Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney held his Sunday teleconference where he reviewed the win over Duke and looked ahead to the game against Maryland.
Opening Statement
It was a really good win for our team. I am proud of our guys. It was a really good way to finish up our road season this year. These guys have just continued to improve.
The film was very good. There are always mistakes. There are always things to correct, but I love the attitude of this team. I really like the effort that they are playing with.
Defensively we are playing physical. We are playing intense. We are tackling better. We are getting pressure. We did a great job in third down. The biggest thing I am proud of is it was a night when we had several turnovers on offense but didn’t give up any points off turnovers.
I am really pleased with the progression of our defense. We had a couple of big plays early in the game that hurt us but we ended up settling in and recovering from that. Overall it was just a really positive night for our defense. We held them to three points in the second half.
Offensively the big thing was just the explosive plays. We are playing with a lot of confidence. We were very, very good on third down. Last year we were very poor, especially in short yardage but it has been a strength of ours this year.
The offensive line was outstanding. We are running the ball effectively.
We got to play a lot of guys on both sides. I think we took 72 and I think 68 guys got to play. So I am just really proud of that. The second group offensively went in and continued to do a good job. They took the team down to score.
Overall just a good day. The special teams were solid.
Again I am just glad to get another win and get home this week to Death Valley. It is Homecoming. It is always a great time around campus. Riding in today and seeing all the students out there building all the floats and the Habitat home. It is always an exciting week so I look forward to being a part of that.
Injury Updates
We came out pretty good. The guy I am the most worried about is Cole Stoudt. He had a hit to his sternum. He is pretty sore. Just with the nature of his position with the throwing and all of that we will have to see how he is in the next day or so.
The rest of the guys looked like they were feeling pretty good today.
Players of the Game
Offense – Offensive line
Defense – Spencer Shuey
Special Teams – Darrel Smith
Question – Can you expand on the play of your offensive line?
Dabo – They are doing a great job. When you rush the ball for over 300 yards and pass for over 300. The big thing is we protected very well. We really did a good job of protecting our quarterback. I thought Brandon Thomas probably played as good as he has played in a while. He has just been average the last couple of ball games but I thought he really played good football. Dalton was very solid and Beasley. Giff had one of his better games. Shatley has just been a rock all season.
We took 13 offensive linemen with us and we played all 13. I tell you those snaps are critical. We have guys going in there, guys like Isaiah Battle. We were really, really pleased with what we saw out of Isaiah Battle. Kalon Davis did some good things. Shaq Anthony and Joe Gore. Mac Lain played a little tight end and a little OL. Ryan Norton played a bunch of snaps. So all of those guys when you can get them some quality time it really helps you from a morale standpoint and developing those guys.
Not enough has been said about our offensive line and the job they have done this year. That was definitely one of their better performances overall.
Question – What is the status of Andre Ellington and Brandon Ford?
Dabo – I think they are going to be fine. Brandon has a bruise in his side. They x-rayed him and he looked good. He moved around pretty good. He actually looked pretty good last night after the game.
The same thing with Andre. He kind of felt a tweak and just didn’t think that he could cut it loose. He didn’t tear it or anything like that. He actually had a good range of motion today. So they feel like both of those guys should be fine. So we will see how they are in the next couple of days but the doctors feel like they are going to be okay.
Question – How did it feel to have Rod and D.J. play so well?
Dabo – Well I have a lot of confidence in those guys. They both have made plays in critical situations. You go back all the way to last year. D.J. was a freshman and we all remember that Auburn game. Heck he was the leading rusher in the game. So we have confidence in him and Hot Rod has earned the trust and confidence of his teammates all year. He has finally just kind of put it together. He is a very dependable player but when Andre went down the first play I walked over there and said let’s go. Ya’ll got to handle it. They were just like we got it coach. Don’t worry we got it. There is a lot of confidence in those guys. They believe in themselves and that is why we recruited them.
It is fun to see those guys play well. We talk about it all the time. There is a standard and it doesn’t change because of who goes in the game.
And Zac Brooks coming in and he showed what he can do. We are really excited about Zac Brooks. He made the most of his opportunity. He has improved all year. When we get him in the weight room for another year I think he has a chance to be a real powerful runner for us in the future.