On Tuesday, head coach Dabo Swinney held his weekly press conference to preview No. 6 Clemson’s noon matchup against Miami. This is the first time the Tigers have traveled to Miami since Clemson beat the Hurricanes, 40-37, in overtime in 2009.
Miami and Clemson have gone into overtime three of the last four times they have met, and the road team has come out on top of in all four of the last four meetings. Swinney and the players all had a lot to say about hitting the road this weekend.
Here is what we heard:
“We’re excited about playing Miami. We’re excited about taking our talents to South Beach and seeing if we can play our best game in this one game season that we have against the Hurricanes. Miami is a really talented football team,” Swinney said.
Swinney knows Miami (4-2, 1-1 ACC) will prove to be a challenge for the Tigers because they have the best quarterback they have seen so far this season, and because they have a group of talented receivers as well.
“This will be the biggest challenge we’ve had from a coverage standpoint. Every team we’ve played up to this point had a run-first mentality. This team wants to throw the football. So it’s a big challenge for our guys. Offensively, they take care of the football. They are number one in the nation in turnover margin,” Swinney said.
This game will be particularly exciting for the numerous Clemson players who will be returning to their home state this weekend to play in front of their family and friends.
Freshman wide receiver Ray Ray McCloud is excited because he will get to play against one of his friends from home, Tyree St. Louis.
“It’s going to be a fun game, playing people from back home,” McCloud said.
Tight end Jordan Leggett is also looking forward to returning to his home state. Leggett said he is especially excited to play in some warmer weather.
“I was a Hurricane fan growing up, just when I was little, because I liked how their mascot was a duck and their colors and things like that, but they always were known for being really athletic.” Leggett said. “I got recruited to go there, but I kind of just wanted to get out of the state of Florida. I’m excited for the game and going down there with their weather and stuff it’s going to be pretty awesome.”
The list of Florida natives does not stop there. Veteran linebacker Travis Blanks also calls the sunshine state his hometown, and he says all of his family will be there on Saturday to support him.
“It’ll basically be a family reunion at the Sun Life Stadium. All of my family is from Fort Meyers. That’s where I was born, so all of my family will be coming to the game,” Blanks said.
Clemson has had a lot of success in recent years, and Swinney addressed that in his press conference. He continuously preaches the mentality of the program he runs, and he emphasized the team’s philosophy before they head out of town to take on their next challenge.
“We’ve had a lot of success over the last six years and winning breeds confidence. Not only confidence in them as players but confidence in your philosophy and how you do things. Guys have bought in to the mentality of our program. They’re not surprised that they’re 6-0. This is what they expected,” Swinney said.