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There's an irony to the phenomenon of Clemson taking such particular exception to criticism that comes from outside the walls of Dabo Swinney's football fortress:

It's probably nowhere near as sharp and pointed as the scrutiny that occurs within those walls when things are a bit out of joint.

Case in point: The two weeks that Travis Etienne endured, leading to his supremely driven performance Saturday in Death Valley.

In the outside world, there were some mentions here and there of Etienne struggling to pass protect at North Carolina. Mentions of his second-quarter fumble when Clemson appeared to be taking control. But it wasn't anywhere close to a big story.

Inside the football offices and on those practice fields? It was a story. There was no shortage of criticism directed toward the junior running back, as Swinney shared last night when he said Etienne gulped down a lot of Robitussin and NyQuil recently.