Mickens says Clemson didn’t show up ready to play

Dabo Swinney had plenty of frustration with the performance.

by Ariana Pensy - Correspondent - Sun Nov 03 15:38:41 GMT-04:00 2024

CLEMSON— There are losses, and then there are games when you get beat in all three phases. Clemson was beaten by Louisville in all three phases of the game in its 33-21 loss.

The Tigers had 450 total yards but only put up seven points in the first three quarters of the game, while the Cardinals scored in every quarter, had a 150-yard rusher, and blocked two field goal attempts.

“We just didn’t show up ready to play,” Clemson graduate safety R.J. Mickens said. “I feel like we just didn’t take advantage of the momentum that we had and we didn’t play complementary football. Defense, we get a stop. Offense would go get stopped, and then the offense would go score, and then we would give up a touchdown. So, especially coming out of halftime, we just didn’t capitalize.”

Prior to this game, Clemson had never lost against Louisville. However, this was a very different game. Clemson outgained Louisville in rushing and receiving yards and dominated time of possession, having the ball for almost 38 minutes. The Tigers also had more first downs. Neither team committed a turnover. The mistakes from Clemson are not easily detected in the numbers.

The Tigers had a 7-3 lead at the end of the first quarter, followed by 23 unanswered points from the Cardinals. Their run game was gashing Clemson all game. True freshman running back Isaac Brown had 20 rushes for 151 yards and a touchdown against the Tigers; he averaged 7.6 yards per carry. Prior to this game, Clemson was holding opposing running backs to an average of 4.2 yards per carry.

When they were attempting to come back in the fourth quarter, they decided to kick the extra point when they were down by 19 prior to the touchdown—equal to two touchdowns with two two-point conversions and a field goal. Kicking the extra point made it a 12-point game, meaning they needed two touchdowns, whereas if they had converted a two-point attempt, they would need a touchdown with another two-point conversion and a field goal.

Ultimately, that did not matter as Brown scored a 45-yard touchdown on the first play of the ensuing drive after the officials ruled the Cardinals recovered Clemson’s onside kick attempt. Even if it would have been determined the Tigers had recovered the onside kick attempt, it may not have mattered. As explained during the broadcast by ESPN’s rules analyst, Clemson started blocking too early on the onside kick, and therefore, even if the original ruling was overturned during review, that particular penalty is reviewable and the rules analyst stated that would have been a call against Clemson that would have negated the onside kick and they would have to attempt it again. This was yet another mistake by the Tigers.

What hurts the most for players like Mickens is that the loss to Louisville means Clemson is going to need some help to get into the ACC Championship, which appears to be their only path to the playoffs now that they have two losses.

Both Miami and SMU are undefeated in conference play. The Tigers will need one of those teams to suffer a conference loss to have a chance at the ACC Championship. Each team has three conference games to finish out the regular season. In his final season playing collegiate football, Mickens did not want to be in this position.

“We don’t control our destiny anymore, which is really sad knowing that this is my last shot at this thing,” Mickens said. “But, we’re craftsmen. This is our job. This is what we do. This is what we love to do. So, I feel like guys are going to show up and be their best no matter what our record is or what the scoreboard says. Guys are going to come out and play football because they like to play football. So, this is really what we do. It’s disappointing to lose control of our season like this, my final season. But, anything can happen, and we’re just blessed to be alive and just be in this position. So, just keeping perspective is always good in hard times like this.”