Clemson football accomplished two things never seen before in college football.
For weeks, Clemson football fans had said that the November 7th double-overtime loss to Notre Dame wasn’t that big of a deal because it was essentially the Tigers JV squad. That clearly was the case as the Tigers used a 17 point second quarter to route the Irish.
In doing so, Clemson football achieved two things no one else in college football ever has.
I. Beat Notre Dame for a conference title
If you are new to college football, then you probably don’t know that in the storied history of college football, the Fighting Irish have never played in a conference and therefore have never won a conference championship.
The last thing that Clemson football wanted to allow was the Irish to win the only conference title it will ever play for, Clemson did not want to be that team in the history books. Instead, they will forever, be the one and only team to beat Notre Dame for a conference title.
We all look forward to that question one day at a future restaurant while playing trivia.
II. Clemson football becomes the first-ever initial three seed to make the College Football Playoff
While this one doesn’t encompass more than 100 years of football greatness like Notre Dame, it still seems pretty crazy.
In the short history of the College Football Playoff, the team ranked third in the season’s initial CFP rankings has never gone on to make the actual College Football Playoff.
Clemson football will become the first when the field is officially announced Sunday afternoon.
When you think about all that the Tigers have been through this season – lost starters, missed games because of COVID, last-minute cancellations – it is impressive that Clemson football not only are 10-1 and won their sixth straight ACC title but have made it back to the College Football Playoffs.
During an unprecedented year, Dabo Swinney and his coaching staff did a tremendous job of keeping his players focused on the task at hand despite all the nonsense going on around them.
As Coach Swinney says “Think about your dreams then put your head down and go to work” and that is exactly what this 2020 team has done.