Tigers’ Quarterback Kelly Bryant was Playing Injured

Unranked Syracuse upset visiting Clemson in mid October, outplayed the No. 2 team, but now the word is to forget about it, for Tigers’ quarterback Kelly Bryant was playing injured and that’s that

Must be something new, that if a team is playing with an injured star player, its defeat can be dismissed

By ARNIE LESHIN, Santa Fe Today

It was Oct. 13, a Friday night up at Syracuse, N.Y. Earlier in the day, its band played while students cheered in front of one of the athletic buildings. In a few hours, the Orange would take the field against 2nd ranked Clemson.

At kickoff time the Carrier Dome had its largest football turnout in years, and it was announced at 28,327.

Versatile junior quarterback Eric Dungey took charge from the start and Syracuse never trailed. When the final whistle sounded, the fans charged the field, jumping up and down, celebrating like the old times, or in the days of quarterback Donovan McNabb.

They surrounded all the players, especially Dungey, the final score was 27-24, the Orange had pieced together a splendid game, and this includes on both sides of the ball. It was impressive enough to Clemson head coach, Dabo Swinney, that he asked for an escort to the Syracuse locker room so that he could voice his kudos. He spoke to the team, stayed a while.

It made the sports headlines the next day. There were no excuses from the Tigers, except for one thing that the media discovered. Clemson starting quarterback Kelly Bryant had talked Swinney into letting him take the field despite an ankle injury that limited his practices.

So he played, but couldn’t find his way around the Astroturf. He limped around, tried to make plays, but the Orange defense was quick this night, rushed him every time, kept him off balance, and with time running out in the first half, down went Bryant holding his side.

It was an injury to his ribs and he was helped to the locker room. He returned to the sidelines after the intermission, but highly rated freshman Zerrick Cooper played the rest of the game.

So here’s the catch. It took awhile, and went the Tigers roared back into the No. 1 spot in the national rankings, this is what was heard on the sports channels, on the sports radio talk shows – “Forget the loss to Syracuse, Bryant was injured, it’s not fair to penalize Clemson for a defeat on the road when its star player was not himself.”

That’s quite a knock. The Orange truly earned that victory. Forget it? Who, those that vote? This setback sent the Tigers from No. 2 up to No. 9 in the national polls. But when Auburn defeated No. 1 Alabama and Pittsburgh defeated No. 1 Miami, back came Clemson, this time to No. 1.

And, of course, you don’t hear much now about the loss in upstate New York. When the snow fell outside and the Tigers fell inside.

But, think about it, injuries pop up everywhere, and maybe when Bryant didn’t even look good warming up, the coaches should have sat him and left the position to Cooper, who did come in and engineered a pair of touchdowns. He threw well, he ran well, but it didn’t matter, for once the game was over, the victory belonged to the home team.

That was then. Now its forget about it, Bryant was playing hurt, Clemson shouldn’t be judged on that defeat. Luckily for the Orange, who finished the season at 4-8 but couldn’t forget this contest, that it remained on the record. The Tigers know they lost, but hardly made an issue out of it. Only the media and the voters did.

A sports event is played from start to finish. If a player plays with an injury, the game goes on. No one asks that the contest be stopped. In this game in the Dome, other players went down and were helped off the field, and this included both teams. Some didn’t return. Even Dungey limped off the turf and was sidelined for several possessions. He was replaced, but no one offered excuses.

But to forget it? Must be something new. Hopefully, it won’t become a habit because it makes no sense. The final score was Syracuse 27, Clemson 24, mark it down.

And now that that Swinney has announced that his star linebacker, Tre Lamar, will not play because of a shoulder injury, does this mean if the Tigers lose to Miami, that would be the news and not the final result? Catch my drift?