even if you understand “Clemsoning” to mean some kind of inexplicable failure in the clutch, note that the Tigers have also won 41 straight in which they led entering the fourth quarter.) Entire recruiting classes have come and gone without having Clemsoned even once. Over that same span, they have logged nonconference wins against the likes of Auburn (twice), LSU, Georgia, Ohio State, Oklahoma, and now Notre Dame, and it looks like they’re well on their way to finishing in the top 15 in the AP poll for the fourth year in a row. “Clemsoning” exists to mock predictability and futility; in reality, under Dabo Swinney, Clemson has become one of the most predictable winners in the nation.
The Tigers (like virtually all teams) have suffered some high-profile losses under Swinney, as well as their share of heartbreakers, and Saturday night became another one after Notre Dame rallied from a 21-3 deficit at the start of the fourth quarter, getting within a two-point conversion of forcing overtime. But it didn’t, and as long as quarterback Deshaun Watson remains upright, there’s every reason to believe that Clemson is the ACC’s best playoff hope.
http://grantland.com/the-triangle/college-football-week-5-wrap-now-and-gators/
It was fun at first, and maybe kind of useful, too. But at some point enough is enough. So please, for the love of god, can we finally retire the notion of “Clemsoning”?
For starters, as it has entered the sport’s mainstream lexicon, the term has been increasingly misused to describe almost any Clemson loss (or potential Clemson loss) in any circumstance, even when it runs totally counter to the reason “Clemsoning” was coined in the first place. A classic Clemsoning is a random, momentum-killing flop by a ranked team against an unranked opponent, the kind of defeat that Clemson used to supply with regularity.4 Applied to the 2015 schedule, Clemsoning would mean beating Notre Dame in dramatic, emotional fashion (check), then blowing next week’s game against a Georgia Tech team coming off three straight losses.
Besides, it’s been years now since the last true Clemsoning. The Tigers have taken 32 straight games against unranked opponents dating back to November 2011. (Even if you understand “Clemsoning” to mean some kind of inexplicable failure in the clutch, note that the Tigers have also won 41 straight in which they led entering the fourth quarter.) Entire recruiting classes have come and gone without having Clemsoned even once. Over that same span, they have logged nonconference wins against the likes of Auburn (twice), LSU, Georgia, Ohio State, Oklahoma, and now Notre Dame, and it looks like they’re well on their way to finishing in the top 15 in the AP poll for the fourth year in a row. “Clemsoning” exists to mock predictability and futility; in reality, under Dabo Swinney, Clemson has become one of the most predictable winners in the nation.
The Tigers (like virtually all teams) have suffered some high-profile losses under Swinney, as well as their share of heartbreakers, and Saturday night became another one after Notre Dame rallied from a 21-3 deficit at the start of the fourth quarter, getting within a two-point conversion of forcing overtime. But it didn’t, and as long as quarterback Deshaun Watson remains upright, there’s every reason to believe that Clemson is the ACC’s best playoff hope.
