Clemson lost to Duke on Saturday by the narrowest of margins, falling to the Blue Devils, 46-45, in Death Valley. Dabo Swinney was, predictably, not a happy man after his Tigers fell to 3-5 on the year. But the primary target of his ire was the officiating. The referees made their impact felt with a very iffy pass interference call on Duke’s last drive that gifted them a golden opportunity to win the game when they were dead to rights prior; they took advantage, scoring a TD and a two-point conversion to pull off the upset.
Swinney made his thoughts on that call very clear during his postgame availability, decrying the decision as “one of the worst calls” he’s ever seen. He did caveat by acknowledging the call wasn’t the only reason Clemson lost, but he was clearly furious.
"I don't know what to say about the last call," Swinney said. "It shouldn't come down to that. That's one of the worst calls I've ever seen in a game ever, in my entire coaching career. I don't want to make that a deal because it was one thing. You have a call like that? Man. That's just more salt in the wound. But that's not why we lost. We had plenty of opportunities to win."
Those comments came at a high price. On Sunday the ACC announced Clemson was being fined $10,000 for Swinney’s criticism.
“Swinney’s postgame comments regarding the officiating were in direct violation of the ACC Sportsmanship Policy,” the conference said in a press release. “The ACC considers this matter closed and will have no further comment.”
It was a predictable outcome to the situation. Swinney can say whatever he wants about the officiating after the game, but it comes with consequences. No conference in college football will allow for such flagrant second-guessing of the refs.
It doesn’t change the fact that it wasn’t a very good call and swung the game in favor of Duke. But Clemson and Swinney have no choice but to move on. Their next contest comes on Saturday against Florida State.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as ACC Fines Clemson, Dabo Swinney for Trashing Referees After Loss to Duke.
