It’s been days since the Clemson Tigers lost to the Duke Blue Devils and things are continuing to get even more embarrassing for the program.
Clemson arrived in Durham ranked ninth in the Associated Press preseason poll and was an overwhelming favorite to beat a Duke team that hadn’t toppled a top-10 program since 1989.
The Tigers left Durham with a 28-7 loss.
To make things worse, it appears the players weren’t in game shape for their first contest of the year. One of the team’s top defenders conceded that he wasn’t physically ready.
Junior linebacker Barrett Carter said he didn’t feel he acclimated back to optimal game shape.
“You can’t replicate the speed of a game,” Carter said. “I just need to get some extra running in and just make sure that my conditioning is where it needs to be just to play four quarters or however long the game will take. So, I realized that really early in the game. I need to be in better shape.”
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Carter recorded six tackles during the Week 1 game. However, it should’ve been seven if Duke quarterback Riley Leonard wasn’t able to escape his grasp and rush for a pivotal 44-yard touchdown in the third quarter.
Clemson had 12 more first downs, 48 more yards, and both threw and rushed for 200 yards, yet they could only manage seven points on the night. The reason for it was untimely mistakes and turnovers that killed them in the end.
In all, Clemson turned the ball over three times.
Clemson lost its opener for the second time in three years.
Clemson fell 16 places to No. 25 in the Associated Press Top 25 college football poll.
