What to know about Clemson, Kentucky football’s 2023 Gator Bowl opponent
Kentucky football will have a chance to unseat a recent college football power when it meets Clemson on Dec. 29 in the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida.
Here is what you need to know about the Wildcats’ opponent.
Clemson is down this season after recent dominance
Dabo Swinney has led Clemson to a 169-43 record across 16 seasons with appearances in New Year’s Six bowls in seven of the last eight seasons entering this one. Clemson has won two national championships under Swinney’s leadership and played for two more.
But this Clemson team (8-4) has struggled to live up to the weight of the expectations that come with that recent success.
Regardless of the outcome of the Gator Bowl, Clemson will snap a 12-season streak of recording at least 10 wins. Clemson was ranked ninth in the preseason Associated Press top 25 but lost its opener at Duke. Losses to Florida State, Miami and N.C. State would follow.
Clemson did close the regular season on a high note with four consecutive wins, including a victory over No. 16 Notre Dame, but the Gator Bowl has to be considered a letdown from preseason expectations.
Like Mark Stoops, Swinney has clashed with fans over expectations this season
Just a few weeks after UK coach Mark Stoops made headlines when he told a caller on his weekly radio show fans unhappy with Kentucky’s blowout loss at Georgia could help by “ponying up” more donations to UK’s name, image and likeness collective, Swinney had his own controversial radio show.
When a caller questioned why Swinney was being paid so much — he trails only Alabama coach Nick Saban in salary — to start the season 4-4, Swinney did not mince words.
“You’re part of the problem,” Swinney told the caller. “To be honest with you, because that is part of the problem, it’s people like you. ... The appreciation, the expectation is greater than the appreciation and that’s the problem.”
Swinney later acknowledged this was a “bad year” by Clemson standards.
“Yeah, and it’s my responsibility,” Swinney said. “Take 100% responsibility for it. But all this bull crap you’re thinking, all these narratives you read. Listen, man, you can have your opinion all you want, and you can apply for the job. And good luck to you.”
Kentucky and Clemson have one shared opponent
Stoops and UK are 1-0 against the ACC this season with a rivalry upset of Louisville, but the Cardinals’ were not on Clemson’s schedule.
The results against the one opponent Kentucky did share with Clemson do not bode well for the Wildcats’ chances in the Gator Bowl.
Kentucky lost at South Carolina 17-14 on Nov. 18 with the Gamecocks facing a must-win scenario to keep dreams of bowl eligibility alive. The next week, Clemson went to Columbia and won its annual rivalry game against the Gamecocks 16-7 under the same circumstances.
Stoops has not shied away from acknowledging the loss to South Carolina as the low point to Kentucky’s season, but the Wildcats did at least erase some of the bad taste from that defeat by beating Louisville in the regular season finale. Now the question is how much of that momentum can be carried over into bowl season after star running back Ray Davis and starting cornerback Andru Phillips both opted out of the bowl to begin preparing for the NFL draft.
Clemson defenders Nate Wiggins and Jeremiah Trotter Jr. have already opted out of the game. Wiggins is projected to be picked in the first round of the 2024 NFL draft. Trotter is a finalist for the Butkus Award, which goes to college football’s top linebacker.
This story was originally published December 3, 2023 at 6:11 PM.