The Key to Clemson's Recent Dominance? The 2012 Orange Bowl

How West Virginia's 70-33 blowout victory gave way to the best decade in Clemson football history

Clemson Athletics-Rex Brown

Whether it be sports or life, sometimes a devastating loss is exactly what we need to catapult to heights unseen. 

One could argue that is the case for Clemson football.

In what was the worst bowl game loss (via margin of victory) in college football history, the Tigers became the tail of endless jokes following the 2012 Orange Bowl as West Virginia demolished Clemson, 70-33.

Luckily for the Tigers, they didn’t have to carry the load of that title for long as Army humbled Houston in the 2018 Armed Forces Bowl, 70-14.

Nevertheless, that gut-wrenching loss soured what otherwise was a season very much worth celebrating. Clemson went 10-4 overall and captured the program’s first ACC crown in 20 years. 

Following the debacle in South Beach, Clemson relieved defensive coordinator Kevin Steele of his duties. Steele confirmed to ESPN he was fired but head coach Dabo Swinney claimed his defensive coordinator was "not going to return and was pursuing other coaching opportunities."

Though it was only his third season at the helm, the decision to split ways wasn’t exactly surprising and hardly a knee-jerk reaction to the Orange Bowl setback. Clemson had slipped to 81st in the country in total defense in 2011 after back-to-back top-25 finishes in that category in the prior two seasons.

 Roughly one week after the announcement on Steele’s departure, Clemson had its man —and what a phenomenal hire it was proved to be.

But perhaps that West Virginia loss was what the Tigers needed in other to transform from a good program to a great one. One of the missing pieces for Clemson was a solid and consistent defense.

Brent Venables brought the expertise to make that happen while developing his players and preparing them to compete at the highest level each week.

Clemson's beloved defensive coordinator has emerged as one of the highest-paid assistants in college football making roughly $2.2 million per year. That puts Venables' contract behind only Auburn’s Kevin Steele (hello, irony). He's been worth every penny. 

The Tigers have finished in the top-10 in total defense for the sixth straight season, which is the longest active streak in the country, per Clemson Athletics.

The 2013 squad the nation in tackles for loss (122). The 2017 defense finished second in the nation in scoring defense (13.6 points per game) and fourth in total defense (276.7 yards per game).

In 2018, Venables also guided the defensive unit to the top scoring defense in the nation (13.1 points per game) for the first time in school history. That same defense also set a school record with 54 sacks and featured two consensus All-Americans in Christian Wilkins and Clelin Ferrell. Additionally, the Tigers were third in scoring defense in 2019 (13.9 points per game).

Sure. Clemson’s recruiting, facilities, and brand has continued to trend upwards. The program has become a consistent top-five college football juggernaut. 

Maybe, without the Orange Bowl loss, not only does Clemson probably not have Venables, the Tigers might not have two more national championships, five straight ACC Championships and five straight trips to the College Football Playoff. He’s simply meant that much to Swinney’s program.

The 70-33 loss will never go away, and Clemson fans do their best to block it from memory. You can’t blame them. But the fact of the matter is that game changed the program for the better.

The Tigers haven't looked back since that forgettable evening,  going 101-12 overall. Meanwhile, West Virginia has yet to return to a BCS Bowl (or a New Years Six bowl in the College Football Playoff era), tallying a mark of 56-45.

Turns out the joke was really on the Mountaineers, not the Tigers.