By Heath Bradley.

By Heath Bradley

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney held his weekly press conference Tuesday where he previewed the Furman game.

Opening Statement

We’re 2-0 and coming off of a great start to the season. I’m very impressed with Furman from watching them on tape. I know they’re 0-2, but when you watch the tape, they could very easily be 2-0. They’ve turned the ball over. I’m sure Coach Fowler would probably tell you they’ve turned it over quite a bit. They’re well coached. They run the ball. They do a lot of things. They went down to Florida last year and went to the triple option and went up and down the field. There are a lot of things we have to prepare for in this game. But they do want to run the ball. I look forward to that matchup, that challenge. Their defense is an athletic group. I think they’re more athletic than Ball State. It’s a very experienced group over there. They know what they’re doing. We’re back at home, it’s a 3:00 game, and hopefully it will be a great crowd. I anticipate having a really big crowd here. Last week was great. I really appreciate our fans for the job they do in creating a great environment for us.

On September 11, 2001 

That was my first season out of coaching. I was driving from Tuscaloosa to Birmingham. I was listening to the radio, just going to work. The assumption was that it was just a plane crash. When I got to work, there was a lot of buzz. I remember everything just shut down. There was nothing. Everybody just sat there mesmerized by the TV all day long and all night long. I’m sure when Pearl Harbor happened, that was probably similar in some regards, but we didn’t have the technology that we have now. At that time, I was doing a lot of traveling. They shut down all the flights.

On Availability or Timothy, Willard, and D. Beasley

I’m pretty optimistic with those guys as far as their availability for this weekend. I was pretty optimistic yesterday. Today and tomorrow will be physical days.

On Return of Sammy Watkins

He’s excited, he really is. He’s had such a great attitude. He’s been such a great example to his teammates by handling things the right way. I would think you will see him pretty early. He’ll show up pretty soon. It won’t take him long to get back going. He needs to get a game under his belt like these other guys have gotten.

On Getting A Certain Number of Touches For Watkins

Not really. We just know who needs to get it. We keep a touch chart on the sideline. It’s something I pay close attention to by quarter. Sometimes, I’ll make sure I tell somebody to make sure so-and-so gets some touches.

On Being Focused for Furman

You can’t just address that now. That’s something you have to address in the offseason, in fall camp, when you’re meeting with your guys. Today’s Tuesday, so win today. Get this segment of the game plan down, and move on until tomorrow. Great teams play to a standard, not to an opponent. I’m sure there were a lot of people that expected us to play a little flat last week. You only get 12 Saturdays. A perfect example is a couple of years ago when Virginia Tech lost to James Madison and went on to win 11 games. It probably cost them a chance at a national championship. Those are things that you just remind them. But to be honest with you, I really don’t worry about that with this team. I was really excited at halftime because we had gone out and really taken total control of that game. We’re not worried about who we’re playing or what division they are or whatever.

On the Special Teams Role of Sammy Watkins

I don’t know how much it’s going to mean on punt returns because we can’t get a return. The same thing goes for kick returns. He’ll be back there. I doubt many people will purposely kick it to him. A lot of those would have never happened with this rule.

On How The Return of Watkins Changes the Offense

I really like our players. Charone Peake has been great. Obviously, Nuk Hopkins has been unbelievable. Jaron Brown is just steady Eddie. You can always count on him. When you plug one of the best players in the country back on the field, there’s no question he’s going to make a difference.

On the Running Game Success of Ball State

A lot of us missed on that #32. He is a really good football player, a very determined runner. We’ve got to get things right defensively. In the run game, it only takes three or four plays, and the next thing you know, you’ve had a bad day. This is a young group of football players on the defensive side. We’re talented over there. As long as they’ll keep the right kind of attitude, they’ll be fine. We want to see guys get better. In the first half, we played pretty well.

On Improvement of Offensive Line Under Swinney

We’re a different group than what we were three years ago. There’s no question, because we practiced it. From a conditioning standpoint, you have to practice it or you won’t be in shape to run it. I’ve been pretty pleased with our conditioning level.

One How the Dining Facility Has Helped

It hasn’t been long enough. It’s going to make an impact. Right now it’s just a nice building over there. We still haven’t hired a nutritionist. We’re talking about hiring a chef as well.

On Changing Dining Hall Rules in the NCAA

I guess that was it. That was back in the early 90s when all of that stuff started happening. They did away with dorms. They wanted to integrate the athletes into the student body more. That decreases your opportunity to watch over them. I think there have been some positives to that, but I’ve never understood the training table at all. You’re talking about people that have to perform at a high level athletically and academically. Their needs are different from most normal people. What we have is what we have. I want them to eat together. I think that’s one of the things that got lost. Guys don’t know each other.

On Cutting Down Penalties

We were the most penalized team in the game Saturday. We had seven penalties. We’re not always going to be the superior team. That’s definitely an area where we need to improve.

On Being Able to Pull Players Out of the Game Early

It would be great in an ideal world. But we can’t go into any kind of game assuming any of that. We’re coming into the game expecting to win. This is a big, big deal to Furman. Wofford came in here last year, and it was the same thing. I’ll be very, very surprised if Furman doesn’t give us a challenge.

On the role of Bradley Pinion Moving Forward

I thought Pinion did an excellent job. To answer your other question, no. Spencer has done an excellent job. I’ve been really pleased with Spencer. All of us have. It’s just good to get him out there.

On Being Able to Play A Number of Players vs. Ball State

It’s huge. A lot of the guys you saw last week, and hopefully, a lot of the guys you see this week, you’ll have to check your roster on. I think about where they’re going to be. I know what they have to do. I look at where Brandon Thomas is compared to when he got here. Some of them were very prepared, like Ryan Norton, who was our lineman of the week. We’ve got some other guys that I’m disappointed in.

On the Range of Spencer Benton

I’ve seen Benton make a 70-yarder in practice. I’ve seen it. It totally depends on the situation.