For Clemson, Saturday’s 22-10 loss to Penn State in the Pinstripe Bowl got off on the wrong foot.
Well, not really the foot. Instead of punting the ball away on their opening possession, the Tigers suffered a special teams blunder.
An ill-advised fake punt by punter Jack Smith, who threw a pass that didn’t come close to being completed, set up Penn State’s first field goal early in the first quarter. It started what was a bad afternoon for the Tigers’ special teams unit.
Swinney said on ABC’s broadcast that it was something Smith checked into, but during his postgame press conference, Swinney took “ownership” for the failed fake punt.