Determining the worst loss ever will not be an easy, or
enjoyable, task. But before we can
repair the wound, we need to clean it.
And cleaning requires digging. Not for gold or treasure, but pain, anguish,
and despair - with the goal to come out healthier, stronger, and ready for the
next challenge.
When looking at past failures, we must start with the recent
and work backwards, as the recent wounds are still the freshest. And the most recent wound is deep.
Clemson's last game? A
70-33 blowout loss at the hands of West Virginia in the Orange Bowl. A rout so bad, 9 records were broken or tied
and Clemson's defense became a punch line.
During the season, they had consecutive wins over Auburn,
FSU, & Virginia Tech en route to the Division Title. They followed that with a second, more
thorough thrashing of Virginia Tech in the ACC Championship Game.
West Virginia?
The opposite, as they were best known for losing a slugfest to LSU and laying
an egg at Syracuse. They were Co-Big East Champs, but there was
little on their resume of which to be proud.
The game was bad enough, but the stage deepens the wound. This was a BCS game, the only show in town,
and seen by over 5 million people.
As such, Clemson set the bar pretty high with their last
game (let’s be honest, we wouldn’t be writing this if Clemson won – or even
lost a close game).
And many are saying we don’t even need to pick the scabs of
past wounds as this is the worst ever.
They’re saying it’s not even a contest.
But that doesn’t make for good copy, so we need to dig a
little, see what we find, and see how it stacks up.
The most notable contenders from the past 20 years:
1993 FSU (57-0 FSU takes reign in ACC)
1995 SU (41-0 Bowl Game)
1996 UNC (45-0 Season Opener & 2nd Straight Shut-out)
2000 FSU (54-7 Top 10 battle)
2002 TT (55-15 Manhandled in Bowl Game)
2003 WF (45-17 It's friggin' WF)
2004 Duke (16-13 - See WF)
If you consider the stage, the Orange Bowl still bleeds the
most.
However, if you consider the stakes, the 1993 & 2000 FSU
games were worse. The 1993 game
represented the changing of the guard. Following
this beat down, FSU officially crowned themselves kings of the ACC – taking
that spot from the team they just hammered.
And coming into the 2000 game, Clemson felt like it might be
back. It boasted a Top 10 ranking and some
swagger. It lost both as it was humiliated
by Weinke's play-action skills.
If you consider the opponent, every other game would qualify
as Clemson should never lose to those teams, especially in the fashion they did.

At 70, you don’t celebrate the offense, you ridicule the
defense. Somewhere is a magic line where
the focus leaves the offense and lands on the defense. Clemson crossed that line.
A Conference Champion and 10-win team shouldn't lose by 37
in a bowl game. And it shouldn't give up
70 points.
So, when you tally up the results, the simple fact that
Clemson gave up 70 points to a Big East team in a BCS game witnessed by over 5
million people make this the worst it’s ever been.
"Defeat is not the worst of failures.
Not to have tried is the true failure."
George Edward Woodberry
George Edward Woodberry
The good news – Clemson is seven weeks from redressing that
wound. And while the scar will never disappear,
it may eventually blend in. If Clemson
goes on to continue to win the ACC, play well on the national stage, and
achieve greater heights, then the wound from the 2012 Orange Bowl begins to
heal.
However, if Clemson falters and this game remains the
pinnacle for another 5-10 years, then the scan shall remain prominent and this
game shall remain as the worst it's ever been.
And regardless of what happens, this
game will continue to bring great joy to USC fans.
But should it? Do they have any room to boast or brag? Haven’t they suffered losses just as bad – or
even worse? Is this worse than 63-17 or
45-0. Or being blown out in their only appearance
in the SEC Championship Game?
And what bragging rights do we, as
Clemson fans, have? Will our triumphs
over USC always trump our failures against others? You’ll notice known of the losses on our list
include a loss to USC.

And then we’ll place them head-to-head
to see who has bragging rights – and who’ll be crowned “The Worst Ever”.
And history shows, we have a 60% chance
of winning.
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