The Citadel beat Georgia Tech on Saturday, which is not great if you're a College Football Playoff contender and Georgia Tech is on your schedule. Like Clemson.
Clemson opened its season with a 52-14 win over Geoff Collins' actively-rebuilding program, then beamed from afar as Georgia Tech beat South Florida 14-10 on Sept. 14. Those smiles turned into winces on Saturday, though, when The Citadel -- who entered the game at 0-2 -- came from behind to upend the Yellow Jackets 27-24 in overtime.
However, Dabo Swinney chose not to focus on Georgia Tech.
You see, The Citadel does that to everyone, no matter what conference they play in.
"That’s college football," Swinney told 247Sports. "I mean heck, The Citadel was probably Alabama’s toughest game last year until Georgia. I mean I’m just telling the truth. The Citadel beat South Carolina somewhere here in the not-too-long-ago (past). That’s not a shocker. Georgia State went over and beat Tennessee. I mean that’s college football. Anything can happen, especially early, especially early in the season. Because nobody knows anything about anybody at this point."
This is truly a Steve Spurrier-esque troll from Dabo, one that works on multiple levels. Let's dig in:
1) The Citadel played Alabama close last year
2) Alabama blew everyone else out, because the SEC isn't that good
3) The Citadel beat South Carolina, remember
4) Dabo mentions Georgia State's win over Tennessee and not, say, Coastal Carolina's win over Kansas
Like any good troll, the facts undermine the actual point.
The Citadel and Alabama were indeed tied at halftime last November before Alabama pulled away in the second half for a 50-17 win. That 33-point margin was closer than the Crimson Tide's wins over Ole Miss (62-7), Arkansas (65-31) and Tennessee (58-21), but not as close as its wins over Texas A&M (45-23), Missouri (39-10), LSU (29-0), Mississippi State (24-0) and Auburn (52-21).
But we're trolling here, and parsing out the factual finer points means you've lost.
And while Dabo's troll is a good one, he's merely approaching the feet of the one true Master of the art.