Dabo Swinney has epic meltdown after controversial roughing-the-passer call
By Jacob Moss
Published:
Clemson Tigers’ head coach Dabo Swinney hasn’t had the best week following his team’s 1-2 start, and things have quickly gone from bad to worse so far on Saturday as the Tigers have once again gotten out to a slow start against the Syracuse Orange.
What has really been killing Clemson more than anything in the first half of this crucial ACC matchup has been mental mistakes and sloppy play, and one controversial penalty really sent Swinney over the edge in the second quarter.
The play in question involved a clear roughing the passer call on transfer defensive end Will Heldt, who was actually initially called for targeting as well after clearly leading with the crown of his helmet while hitting Syracuse QB Steve Angeli.
Despite how clear the penalty was from just about every angle available, Swinney didn’t agree with the call and he let the officials know just how displeased he was with their decision to throw the flag during an epic meltdown on the sideline.
Here’s a look:
The targeting call was eventually overturned upon review, but the roughing the passer call still stood, and ultimately led to the Orange taking a 24-7 lead after a long touchdown drive.
There is still a lot of game left to be played down in Death Valley, but if the Cuse do manage to hand Clemson their third early loss of the season, then this play in particular will certainly be looked back on as a massive reason why.
