.vresize.36.36.medium.0.png){kind=small}
.vresize.36.36.medium.0.png){kind=small}
Clemson coach Dabo Swinney says there's no time for the 11th-ranked Tigers to dwell on their first loss, not with so many other goals close at hand.
Swinney said Monday that Clemson (8-1, 5-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) is ''four quarters away'' from the ACC's Atlantic Division title and can't worry about Saturday's 31-17 loss to Georgia Tech, putting an end to its perfect season.
The Tigers are off this week. They return to action against Wake Forest on Nov. 12 at Death Valley where a victory can wrap up Clemson's second appearance in the ACC title game in the past three seasons.
''It's one game. We're having a really good year. I don't know how many people out the thought we'd be 9-0,'' Swinney said. ''Every goal hanging on our wall is still in front of us.''
Except for matching the program's 1981 national championship season, a pipedream that gained momentum as the Tigers surprise run at a BCS title continued these first two months of the season.
Clemson would need plenty of help - along with not losing again - for a chance to take the sport's top prize after falling to the Yellow Jackets.
''This is a difficult loss we're coming off of,'' Swinney said.
Just like it was in 2000, the last time the Tigers opened 8-0. That year, too, Georgia Tech ended the streak and sent Clemson into a serious tailspin, losing two of its final three games to finish 9-3.
Swinney said the team has too much character and togetherness to go through a disastrous, late-season repeat of 11 years ago. It sure doesn't hurt that its remaining ACC opponents, the Demon Deacons and North Carolina State, are 5-5 so far in league play.
Because of Clemson's run of success in September and October, a win over Wake at home - the Tigers have won five straight over the Demon Deacons at Death Valley - would clinch the division.
''That's what we've got to focus on,'' Swinney said.
It might be hard for some to forget the mistakes at Georgia Tech. Clemson's fast-pace offense was shut down by the Yellow Jackets equally aggressive defense and fell behind 24-3 at the half. The Tigers defense, again, struggled to contain the triple-option schemes of Georgia Tech.
Perhaps worst of all for Clemson were the mistakes and the most critical times, none bigger than quarterback Tajh Boyd's interception throw in the end zone when a touchdown would've drawn the Tigers within a touchdown early in the final period.
''We turned the ball over four times. When you do that, It's hard to win games,'' said Boyd, who lost for the first time as a starter since his junior year at Phoebus High in Hampton, Va.
Swinney said he and the players will review the errors one last time Monday afternoon before putting the loss to bed. He used Clemson's free week to lock into fundamentals lost through nine straight weeks of football. Swinney will also give bumps and bruises time to heal and expects to have everyone, including injured tailback Andre Ellington, as healthy as they've been in quite some time.
Ellington took himself out of the game after testing his injured ankle in warmups at Georgia Tech. Both his young replacements in D.J. Howard and Mike Bellamy had costly fumbles.
Boyd, who came into the game with three interceptions all season, threw two to the Yellow Jackets.
''We'll put this one behind us and we'll grow and learn from it,'' Swinney said.
Swinney and the Tigers will visit a maximum security prison on Tuesday as a community service project. They'll have the weekend free to spend with family and friends before the final stretch.
Swinney was heartened early Sunday morning when about 100 people greeted the team upon its return from Atlanta. He knows there's another faction disappointed with the loss to previously unranked Tech that took the Tigers from the BCS talk.
The Tigers lost their bid for a perfect season, but Swinney hasn't lost his sense of humor.
The coach said he'll wear a mask when trick-or-treating around the neighborhood Monday night with his three young sons
''If we were 9-0 I probably wouldn't have to wear a mask,'' Swinney joked.
