Dabo Swinney ‘screamed repeatedly’ at refs who cost Clemson a crucial Championship play

Dabo Swinney was heard screaming at referees who failed to stop the clock during a late first-half Clemson drive. The officials’ mistake forced the Tigers to burn their final timeout and attempt a long field goal.

The scenario was fairly simple. With 15 seconds left, Tigers running back Zac Brooks was tackled for an apparent first down at the Alabama 27-yard line.

The clock should have stopped while the first down chains were reset. Swinney signaled for his quarterback to spike the football in order to save his final timeout. With 15 seconds and a timeout in hand, Clemson could have had at least one more chance to score a touchdown or shorten a potential field goal attempt.

Only, the clock operator did not stop the clock on the first down. Three seconds ran off the clock before it briefly stopped, then the clock was restarted before the ball had been placed for the next snap. This was not correct.

After realizing the clock was still running, Swinney called his final timeout with six seconds remaining. The referee then asked the clock operator to add three more seconds without a formal review to determine how much time actually remained. This was also not correct, as pointed out on Twitter.

As a result, instead of having 15 seconds and a timeout to cover 27 yards, Clemson faced the same distance with nine seconds and no timeouts. Swinney elected to kick a 44-yard field goal rather than risk having a receiver tackled in bounds and losing a chance to score. The kick was partially blocked and fell short.

Afterward, Swinney was not pleased.

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Brett McMurphy subsequently reported that Swinney laid into the referees during halftime.

Despite the late refereeing fiasco, Clemson is tied with Alabama at the half.