Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney ripped ACC officiating following a 46–45 home loss to Duke on Saturday afternoon in Death Valley.
With Duke trailing Clemson 45-38 with 49 seconds to play, the Blue Devils faced fourth-and-10 at the Tigers’ 18-yard line. Duke quarterback Darian Mensah faced a heavy pass rush, and heaved a pass up the middle of the field toward the goal line. Clemson's Aveion Terrell was flagged for a very questionable pass interference call on Duke wide receiver Que'Sean Brown that gave the Blue Devils new life.
hahahhaa HOW https://t.co/IzxQEJZL1v pic.twitter.com/vF0npBFHcT
— Liam Blutman (@Blutman27) November 1, 2025
The Blue Devils would score a touchdown on a Nate Sheppard three-yard run on the very next play from scrimmage, and a Mensah pass to Sahmir Hagans on the two-point conversion earned Duke the upset victory.
"I don't know what to say about the last call," Swinney told reporters. "It shouldn't come down to that. That's one of the worst calls I've ever seen in a game ever, in my entire coaching career. I don't want to make that a deal because it was one thing. You have a call like that? Man. That's just more salt in the wound. But that's not why we lost. We had plenty of opportunities to win."
It's been a very rough season for Clemson, which began the season as the No. 4 team in the AP poll. Since then, the Tigers have stumbled time and time again, and now sit at 3-5 on the year with four games to play.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Dabo Swinney Rips Referees for Questionable PI Call Late in Clemson’s Loss to Duke.