Things are not going well in Death Valley.

In a game delayed more than 80 minutes due to lightning near Memorial Stadium, Clemson lost 34-21 to Syracuse on Saturday to drop to 1-3 on the season. It's the first time that Clemson has been 1-3 under Swinney, who took over the program in 2009, and the program's worst start since 2004.

Syracuse started the afternoon by marching 75 yards down the field and scoring on a Justus Ross-Simmons 12-yard touchdown grab. The Orange never looked back. Clemson trailed 24-14 at halftime and were never able to get back within single digits.

The Tigers' ugly loss comes just a few days after Swinney went on a passionate rant in a press conference defending himself from rumors of him being on the hot seat.

"If they tired of winning, they can send me on their way because that's all we've done is win," Swinney said. "We've won this league eight out of the last 10 years. Is that not good? ... I mean, if Clemson's tired of winning, they can send me on my way, but I'm gonna go somewhere else and coach. I ain't going to the beach. Hell, I'm 55. I got a long way to go. Y'all gonna have to deal with me for a while. I got a long way to go. I'm just getting going. I'm just now good enough to be a head coach. I'm just now figuring it out. So, we'll be around a while."

With those heated comments fresh in the minds of college football fans anyway, Swinney and the underperforming Tigers were the subject of criticism following their third loss in four weeks.

Clemson began the 2025 campaign with a 17-10 loss to No. 9 LSU, beat Troy 27-16 and lost to Georgia Tech 24-21 before losing to Syracuse in Week 4. The Tigers will now head into a bye week and will return to the gridiron Oct. 4 for a matchup against Bill Belichick and North Carolina.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Fans Roast Dabo Swinney, Clemson for Dropping to 1-3 With Loss to Syracuse.

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