TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for the Clemson Cockroaches.

If nuclear winter ever descends upon us, the last beings left alive at the End of the World Party will be the Tigers. Dabo Swinney will bring the guts. They will paint what’s left of the place orange and celebrate like wild men.

And they have all but punched their College Football Playoff ticket for the second straight season. The road from here to the bracket is uncluttered – though that doesn’t mean Clemson will keep it uncomplicated for itself.

“We’ve made it hard,” Swinney said. “That’s for sure.”

Hard, but never impossible.

They cannot be killed by anyone but Alabama, the only team to defeat Clemson in its past 26 games. Yes, the Tigers have tried to beat themselves many times during this amazing run – this year especially, and Saturday night specifically – but it never happens. They keep walking away smiling from fiery crashes.

“We’re a tough out,” Swinney said early Sunday morning, after his team had survived its latest intimate dalliance with defeat.

Clemson blew a 14-point lead and then rallied from an eight-point deficit to beat Florida State, 37-34. It was the 8-0 Tigers’ first win in Doak Campbell Stadium in a decade, a fact that tickled Swinney immensely.

He told a story postgame about a guy who was standing outside the team hotel when Clemson boarded the buses to the stadium. The sign read, “Ten years.”

“He’s got to get a new sign,” Swinney said.

Here is the same, old story: Clemson is now 5-0 this year in games decided by a touchdown or less, and 16-2 in its past 18 close games. The Tigers have become the clutchest of clutch programs.

“People talk about karma, I don’t buy into all that mess,” Swinney said. “You’re either the better team or you’re not. You either make the plays to win or you don’t.”

Deshaun Watson threw for 378 yards on Saturday against Florida State. (Getty) More

Or you get a hand from the officials. That, at least, is the unapologetic takeaway from losing coach Jimbo Fisher. He went off like a bottle rocket after a game in which the Seminoles were penalized 11 times for 113 yards.

“Hold the damn officials accountable,” Fisher barked, assuring a healthy fine from the Atlantic Coast Conference office come Monday. “It’s garbage.”

Fisher had plenty of complaints. Among them, the Chop Block That Wasn’t A Chop Block.

With Florida State clinging to a 28-26 lead and having finally untracked superstar running back Dalvin Cook, the dazzling junior broke his third long run of the second half to put the Seminoles in scoring position yet again with the chance to take a two-score lead. But the play was called back on a block below the waist by fullback Freddie Stevenson – and the FSU bench was so upset about the call that it was then flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct.

That scoring drive turned into a short punt which the Tigers converted into a field goal, and the game was back and forth the rest of the way.

The flag was misinterpreted as a chop block, and as part of the confusion Jimbo was asked about it.

“It was ridiculous,” Fisher said. “It was not a chop, it was not a chop. I will tell you what, you hold coaches accountable, you hold players accountable, hold the damn officials accountable. It is garbage, and then to call another penalty on the sideline is even more garbage. It’s cowardly, gutless and wrong.”

He was right about one thing: It was not a chop. It was a block below the waist, and the difference is significant enough that the ACC office sent out a description of both infractions Sunday. Oh, and it also fined Fisher $20,000 for his fusillade against the officials.

Fisher also ripped the lack of targeting calls on his quarterback, Deondre Francois, who took a fearful beating all night.

“He got hit with the crown of the helmet right in the chest,” Fisher fumed. “He gets killed in Miami [three weeks ago] and he gets killed here. Both of them. Bad, real bad.”

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