Clemson football's misery has plenty of company among the elite trying to stay that way

CLEMSON – Things don’t always work out the way we want them to, and no one knows this better than Clemson’s Ruke Orhorhoro.

“If things went the way I wanted it to go in my life, I’d be a superstar point guard in the NBA,” Orhorhoro said.

He instead has turned his focus to football, where the 6-foot-4, 295-pound senior appears considerably more suited for providing a cog along the Tigers’ defensive front rather than chasing hoop dreams.

If things always worked out the way Clemson’s football players envisioned, the Tigers would never lose a game, be ranked atop the polls for the entire season and cap 15-0 campaigns with national titles every year.

The reality is that the Tigers are sitting here at 2-2 overall and 0-2 in the ACC for the first time since 2010 and prospects for the immediate future aren’t great: No College Football Playoff berth is in the offing for a third straight year, national title hopes have been extinguished, an ACC Championship is a long shot at best, and a 13th consecutive season with 10 or more victories is in extreme jeopardy.

The prevailing sentiment – at least among a sizeable portion outside the program – is that Clemson is on a downward trend that has the Tigers in danger of being relegated to the also-rans.

Coming off a gut-wrenching 31-24 overtime loss to Florida State on Saturday, Clemson must regroup quickly. Up next for the Tigers and ever-upbeat quarterback Cade Klubnik is a road game at unbeaten Syracuse (4-0).

“We get to go play this week,” Klubnik said. “Let’s be excited for that. Find joy in every moment.

“You come back with energy, you come back with an appreciation and a want-to. You’ve got to chase that feeling of winning again.”

Clemson is chasing that, to be sure, as well as the other 57 Football Bowl Subdivision teams that took it on the chin last weekend.

Every Saturday brings upsets, often at the expense of teams that had been considered “unbeatable” and seemingly destined for greatness. That’s the way that oblong ball bounces and it’s those surprises that make the game at once captivating and entertaining.

College football always has been and always will be cyclical in nature, with success ebbing and flowing regardless of history and home-field advantages and top-rated recruiting classes and who’s favored and who’s an underdog.

It’s a tall task to stay on top, as Clemson is being reminded now. Join the crowd.

Even the most storied programs in college football aren’t immune to downturns and droughts.

Notre Dame’s last national title?

Try 1988. Dabo Swinney was a 19-year-old walk-on at Alabama and Shane Beamer was a seventh grader in Blacksburg, Virginia.

Georgia? The Bulldogs won it all in 1980, then went 41 years before finally hoisting a trophy again in 2021.

Ohio State was devoid of a national title for 32 years before finally breaking through in 2002.

Oklahoma? The Sooners’ last title came in 2000.

Michigan? The Wolverines are still dusting off that trophy from 1997.

Penn State? That would be 1986.

The 2023 season is barely a month old and the best trophy that Clemson fans can hope for come December is one presented to the winner of the Gator or Pop-Tarts Bowl.

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Like it or not, we live in a college football world in which a defeat negatively impacts the collective psyche of fan bases and sends some individuals into states of anger or depression, or both.

It’s astounding how often one encounters folks whose happiness is determined by whether or not their team won or lost on Saturday.

Many of them could benefit from a reality check. With a healthy dose of Cade Klubnik and Ruke Orhorhoro perspective thrown in for good measure.

Scott Keepfer covers Clemson athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email him at skeepfer@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @ScottKeepfer

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Clemson football: Dabo Swinney, Cade Klubnik and road to recovery