The Clemson Tigers were very much not on the same page when they attempted a fake punt in the first quarter of Saturday’s Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl against Penn State.
After getting stopped on their first drive, the Tigers opted to try a fake punt on 4th and 3 from their own 32-yard line. Unfortunately, the call seemingly did not get through to Josh Sapp, who was a gunner on the play.
Sapp seemingly did not realize he was meant to catch the pass, or that it even was a pass. After the ball hits the turf, he dives on it as if trying to down a punt.
Clemson with a fake punt on the opening drive of the #PinstripeBowl…. the only problem is #5 wasn't expecting it, he went diving for the ball on the ground thinking it was a punt 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/eLHRrrOPGA
— 🜲 🜲 🜲 (@fsh733) December 27, 2025
It felt a little early in the game for Clemson to pull out a desperate call like that. The fact that it failed in such embarrassing fashion only made it worse.
This has been a tough season for Clemson, who entered the year with championship aspirations but wound up going 7-5. Perhaps Dabo Swinney felt he had nothing to lose at this point, but that failed attempt looked a lot worse than a routine failed fake would have. Then again, considering how frustrated Swinney has been at times this season, maybe this is just darkly funny for him.
