Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney isn’t worried about his team’s offensive line despite the Tigers allowing a season-high eight sacks in Friday’s 38-35 Gator Bowl victory over Kentucky.

Following the win, Swinney acknowledged that Clemson’s O-line needs to improve, while also noting that the Tigers have been without two starters on the offensive front in Walker Parks and Marcus Tate (season-ending injuries).

Swinney remains optimistic about the group moving forward given all the starting experience returning next season.

“Yeah, we gotta get better,” Swinney said. “We’ve got to re-establish our depth, and obviously we’ve been without Walker Parks — this was a tough one, his dad played at Kentucky, so it’s a tough one for him to miss — and Marcus Tate. But we’ll have seven starters coming back, and we’re excited about that. We’re excited about what we’ve got.”

As for the eight sacks given up in the Gator Bowl, Swinney didn’t believe the O-line – which had allowed only 20 sacks in 12 regular season games — was to blame for every one of those sacks against Kentucky.

“I’m sure not all those sacks were on the OL. That’s kind of the first thing everybody does (is point to the OL),” he said. “But we’ll watch the tape and we’ll assess it. There’s probably one or two that Cade (Klubnik) might’ve taken. I don’t know, we’ll see when we watch the tape. There’s a lot of things that go into it.”

Not only is Swinney excited about the personnel Clemson has coming back along the offensive line, but he’s excited about their new position coach as well.

Of course, former Ole Miss head coach Matt Luke is now coaching that group after he was named the Tigers’ new O-line coach on Dec. 4, replacing Thomas Austin.

Luke was on the sideline coaching in the Gator Bowl, which marks his first victory at Clemson.

“I’m really excited about the group that’s coming back,” Swinney said. “Certainly excited about Coach Luke coming in, and getting his first one.”

Cade Klubnik led a historic drive to seal the victory over Kentucky in the Gator Bowl in the final seconds. Get your highway 2 sign today while supplies last!