Tallahassee, Fla.<\/span> <\/p>\nDabo Swinney has a very intentional policy when it comes to celebrating the wins that didn’t come quite as easily for his Clemson football team last season.<\/p>\n
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Crank up the music and celebrate tonight.<\/p>\n
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Get up tomorrow and go back to work.<\/p>\n
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But after No. 4 Clemson’s defense faltered late against Florida State in a 34-28 win on Saturday night, not every member of said unit was exactly ready to pivot to dance mode in the visitors’ locker room at Doak Campbell Stadium.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe’ve got a lot we’ll be able to learn from it,\u201d Swinney said, \u201cbut man, as I told them in there, I know some guys were a little disappointed in how they finished the game but we’ll worry about that later. Let’s celebrate the win and we’ll get back to work. Enjoy it tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n
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It was a parting message of positivity after a final 15 minutes that, understandably, generated a lot of negativity. After trailing 7-0 and 14-7 early, Clemson had piled 27 unanswered points on FSU and taken a momentum-killing 34-14 lead entering the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n
Then, Swinney said, \u201cwe just lost our mind.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Quarterback Jordan Travis and the rest of Florida State’s offense ran wild after being suppressed most of the game, and after consecutive fourth quarter touchdowns Clemson needed an onside kick recovery from receiver Brannon Spector and a first down by running back Will Shipley to officially put away a game that should’ve been over a long time ago.<\/p>\n
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The fourth-ranked Tigers moved to 7-0 and 5-0 in the ACC ahead of next weekend’s home against No. 18 Syracuse, but not without some welts.<\/p>\n
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In the fourth quarter alone, FSU outscored Clemson 14-0 in the fourth quarter, outgained the Tigers 169-40 in total offense and executed rapid seven-play touchdown drives of 60 yards and 94 yards to cut a 20-point lead down to six points with 2:17 remaining.<\/p>\n
Swinney’s diagnosis of what went wrong?<\/p>\n
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\u201cBusted assignments, lost focus, busted assignments, not tackling, missed tackles \u2026 busted on a screen-and-go,\u201d Swinney said. \u201cJust some dumb stuff. Penalties, a little bit of everything there. Just kind of lost our focus. I thought it was playing to the scoreboard, if you will.\u201d<\/p>\n
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