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Dabo Swinney pushes back against Clemson football's 'narrative' against SEC opponents after LSU loss
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- Dabo Swinney pushes back against Clemson football's 'narrative' against SEC opponents after LSU loss
CLEMSON — Clemson football is 3-8 in its past 11 games against SEC opponents.
No. 6 Clemson 's latest loss came to No. 9 LSU (1-0), losing 17-10 on Aug. 30 at Memorial Stadium. Clemson (0-1) has lost four straight games to SEC opponents: Georgia, South Carolina , Texas and LSU . Clemson has lost by an average of 13.8 points in those games.
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Yet Clemson coach Dabo Swinney defended his team against that particular stat.
"Well, what's our record overall against the Big Ten, Big 12, and SEC? How many teams have a winning record?" Swinney said. "You can pick and choose whatever stats you want to fit your narrative."
Clemson has a 27-19 record against those conferences during Swinney's tenure. However, Clemson is 3-1 against the Big Ten and Big 12, respectively, but his team is 21-17 versus the SEC.
Swinney is proud to schedule challenging teams to open the season, including against Georgia in 2021 and 2024 and having a home-and-home series with LSU this year and 2026. Clemson also agreed to face Notre Dame for 12 conseutive seasons starting in 2027 .
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Clemson's last win against an SEC team came against Kentucky in the 2023 Gator Bowl, which is not a CFP bowl game. Its last regular-season win against a ranked SEC opponent was versus Texas A&M in 2019. This was also the last season in which Clemson won a playoff game, beating Ohio State in the CFP semifinals before losing to LSU in the national championship.
MORE: What Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney said about Antonio Williams' hamstring injury vs LSU
Swinney recognizes that his team must perform better against the SEC, expressing Clemson will. Its next SEC game is against in-state rival South Carolina on the road on Nov. 30. Still, he adores facing CFP-caliber competition to start the season rather than the alternative.
"I wouldn't change it. We could go play a team and win 42-6, and everybody feels good, but we got a lot of work to do," Swinney said.
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Derrian Carter covers Clemson athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email him at dcarter@gannett.com and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DerrianCarter00
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Dabo Swinney: Clemson football coach defends Tigers' 'narrative' vs SEC
