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There is strength in numbers, as the saying goes.

Solace can be found in them, too.

Both are applicable as Clemson fans search for answers after Clemson’s first regular season loss in three years.

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Offensive line shortcomings have drawn the most ire, a response we would deem dually credible but also fueled by confirmation bias to a particularly flammable topic in recent years.

Help should be on the way, in the form of upgraded recruiting classes stocking the cupboard to a degree we have not seen in the Dabo Swinney era.

But that comes with asterisks … and maybe the need for both patience and perseverance.

In the first of two installments of this feature, Tigerillustrated.com takes an inside look at the apparent issues at hand and how Clemson got to this point.