Clemson's Dabo Swinney blasts officiating after loss to Duke: 'One of the worst calls I've ever seen'

Duke picked up its first road win over Clemson since 1980, a 46-45 shootout, on Saturday, but the Blue Devils' game-winning drive was kept alive by a controversial call. In his postgame press conference, an incredulous Dabo Swinney was still flabbergasted by a late pass interference call that helped Duke pull out the win.

With under a minute remaining in the game, Duke faced fourth down while trailing by a touchdown. Blue Devils quarterback Darian Mensah lofted up a prayer over the middle of the field, and it fell harmlessly to the ground after receiver Que'Sean Brown collided with Clemson defensive back Avieon Terrell. Despite Brown pushing Terrell to the ground on the play, the officials flagged the latter for defensive pass interference. 

Swinney called it "one of the worst calls" he's ever seen. 

The penalty gave Duke new life, and Nate Sheppard found the end zone on the next play with 40 seconds to go. And rather than play for the tie, the Blue Devils went for two and the lead. They converted and then the defense held on to seal the 46-45 win.

Bowl season in jeopardy for Clemson: Tigers' postseason hopes take hit as season bottoms out in loss to Duke

Brad Crawford

After the loss, which dropped Clemson to 3-5 on the year, Swinney put that pass interference penalty among the worst he's witnessed in his three decades as a coach.

"I don't even know what to say about the last call," Swinney said. "You all saw it. Shouldn't have come down to that. We had plenty of opportunities to win the game, but that's one of the worst calls I've ever seen in a game ever in my entire coaching career. Ever. I don't really know what else to say.

"I don't wanna make that a deal because we should've won the game. We had plenty of opportunities to win the game. But you fight your butt off, you scratch and claw to get in a situation like that. Then you have a call like that. Man, that's just more salt in the wound."

When he first saw the play live, Swinney thought it was offensive pass interference. Then he realized the call was going against his Tigers.

"I saw OPI," Swinney said. "What'd you see? ... That's what I thought the call was. I was shocked there wasn't a flag. Then when there was a flag, I was like, 'Oh good, they called OPI.' It didn't go our way. They must've seen something I didn't see."

The penalty may have been questionable, but Clemson made plenty of mistakes of its own. The pass defense was abysmal, allowing Mensah to throw for 361 yards and causing Swinney to melt down on the sideline right before halftime. The Tigers also surrendered a 100-yard kickoff return after taking the lead early in the third quarter.

After beginning the season ranked inside the top five, Clemson will have to win three of its last four games just to reach bowl eligibility. The Tigers will try to get back in the win column next week against Florida State.