Paced by the 143 passing through the air by Deshaun Watson, 118 yards on the ground with Wayne Gallman and some nasty play by the defense, Clemson cruised to a 58-0 over Miami on Saturday afternoon.
Here are post-game reactions from Dabo Swinney, Tony Elliott, Wayne Gallman and Eric Mac Lain, after Saturday’s blowout win over Miami.
Dabo Swinney – Head Coach
On playing a lot of people…
“That’s probably the best thing that came out of this game — other than we won — is the amount of growth that we can take out of this game with our depth. We played every offensive lineman, all those backs getting opportunities. The growth of Kelly Bryant…our defensive guys, we have some guys that haven’t been able to play as much, but they’ve been preparing for their opportunity, a Van Smith, a Jefferie Gibson, a Marcus Edmond and Adrian Baker. To see Mark Fields go in there, Kendall Joseph, to see J.D. and Judah (Davis) getting in there, Albert Huggins — so many of those guys going out there, and Jalen Williams, for them to continue playing to the standard and not giving up any points, I think that’s a great sign, because sometimes it can be a little frustrating when you’re standing over there on them sidelines and you’re sitting in those meetings, then you’re not able to play. Boy, several of those guys caught my attention today, especially Van Smith.”
On the halftime speech on the field…
“I just thought we were losing our focus a little bit and that’s not who we are. I just reminded them, hey, we’re Clemson. We win with class. Let’s play the game. Let’s don’t get caught up in all that type of stuff. Let’s channel our energy the right way. Great first half, but let’s don’t all get distracted by some side-show. Let’s be who we are and do it the way we do it. That was the main thing.”
Tony Elliott – Co-Offensive Coordinator
On the game plan…
“First of all, it was a great team win, both sides of the ball. Coming into it, we saw that we were going to be able to run the ball a little bit. We knew we would have to pick our spots to throw it, because they play eight-man fronts, because they don’t give you a lot of passing lanes. We felt we were going to have to start with the run and then open up the pass. We got hot running the ball. Credit to the offensive line, the backs and receivers blocking on the perimeter. Deshaun (Watson) did a really good job of managing the game, getting us into some good situations. He checked a couple of plays against some certain looks that we prepared for, so it just all came together.”
Wayne Gallman – Running Back
On the win…
“We had a plan and we executed.”
On the OL…
“The offensive line did a great job today, as always. It just comes from a great week of practice.”
On the team’s performance…
“Most dominating performance I’ve been in since I got here.”
On catching passes…
“I just want to help the offense out in any way that I can.”
Eric Mac Lain – Left Guard
On the running game’s success…
“I love it. We knew that was key to the victory in this game. We really just took it upon us to be physical and dominant up front. I think we showed that tonight.”
On Deshaun Watson’s rushing totals…
“It’s great to see him and Kelly (Bryant) just running the ball well. They took what they gave them. They were patient. They really just trusted their offensive line tonight. It worked out well.”
On beating up Miami…
“This was our plan going in. Unfortunately, they give up the run a lot, with who they’ve played, and we knew that we could exploit that, so that was our goal going into the game. We were excited to get it done.”
On Watson…
“He was throwing, running, doing what he needed to do to secure the victory, so it was great.”
On the depth along the OL…
“I think we can sub in anybody at any time. Just the trust that we have on this unit, it’s phenomenal. And it’s great to see it really develop, and the fruits of our labor right now.”