Tennessee saw its College Football Playoff hopes go up in flames with their shocking loss to South Carolina on Saturday, and one prominent coach thinks he knows what went wrong for the Volunteers.
Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney, who is preparing his team to take on South Carolina this weekend, spoke on his radio show Monday about Tennessee’s 63-38 loss to the Gamecocks. He said South Carolina and quarterback Spencer Rattler “executed incredibly well” and put pressure on Tennessee’s offense to keep up. Swinney also said the Vols made one of the biggest mistakes in college football — looking past an inferior opponent.
“They’re flipping burgers during the conference championship weekend, like are we going to Atlanta or Phoenix (for the College Football Playoff), and next thing you know you forget you gotta go play,” Swinney said.
You can hear more of Swinney’s comments below:
The situation went from bad to worse for Tennessee when star quarterback Hendon Hooker suffered a season-ending injury.
Of course, Clemson was also in the driver’s seat for another College Football Playoff appearance before being blown out by Notre Dame two weeks ago. They will now need to win out in convincing fashion and get some help in order to stand a chance. Swinney has to make sure his team avoids the same mistake that the Vols made, which is likely why he chose to speak publicly about it.
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