After Thursday night’s win at Louisville, No. 10 Clemson has a long break until it has to take on sixth-ranked Notre Dame in Death Valley on Oct. 3. However, the Tigers are hard at work in preparation for playing a top 10 team.
Here is what we heard from Monday’s interview session and head coach Dabo Swinney’s teleconference:
Swinney is very happy with how hard his team fought to win last Thursday.
“I am really proud of our team. It was a great win and the more I watched football this weekend, the better it became. It is a big win, especially early in the season with the perseverance, the mental toughness, the heart that our team displayed. I am really proud of them,” Swinney said.
Swinney showed off his dance moves in the locker room after the Tigers’ victory, and quarterback Deshaun Watson said they love celebrating after the games because they spend so much time preparing to be successful.
“The players love it. When we go out there and get the W, we’re going to come in that locker room and celebrate. That’s what coach Swinney preaches all the time. It’s hard to get a win at this level,” Watson said. “He does a great job of coming in the locker room and pumping the team up, getting everyone excited, and having a smile on his face.”
Co-offensive coordinator Jeff Scott was also pleased with the performance of his offense, especially with running back Wayne Gallman and Watson.
“He did what we’ve seeing at practice. I think he is going to just get better and better as the season goes,” Scott said. “It was also good to see Deshaun getting involved in the running game. He made a difference. When we spread them all out, and you’ve got a lot of weapons on the outside, your quarterback can make a difference. Deshaun really brought something to our running game.”
Scott also had high praise for freshmen receivers Deon Cain and Ray Ray McCloud and is confident in his receiving corps moving forward.
“I thought the receivers did a good job of what they were asked to do,” Scott said “I really feel very comfortable with the seven guys we have,” Scott said.
The Notre Dame game will be a high-profile game that will be broadcast on ABC at 8 p.m. The players are very excited for the opportunity to play a great team full of tradition.
“People dream about playing in these types of games. Every game is the biggest game of the year so we will treat it like a regular game and will come out and be ready to play,” Watson said.
For offensive lineman Eric Mac Lain, the match up against the Irish is a personal one. Mac Lain’s family is from South Bend, Indiana, and they are all coming down for the game.
“Its just amazing to play the winningest team in college football history, one of the greatest traditions, obviously. Half of my family is from Indiana right there at Notre Dame, so it’s a very personal game for me,” Mac Lain said. “So it’s going to be very exciting to get the opportunity to play against them.”