COLUMBIA, S.C. - Clemson coach Dabo Swinney sees no reason to panic despite the bitter disappointment of his team's worst start in four years.

Swinney said it had been a long, long couple of days since the Tigers fell to 2-3 with their 24-21 loss at Maryland, a game where Clemson was favored to win by nearly two touchdowns. Instead, Swinney's offense failed to make the critical plays down the stretch for a second straight contest.

"If I've learned anything from my life at all, it's that nothing comes easy," said Swinney, in his first full season as coach. "But if you keep getting up, keep believing in yourself, keep your faith and you don't quit, you'll be successful. That's just my mentality."

"You keep swinging the axe," he said. "Eventually, the tree will fall."

Right now, it seems to be falling on Clemson's offense, which has put up only two touchdowns in its last three games. That wasn't the way 39-year-old Swinney and 30-year-old offensive coordinator Billy Napier drew it up this offseason.

Featuring two of the game's fastest players in tailback C.J. Spiller and receiver Jacoby Ford, the Tigers figured to blow past opponents on a glide path to the end zone. However, Clemson's gotten stuck near the end zone too often, settling for field goals instead of touchdowns. Unless, of course, the Tigers can't get any points at all.

That's what happened its past two games in losses to TCU (14-10 on Sept. 26) and to the Terrapins last weekend.

Clemson got inside TCU's 20-yard line twice in the fourth quarter without scoring when a couple of chip-shot field goals might've made the difference. Then last week, needing only a tying field goal out of a kicker in Richard Jackson who's hit three from 50 yards or more this season, the Tigers did not score on three trips to Maryland's 30 in the final six minutes.

Swinney expressed confidence in Napier and said there were no plans to redistribute offensive duties or change play-calling procedures.

The problems, Swinney says, are in execution and that falls on the coaches to pick up the pace and bring what's happening on the practice field to the game field.

Swinney also backed freshman quarterback Kyle Parker, although he acknowledged the first-year starter has to become more consistent. Backup Willy Korn could see more action, Swinney said.

The Tigers will have plenty of time to stew about the loss. The team doesn't play again until Oct. 17 against Wake Forest at Death Valley. Swinney, a Clemson assistant from 2003 until the middle of last season, has seen how Internet critics and angry sports-talk callers can sap a team's spirit when things don't go well.

The players have "got to be careful who they're listening too," Swinney said.

Since the middle of last season, that's been Swinney. He was brought as interim coach nearly a year ago to salvage a similar-looking mess that also included an unlikely loss to Maryland. Swinney was a burst of energy and freshness for fans and players soured on coming close to success but rarely achieving it.

Swinney won four of Clemson's final five regular-season games, and a day after defeating rival South Carolina, accepted a five-year, incentive laden contract that pays him about $800,000. Now it's Swinney's facing the fire of frustrated fans.

Maryland "was a game we had no excuse losing and that's on me," Swinney said. "Sometimes there's a lot of good, sometimes there's a lot of bad. My experience says that we'll bounce back. Sooner or later, we'll get better."