CLEMSON — Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney did not hold back on his thoughts following Thursday’s final scrimmage of camp at Memorial Stadium.
The veteran coach, who is now entering his 19th season at Clemson, said the scrimmage was the Tigers’ worst of camp.
“It was not even close,” he said. “There were too many stupid penalties. Just a bunch of dumb penalties, especially in the red zone. Dump stuff on defense… Situational awareness type stuff. Too many discipline penalties.”
It was quite the contrast from last Saturday’s scrimmage, where Swinney said it was perhaps one of the best first scrimmages he had ever seen. However, on Thursday, the Clemson coach admitted he did hold out a lot of guys, who “already made the team.” Thursday’s scrimmage was an opportunity for everyone else to show if “they could be the guy.”
“We really challenged some guys that think they are game ready and some of them got their baptism today,” he said. “We got exposed a little bit.”
Here are some notes for Clemson’s second scrimmage of fall camp.
–Swinney said defensive tackle Vic Burley is back at practice. “I actually noticed Vic today, at least three times. All good stuff, so I noticed him three times that I can think of. It was good to see him out there.”
–Swinney said wide receiver Cole Turner has been missing from practice since the second day of camp. Swinney said they are not sure when he will be back, but they are kind of supporting him in the situation that he is in right now.
–Clemson’s head coach said none of his quarterbacks were good on Thursday. “Nobody was good enough to win today,” he said. Swinney did say everyone of his quarterbacks played in the scrimmage. “I did not think anybody was a winner today.”
–Tight end Logan Brooking made a couple of plays today. He was one of the guys, according to Swinney, they wanted to see play and see how he did. “I think he has a chance to be a really good one.”
–Swinney said freshman tight end Tayveon Wilson made a nice catch on fourth down in a critical situation, but he did not get the first. “You got to have the first down on the catch in a two-minute situation or the game is over. He is a freshman. It was a good opportunity (to learn). He was one of those guys we strained today.”
–The Clemson coach said, despite the mistakes, the defense did not give up too many points. He wants to see them clean up the penalties, though, because it could cost them a game.
–Swinney said running back Jay Haynes is still banged up. He said he did come back and was at full speed but then had a little setback and now is working his way back to full speed, again.
–Wide receiver T.J. Moore missed Thursday’s scrimmage. Swinney said he is close to being back and is “doing fine.” Moore missed the first scrimmage, as well.
–Though Swinney has been high on JUCO transfer Andy Burburija, he said no one at defensive tackle is the “alfa” in the room. He said they have a lot of good players and some guys are going to be really good, but right now no one is the guy. Swinney did say Amare Adams is getting close to being that guy, but he just isn’t there yet.
–As for the offensive line, it sounds like Brayden Jacobs will start at left tackle, Elyjah Thurmon will start at left guard, Harris Sewell at center and Collin Sadler at right tackle. As for right guard Swinney said its is the same candidates—Sadler, Tucker Kattus, Ronan O’Connell, Easton Ware and Grant Wise–but no one has won the job at this time. “We got all kinds of options,” Swinney said.
–Swinney said Dietrick Pennington will play on both sides of the line of scrimmage. They did move him over to defensive tackle to help with depth. Swinney said he will never play more than two plays at a time on defense, as they want him to help on run defense – first and second down mostly. They said he can get in there and help on goal line and short yardage situations.
–Swinney said Corian Gipson has settled in at the “Tiger” position, a.k.a nickel back. “I think he is an elite football player at any position. He has a bright, bright, bright future.”
The Tigers will practice on Friday to wrap up camp. They will take the weekend off before coming back Monday and start preparations for the LSU game.