Clemson’s revival continues at Cal. Is Dabo Swinney’s team back?

The last time Clemson played in the Bay Area of California, Trevor Lawrence led the Tigers to a national championship on Jan. 7, 2019 to cap off a perfect season.

In 2026, Clemson returned when things are drastically much different − but it again left the Golden State a late-night winner.

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Dabo Swinney and company made the 2,200 mile trip out West for a game that kicked off at 10:30 p.m. ET back at home, and while it again wasn’t pretty, the Tigers held on in another defensive slugfest with a 24-10 victory over Cal on Friday, Sept. 25.

Week 4 bold predictions: Ole Miss, LSU on upset alert

Now after the embarrassing season-opening loss to LSU, Clemson has won three straight games to be 3-1, and more importantly, 2-0 to start its ACC schedule. That’s now 16 straight seasons with at least a three-game win streak for the Tigers.

“We’re just finding a way to keep winning some games,” Swinney said on the ESPN broadcast.

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While it’s the bounce back you’d want following a rough start, there is plenty of reason to be optimistic and pessimistic if Clemson is actually turning things around to be a legit contender. Those reasons were fully on display all the way through 2 a.m. ET at California Memorial Stadium.

So, are Clemson and Swinney back?

The Good: Defense

Another win in the Golden State was all thanks to the Clemson defense.

It was facing a prolific offense, with Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele leading a Golden Bear passing attack that was averaging 32.7 yards in the air this season, 14th-best in FBS. Against the Tigers, there was no sight of that.

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Sagapolutele was rudely introduced to the defense with an interception on his second throw of the game. From that moment, it was a struggle bus as the left-handed gunslinger was kept in check all night. He was pressured immensely, but even when he did get time, he wasn’t making great decision or getting the ball where it needed to.

It forced Cal to try and generate offense on the ground, and it had some moments with Adam Mohammed. However, he hurt his leg on a tackle and the rest of the rushing group couldn’t pick it up in his absence.

And to cap it off, Sagapolutele’s last throw of the game was picked off to seal the win. He finished the night 16-for-29 for a career-low 119 yards and two interceptions.

Cal’s lone touchdown came off a fumble recovery, meaning the Clemson defense has gone seven straight quarters without giving up a touchdown. The unit is starting to flex its muscle and make quarterback have nightmares.

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Make no mistake, the offense in this game wasn’t pretty. The Clemson defense has gotten better, but the offense has yet to figure it out.

It all starts with freshman quarterback Tait Reynolds, who clearly still has a long ways to go to live up to the high potential he came into Clemson with. He had a real rough start by throwing an interception on the opening drive on bad decision from a trick play, and later in the first quarter, he coughed up the ball and Cal linebacker Kamar Mothudi ran it back 33 yards for the touchdown.

He finished with just 108 passing yards, the fewest of the three games he’s played the majority of for Clemson. That’s not going to help a passing offense that entered the night 112th in the country with 172.3 yards per game.

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The Tigers did get three touchdowns, but one of them was thanks to a blazing punt return for a score from Bryant Wesco Jr. The first touchdown of the night was thanks to several Cal penalties keeping the Tigers offense on the drive, and with just under three minutes left, Clemson running back Gideon Davidson broke free for a 75-yard touchdown run for the dagger.

Plus, the red zone opportunities need to be converted. Clemson has been inside the opponent’s 20-yard line 11 times this season, and while its scored on 10 of those chances, only four have been touchdowns.

Clemson about to get tested again

Whether you believe the Swinney’s team has actually bounced back or not, we’re all surely about to find out.

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One could very well argue Clemson has benefitted from a softer schedule, playing Georgia Southern, North Carolina and Cal, all teams not on the same talent level or still in the middle of building up their programs. Even then, none of the wins were impressive and had you thinking you the dominant Tigers of years past were back.

Next up for Clemson is No. 5 Miami, where that defense will get another reality check against Darian Mensah, Malachi Toney and all of the star-studded Hurricanes.

In what is easily the biggest home game of the season, Clemson will have to put up a much better fight than it did against LSU to rid itself of the fraud allegations. Another crushing defeat and the calls for Swinney to move on will only get louder. Win, or even play it close, and the old dog shows maybe it does have some fight left him.

Because unlike the late night trip on Friday, Clemson fans and a whole lot more people are going to be wide awake waiting to find out.

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“We’re just happy to get the win, and hopefully somebody stayed up back home to watch it,” Swinney said.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Clemson’s revival continues at Cal. Is Dabo Swinney’s team back?