Clemson hits rock bottom to lead college football Week 1 winners and losers

Rock bottom has arrived for No. 23 Clemson in the form of a Saturday night massacre that paints a brutal picture about the state of Dabo Swinney’s program.

All those fears and concerns and question marks about how he was managing the roster, hiring his staff and approaching the transfer portal — all were proved to be on point in a 51-10 loss to Lane Kiffin and No. 13 LSU.

Nowhere is Swinney’s approach and mistakes more obvious than in his decision to go with senior quarterback Christoper Vizzina instead of bringing in a transfer, as did more than half of the teams in the preseason US LBM Coaches Poll.

While Kiffin’s transfer, Sam Leavitt, threw for 230 yards with another 113 yards on the ground with three total touchdowns, Vizzina went 10 of 16 for just 81 yards as the Tigers managed just 145 yards as a team. Clemson converted one of 13 third downs, turned the ball over once and ran for only 40 yards on 26 carries.

Clemson’s decline has many chefs but one primary culprit: While Swinney first made the program one of the best in the nation, his unwillingness or inability to adapt to the…

Original source: https://www.usatoday.com/sports/