Tigers no longer dominant enough to defend Death Valley as program slides

The Tigers are upside down in Death Valley these days (Photo by Merrell Mann).

David Hood · Senior Writer · Saturday, October 18 2025

CLEMSON – An early autumn orange and purple sky covered the Oculus late Saturday, and as the stadium lights took effect, it brought back memories of games past. But memories of dominant football at home are all we have.

In the more recent past the scoreboard favored Clemson, but it was chants of “SMU, SMU, SMU” from the blue-clad fans in the corner that echoed across Death Valley, a place once a fearsome venue for opponents but now the happy hunting ground for those looking to celebrate a program’s slide into mediocrity.

SMU ran up 429 yards of total offense and ran roughshod over Clemson’s once-vaunted defense and walked out of Death Valley Saturday with a 35-24 victory. In a sobering blow to a program that once rattled off 40 consecutive home wins from 2016 through 2022, a dominant streak that included dominant defenses and elite quarterback play.

None of that has been seen in a long time.

Clemson has lost four of its last five home games and five straight against power conference teams. Since beating Virginia in October 2024, Clemson is just 2-5 at home, losing to Louisville and South Carolina in 2024 and LSU, Syracuse, and now SMU in 2025.

Clemson has beaten The Citadel, an FCS team, and Troy, a Sun Belt team, since defeating Virginia last October 19th. That means when we all wake up Sunday morning, it will mark a calendar year since the Tigers have beaten a Power Four team at home.

Clemson falls to 3-4 overall and 2-3 in the ACC, while SMU improves to 5-2 overall and 3-0 in the league. Clemson has an open date next week, the second time this season the Tigers will fall to a league opponent, disappointingly, in a home game the week before the open date.

Backup quarterback Christopher Vizzina started in place of Cade Klubnik and overcame a rough start to put together a decent outing, completing 29-of-42 passes for 317 yards and three touchdowns. It was the first time a backup quarterback has started because of injury since 2014, when Cole Stoudt started the Russell Athletic Bowl in place of Deshaun Watson.

However, Clemson’s run game was non-existent and the game plan that was put together looked to play to Klubnik’s strengths, not Vizzina’s. Too many quarterback runs and slow-developing counter plays led to just 35 yards on the ground (on 30 carries) and a paltry 1.2 yards per rush.

And one has to wonder what head coach Dabo Swinney – or offensive coordinator Garrett Riley or both – was thinking late in the first half when the Tigers faced a 4th-and-1 at their own 39. The call to go for it? I have no problem with that. But the staff brought out the jumbo package and lined up 305-pound Peter Woods at tailback. I don’t mind that call on the goal line, but in the middle of the field? Everyone in the stadium knew what was coming and Woods was stopped easily for a turnover on downs.

The defensive line failed to generate enough of a pass rush, and there were times when the corners and safeties looked completely lost when switching to man coverage. With the Mustangs facing a critical fourth down late, the SMU coaches schemed up a play to get a quicker receiver on bigger safety Ronan Hanafin, and Hanafin was called for pass interference on a play that effectively sealed the deal. Corian Gipson looked lost – and I mean lost – on a late touchdown and safety Ricardo Jones had an interception but a few other plays when he was out of position and gave up big yards.

The program is more than just a few plays away. It’s more than just a few players away. As Swinney enters another open date – just like he did following the Syracuse loss – he has to do some soul-searching. The coaching hasn’t been good enough. The schemes have not been good enough. The execution isn’t even close to good enough, and it’s obvious that the program is a long way from elite.

It won’t be fixed during the open date, but Swinney can do the right thing and get a start on next season. Will he? That remains to be seen, but Death Valley will await Duke in two weeks, and the fans will show up and wear orange and be loud and do their part. But like we found out Saturday, that isn’t enough.

Even with an orange and purple sky.