Since the first of six straight College Football Playoff appearances, the coach has suffered tough losses.
During the regular season, the tigers have lost in the national title games and the semifinals. The loss to Notre Dame felt complete and deflating.
The tigers did not score until 10:24 remained in the game.
"This was an ass- kicking," he said. It's what it is. We got our tails back. It's unfortunate. It has occurred a few times along the way. We gave out a lot of them. We were the problem tonight. We got the bad end of the deal.
It was the worst loss to an unranked opponent since 2011. After beating Syracuse, the team had an extra week to prepare for Notre Dame, which had lost to Marshall and Cardinal.
"This was a bad day and all the criticism was justified and should be directed at me, period," he said. It's one of the most disappointing days I've had as a head coach.
Prince Kollie returned for a touchdown after the sixth punt block. The Irish ran the ball well against a defense that was ranked 7th in the nation against the run.
Notre Dame's Benjamin Morrison returned a DJ Uiagalelei throw 96 yards for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter, one of two Uiagalelei throws that led to the Fighting Irish's touchdown.
"We gave up a score on offense, a score on special teams and a score on defense, that's the first time that's happened since I've been a head coach." We were out-coached in all aspects of the game. I'm responsible for that. I'm responsible for it. I would like to say I knew it was coming. We had a lot of practice.
Notre Dame's running backs had a hard time covering gaps and were often sealed on the perimeter during the game.
"Obviously, we were not the most physical team, that's 100 percent on me, getting them prepared the right way, that's what I'm responsible for." Linebackers falling back in the wrong gap and guys getting knocked out of a gap were some of the things that happened. We're going to own it and move on.
Despite being benched in the Syracuse game, Uiagalelei started and completed his first seven pass attempts, but only for 33 yards. He had just 41 pass yards in the first half and was replaced by Klubnik at the end of the third.
Notre Dame scored on the next play.
Uiagalelei said that he wanted to be the biggest supporter and give all the knowledge he could to his brother. He's going to be good. He's going to be a great ball player even though he makes mistakes. He's aggressive, that's the biggest thing I like about him.
The quarterback was trying to make a play when he threw across his body and was picked off by the defensive back.
Uiagalelei was sacked four times in the loss.
"I thought he held the ball a couple of times and just took a couple bad sacks where the protection was there," he said. You have to throw the ball away. DJ might have responded. He did some good things when he returned.
"After the loss, we'll evaluate personnel and other areas," said Swinney. The chance to win the Atlantic Division is on the line.
The streak of appearances in the College Football Playoff and the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship ended in 2011.
"There's not a single goal that we don't have," he stated. We don't control who wins the national championship. We control what we can do, which is try to win this division, try to win the league, and win the closer.
You have a lot of time when you do those things.
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