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CLEMSON | Hell hath no fury like a Clemson fan who sees Clemson criticized in the national media.

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Hell hath no fury like a Clemson fan on a message board who sees Clemson struggling through a game.

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We're generalizing here. Not all Clemson fans go nuts when someone on the outside dares to criticize Dabo Swinney or someone under him. And not all Clemson fans are pronouncing end times on social media when the Tigers show signs of mortality on the field.

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It's nonetheless a fascinating phenomenon, no? On one hand you circle the wagons in the face of daggers from afar; on the other you use even sharper daggers within when things aren't going as planned.

Don't misunderstand: The idea of this is not to "call out" various message-board posters who were none too happy during last night's sloppy victory over Virginia.

There's nothing necessarily wrong with being overheated during an unanticipated moment of strife. There's absolutely nothing wrong with being frustrated and even dumbfounded with some of the things you saw last night.

Fanatics are emotional by definition. Some of you were emotional last night. Sort of comes with the territory.

The head coach himself was visibly frustrated in public, and likely visibly much more than that in private at halftime and after the game.

We're going to go out on a limb and say the staff's first order of business this week won't be to hand out lollipops for what happened in the 41-23 victory.

No one is going to criticize the players and coaches more than the man in charge as they try to get their minds right for this week's visit from No. 7 Miami.

So it's fine for people on the outside to issue some scrutiny and concern.

Still, the tenor of the running commentary last night had a bit of an excessive, eat-their-own quality to it. A harsh, cynical discourse that made you double check to make sure this was the coach and program that has won two national titles in four years. One whose 32nd consecutive regular-season win, and 24th straight ACC victory, never seemed in serious peril. One whose players have represented themselves and their program in an exemplary, model fashion over the last several tumultuous months.

Last night's events should not be totally mystifying. Clemson is coming off an open date (two if you count the scrimmage against The Citadel), and after that kind of layoff sometimes it's natural to be at less than peak precision and performance.

Add to that the specter of this week's suddenly mammoth meeting with Miami.

Add to that the fact that Virginia is a pretty good team.

That last part might be the most important part to recognize. When you're following an all-time great program and you're so used to being dazzled by what's going on right before your eyes, there's a tendency to ignore what's going on elsewhere -- to haughtily look down your noses at everyone else a few thousand feet below the top of college football's mountain and wonder why they even try.

We thought and said going in that Virginia's Coastal Division title last season wasn't about just Bryce Perkins. Bronco Mendenhall has built more than that, and while we don't yet know what the verdict will be on his 2020 team, we do know that he had the pieces and the design to give Clemson some trouble last night.

The presence of a gamer at quarterback, an offensive line that might be the best Clemson faces all year, and a rugged defensive front are important context. And so is smart, unpredictable scheming by Mendenhall's staff. That nuance can't just be discarded as we obsess over why Clemson looked so off and uneasy at times.

Miami looks formidable, yes. And yes, if Clemson couldn't corral Virginia's jitterbug quarterback then there are concerns over how Clemson might contain Miami's jitterbug quarterback.

But haven't we seen this movie before, time and again? Clemson has an uneven showing one week that unleashes doubts from outside and inside, and then Clemson responds with a ruthless and defiant answer to its critics outside and inside.

Again, the most fascinating part right now is that the nastiest critiques are coming from fans themselves and not various voices on the outside.

But maybe just pause for a moment and ask yourselves this:

Haven't they done enough to earn the benefit of the daggers, er, doubt?

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