As he sent his football team off for Christmas break on Monday, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said he likes where his football team is as it prepares to play No. 4 Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl on Dec. 31 in Miami.

“I think we have a great plan. I like where we are,” he said following Monday’s practice. “I think if we had to play today we could. The good news is we don’t play today so we still have a normal game-prep week. But it’s different from a normal week, the plan is in so when we get back we really have a week of polishing and attention to detail … This is a game of clean execution. It’s just a few plays. You are talking about the four best teams in the country so there is not a lot of margin for error.”

One of the biggest things Swinney said they used bowl practices for was to clean up some of the big plays they have been allowing on defense.

Though the Tigers own the No. 7 defense in the county, Clemson was victimized by the big play on defense in the second half of the season. Syracuse, South Carolina and North Carolina had several gains of 20 yards or more. The Tigers have allowed the most 20-yard plus plays of any of the final four teams in the College Football Playoffs.

“If we have played seventy plays, sixty-three of them have been a clinic, but it’s those seven plays and about four of them are things that are on us … mental errors and things like that and guys doing what they are not supposed to do. Then there are three of them where the opponents made good plays,” Swinney said.

Besides minimizing the big plays on defense, the Tigers (13-0) have also worked on ball security and limiting the turnovers. It appeared the Tigers turned that around in the ACC Championship Game when they had just one turnover and forced two after giving away 10 in the previous three games.

“It was good to see us get back on top of the turnover margin in the championship game, but those are the two things that will make the difference as we go down the stretch,” Swinney said. “Turnovers and big plays will be the difference in the semifinal and the national championship game. You can just count on it.”

As they go away from football practice for the next four days, Swinney asked his players to take some time and mentally focus on the game plan and visualize executing it with success. But the main message to his team was to go home and enjoy Christmas with their family and friends.

“I told them to appreciate the opportunities that they have, and to just be safe and be safe traveling,” the Clemson coach said. “I think that is one of a coach’s worst nightmares is to get a call about one of your players being in an accident or something like that. We have had that.”

Before releasing his players, Swinney told them to travel safe and to make sure they give themselves enough time.

“And when you come back, come back with the mentality we need,” Swinney said. “Everybody knows what it is going to take to win this game, and to make sure when we show back up we have the right mentality and we are geared up and ready to roll.

“I know they will be.”