Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney held his weekly teleconference Sunday to discuss the Appalachian State game, look ahead to Louisville and update the latest injury information.
Opening Statement
I am proud of our team for handling their business yesterday. It was another good, solid win for us but we certainly have a lot to improve on and that is what we are in the process of working on today.
We have a quick turnaround, a very difficult challenge from that regard. We are trying to take time to learn from the last game and get ready to play a very difficult opponent like Louisville when you have to travel on Wednesday.
There are a lot of challenges this week, but I like the mindset of the guys today.
As far as the game yesterday there are a lot of positives. We played a lot of guys. But we had enough mistakes to really challenge them with today. Offensively we kind of sputtered in that first quarter with some an issue here or there. Whether it be a snap or penalty, someone misses an assignment or a receiver with poor technique or a tight end with a missed block or whatever it may be. But there were a lot of positives. The ability to score quick. That is something, we want to be explosive. Our protection with the exception of one play, from a dropback standpoint was solid. We did have 52 plays in the first half so that is the type of tempo that we want.
Defensively we had really good focus, good intensity. The defense was the spark for us in that first half. We had very few mental errors. The four turnovers, the pick six, 11 tackles for loss, ten three and outs, we were dominant on third down. Against Wofford we had to stop a team that ran the football and we held them to 120 something yards I believe. This week it was a team that throws the football and they had 95 yards passing. I am really pleased with how our defense has played, especially our first group. Really on both sides our backups have to improve. But that is just part of it. We knew that coming into the season. Hopefully the cumulative effect of them getting some playing time and some coaching it will payoff for us down the road.
Special teams Andy Teasdall was outstanding. Our kickoff return, getting a big play there. That is two weeks in a row where we have had a really big play there. We actually had two big plays this week and last on punt returns, but we had one called back on penalty. It was good to get Huegel off to a good start.
Louisville will be a very difficult challenge. They are 0-2 but easily could be 2-0. But at the end of the day it really doesn’t matter because we are both undefeated in the conference and we both have the same goal, to win the division. It is a big, big game from a conference and division standpoint. We know we will have to play very well in our first road trip.
I am looking forward to it. We are getting out on the practice field here in a bit and we will get as much done as we can in the next couple of days.
Injury Update
As far as injuries in the game we came out pretty good. Dane Rogers looks like he will be out this week. That is the only guy that is out. He has a high ankle sprain so certainly with this quick a turnaround he won’t be able to play. But we hope, especially with an open date, that he will be ready to go for the next one after Louisville.
Players of the week
Charone Peake – Offense
Ben Boulware, Shaq Lawson- Defense
Andy Teasdall – Special Teams
What will be the schedule this week?
We will be in what we call vests today. Which is not full shoulder pads. It is just padded vests type of things.
We will move around and have a Monday type of practice today. It will be a little bit longer than a normal Monday. Tomorrow is a full pads hybrid Tuesday/Wednesday practice. And then Tuesday is like a Thursday.
It is a week where you just pull it all together and then travel on Wednesday so it is just a difficult week, totally different. But that is why you prepare in the summers and try to get in some work during camp as well.
Louisville has played three different quarterbacks. How do you prepare for three quarterbacks with the limited film you have?
Well, we will just do the best we can. We have looked at all of their tape from last year. Obviously we played them last year so we are a little bit familiar with a couple of them there.
We just watch the tape of the two games we have, Auburn and Houston. The biggest thing is they aren’t going to change their plan drastically. Maybe a little more of a spread type of personnel when No. 8 is in the game. He is a guy that is incredibly athletic and can run around and do some things. But primarily they are going to be a heavy, two tight end type of team, 11 personnel, 12 personnel. That is what they want to do regardless of who is in there are quarterback.
You’ve done this before having a short week in 2012 with Wake Forest? Does that help a little bit that you and the staff have had to do this before?
Well I think it helps us as a coaching staff but this team is different. I don’t know how much it helps the team. Maybe in a residual way because us as coaches have a little better feel for how you have to prepare for this type of week. It is a tough challenge. There is no doubt about it. I couldn’t remember the last time we did it but it has been a while, I knew that. The last few we have had the weekend off before hand. But it is the same for both teams. They have the same amount of time that we do.
Has your pass defense been what you thought it would be coming out of camp?
Well we have really just had one game that you could say was pass defense. Wofford is an option team. They aren’t built to throw the ball a whole lot. The one game we had, with App State they are a team that wants to throw the ball and they are good at throwing it. To hold them to 95 yards is certainly a great start, but we are going to have much bigger challenges starting this week.