A very controversial pass interference call late in Duke football's 46-45 win over Clemson this past weekend understandably sparked outrage from Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney and the Clemson fan base. In his postgame presser, Swinney put the officials on blast for the late PI call that would eventually win the Blue Devils the game, and now he has been fined $10,000 and issued a public reprimand by the ACC for his comments. With less than a minute to go, Clemson corner Avieon Terrell was called for a PI on Duke receiver Sahmir Hagans, which awarded Duke a first down near the goal line. The Blue Devils would later find the end zone and convert the two-point try to ultimately win the contest.
Dabo Swinney fined $10,000 for comments towards officiating after loss to Duke
Duke won its first game at Clemson since 1980, and after the victory, is now the betting favorite to win the ACC Championship. The Tigers are now 3-5 overall as their disastrous season continues, and Swinney let his frustrations get the best of him postgame.
“I don’t even really know what to say about the last call,” Swinney said. “Y’all saw it. It shouldn’t 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. A situation like that, I don’t really know what else to say.
On fourth-and-10, Clemson made the stop it needed to secure a win, but this wild PI call on Terrell ended up costing the Tigers the game.
This pass interference call cost Clemson the game. Thoughts? pic.twitter.com/gw3qvo3yxF
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) November 1, 2025
Swinney was fined and issued a public reprimand by the Atlantic Coast Conference for violating the conference's Sportsmanship Policy.
Now 5-3 overall and 4-1 in conference play, the Blue Devils are in position to bring the first ACC Championship to Durham since 1989. Duke faces UConn next, but its three remaining ACC games are very winnable.
Duke will face Wake Forest at home and North Carolina on the road, which are both games the Blue Devils should win handily. However, in two weeks, Duke will host No. 14 Virginia in a matchup that could be for a spot in the conference title game. Manny Diaz's squad has already fallen twice at home to ranked opponents, but they now have a chance to make all that irrelevant.