The No. 11-ranked Clemson Tigers lost at home 33-21 on Saturday night to the Louisville Cardinals. Dabo Swinney's team is now 6-2 on the season and will fall in the new polls when they're released on Sunday.
Clemson's longtime coach made an interesting decision after the Tigers scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter. Instead of going for two which would have made it an 11-point game with six minutes left, they opted to kick an extra point to make it a 12-point game.
Going for two points there would have meant they just needed a touchdown and a field goal to tie the game, instead of two touchdowns.
ESPN's Bob Wischusen immediately called out Swinney for that move:
"This doesn't make any sense."
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) November 3, 2024
Bob Wischusen did not understand Dabo Swinney's decision to kick a PAT when a two-point conversion could have cut the Clemson deficit to 11. pic.twitter.com/ud0wmpTWUy
"You gotta go for two here. If you kick the extra point you’re down by 12," Wischusen explained. "This doesn’t make any sense. You go for two here to try to cut the lead to 11. ... I don’t understand in any way, shape or form the decision to not go for two points there."
He added this after the kick was good.
“You’re running out of time," Wischusen said. "You need to keep a field goal in play as one of the scores you need. The only way that a field goal factors into one of the scores you need in the last six minutes is to go for two there, cut the lead down to 11, and then you need eight more and a three. And instead, now they’re down by 12.”
Swinney offered this explanation after the game:
Asked Clemson coach Dabo Swinney about not going for 2 late, which would've cut deficit to 11 points instead of 12 points. He says they didn't consider it, all their charts said kick it and go get an onsides kick afterward. "Anything can happen," Dabo says
— Chapel Fowler (@chapelfowler) November 3, 2024
Anything didn't happen for Clemson, as the team ended up losing. The Tigers will look to rebound from the loss next week when they face Virginia Tech on the road.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as ESPN Announcer Blasted Dabo Swinney Over Weird Decision After Clemson's Late TD.
