By Heath Bradley.

CLEMSON, S.C. — Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney met with this media this morning to preview the Tigers clash against Auburn Saturday night in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. Over the past season, Swinney has taken a lot of heat from national media about his post game TV reaction following the Tigers defeat of Auburn, ending their 17-game win streak. Swinney was quick to let everyone know that he was not sorry for his actions, stating that winning was very important to him, and it should always be celebrated. There’s a tradition here at Clemson that’s different than anywhere I’ve ever been, and that’s letting everyone come on the field. I’ll never apologize for being excited about winning. I’m always going to celebrate about winning. We hadn’t beaten Auburn at Clemson in 60 years. We were 0-14 against Auburn, including back-to-back overtime losses. They were the defending national champions with the longest winning streak in the nation.

Saturday night the Tigers will take the field against Auburn in what could be tabbed as the “rubber match” of this three game series. Each set of Tigers have won on their respective home fields and according to Coach Swinney, Clemson versus Auburn has turned into a very good rivalry.

“It’s always been special to play Auburn. Every game is huge, every game is important. In my background, that was always a game that was special. We want to win them all, but there are certain games that are special. I think we’ve created a nice little rivalry over the past few years. These teams, for whatever reason, when they get together, they battle hard. It’s a natural rivalry, much like Clemson and Georgia.”

With it finally game week in Clemson, Swinney has noticed an excitement and focus throughout the team that seems to have him excited entering this weekend.  “There’s a lot of excitement throughout our team now that it’s game week. The guys are looking forward to playing somebody, and I’m looking forward to watching us play. I think we’ve had a good camp. Our team has shown up with a good attitude. I’m very pleased with the leadership that I’ve seen throughout the team.”

Swinney went on to discuss what it is like to prepare for a team with two new coordinators entering the season. These changes can bring uncertainty in game planning, a challenge that Swinney understands. “We’ve dealt with that over the years. In this business, there are changes often. There have been years where you have a whole new staff, new head coach, new coordinators, and yet you spend your whole summer looking at people that you’re not going to play. We’ve been down this road before. It’s a challenge. Openers are tough, regardless, because you have more time to prepare for one game than you normally do at any time during the season. So that makes it a challenge. There is a lot more film study and a lot more questions you have to answer before you make the final decisions about what you want to do. It will be a game of adjustments for both teams, where we’ll get into the game and play a little while before we figure out how they’re going to attack us and make the adjustments.”

The opportunity to start the season on such a big stage is something that excites Swinney. While it may be exciting to Swinney and he like the energy it creates for the college game, he also wishes college teams had the ability to play preseason games. “I do think it’s fun. It does create a lot of energy in the fan bases and all of that. But I would say that probably most every head coach out there that is really honest would tell you that it would be nice to have one or two games to kind of feel your way through. But that’s just not the case. I don’t make the schedule. You play who you play. I think it’s exciting for college football. It’s a tough game for everybody involved. It’s a tough game to get ready for. We don’t have preseason games. It’s one thing I wish we had in college football—the chance to go play a half against somebody and let your twos play. High school does that. The NFL does that. It allows you to gather better information because they’re not just going against each other. When you’re going against each other every day, there’s only so much you can do because there’s so much familiarity.”

One major question for the Tigers heading into Saturday night has been the health of right tackle Gifford Timothy. Swinney told reporters this morning that he felt good about the progress Timothy has made and practice this week will determine his role in the game Saturday night. “He looks really, really good. I’m incredibly encouraged by his progress. I want to really watch him today and tomorrow. He’ll go in full pads today. A lot of it will depend on what I see over the next couple of days. He’s done an excellent job with his rehab. Danny Poole and his staff have done an excellent job of getting him back.”

The 2012 opener will be the Tigers first chance to put the 2011 season in the rearview mirror forever. This is something that Swinney is happy to see, when asked about 2011 and the Orange Bowl today, Swinney was very quick to point out that this was 2012, and winning in 2012 was the one and only goal for this team. “I think 2011 is way back behind us. This is about this season, this year. That’s all this team is focused on. We’re out to achieve our first goal, and that’s to win the opener. We lost four games last year, and I didn’t like losing any one of them. We’ve got a chance to be a really good football team in 2012.”