The No. 11 Clemson Tigers lost 33-21 at home to the Louisville Cardinals on Saturday evening. Dabo Swinney’s team is now 6-2 on the season and will fall in the new polls when they are announced 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.
If they went for two points there, that would mean they only 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.”
Bob Wischusen misunderstood Dabo Swinney’s decision to kick a PAT when a two-point conversion could have cut Clemson’s deficit to 11. pic.twitter.com/ud0wmpTWUy
— Terrible announcement (@awfulannouncing) November 3, 2024
“You have to go for two here. If you get the extra point, you are twelve points behind,” Wischusen explained. “This doesn’t make any sense. You’re going for two here to try to cut the lead to 11. … I don’t understand in any way the decision not to go for two points there.”
He added this after the kick was good.
“You’re running out of time,” Wischusen said. “You have to keep a field goal in the game as one of the scores you need. The only way a field goal plays into one of the scores you need in the last six minutes is if you go for two there, cut the lead to 11, and then you need another eight and a three. And instead they are now down by twelve.”
Swinney gave this explanation after the match:
Clemson coach Dabo Swinney asked if he wouldn’t go for 2 late, which would have cut the deficit to 11 points instead of 12 points. He says they didn’t think about it, all their cards said kick it and then go get an onsides kick. “Anything can happen,” Dabo says
— Chapel Fowler (@chapelfowler) November 3, 2024
Nothing happened for Clemson as the team ultimately lost. The Tigers will look to bounce back from the loss next week when they face Virginia Tech on the road.
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