Dabo Swinney's Sunday Night Teleconference

CLEMSON — Sunday evening Clemson head football coach Dabo Swinney again addressed members of the media following his coaching staff’s Sunday film breakdown of the Tigers’ latest game.

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Swinney took a closer look at his team’s 27-16 win over Troy in his opening statements, while also addressing injuries and fielding questions from reporters.

Clemson (1-1), now No. 12 in the latest AP Poll, has of course begun turning its focus to Georgia Tech (2-0). The two teams will face off in their conference opener in Atlanta (Ga.) next Saturday.

The following is an edited transcript of Swinney’s Sunday evening teleconference.

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Opening Statements

“A lot of good things in the game but a lot of things we have to learn from. I’m really proud of the resilience of our team because it was a weird game and a lot of adversity that we had to overcome early. I’m proud of them for battling and putting together a good second half.

“Two games in a row our special teams have done a lot of good things. Two good games in a row for Jack Smith. He had a 50+ yarder and a sky punt to the seven-yard line. A couple of field goals and our protection has been good. Our field goal blocks, we’re getting some pressure. And we stopped a fake.

“Defensively, I thought we had more mistakes in this game than we did in our first game but defensively we’ve played two games now and we’ve given up three touchdowns. Sign me up for that. If we continue to do that, we’ll come together as a nice team. Turning the ball over, that’s five in two games. It was good to see us get more interceptions and pressure on the quarterback.

“I’m really pleased with our linebacker play, especially No. 17 and No. 47. Wade Woodaz had a great game yesterday. Still, a lot of things we have to clean up. We’re a little soft on the perimeter. We have to clean up some things there technique-wise. The first touchdown for Troy was on us as coaches. Disappointed in the fourth and one. When they went for it backed up, we weren’t ready. So a lot of things we can improve upon, but a lot of good things. Guys played hard and effort was good. Guys are showing up.

“Offensively, they hung in there and responded. We had a drop, another drop, a fumble on fourth and two and it goes for over 50 yards. We get a penalty, a sack, a punt and a pick-six. Just a really hard deal to overcome but they did and hung in there and responded. We had five straight scoring drives and 27 unanswered points. The drive to finish the game was probably my favorite part.

“Cade responded well. Adam, it was good to get him going. It was the most he has played at the position. Wesco made big plays. We were good on third down. Cade was 18 of 24, he showed great leadership and responded. We were three of three in the red zone. We do have some balls going off guys’ hands where we have to finish. We have to improve upon our rhythm and efficiency.

“Injury-wise, it was a good game for us. It was good to get Walker Parks back in there. I believe he played nine snaps.”

Question: On the offensive line with Tristan Leigh out more, what did you see from the guys who replaced him?

Swinney: “You hate for a guy to be out. We bumped Sadler out there. You’ve got some guys on tape now. I wish we could have gotten Brayden another series. He’s going to be a great one. Just the speed of the game got him on that one. We have to have guys ready to play. We have to keep bringing Brayden along because we’re going to need him down the stretch.”

Question: Seemed like T.J. Moore broke open earlier. Is Cade a little late on some of these throws, some of these decisions?

Swinney: “Oh yeah. And he was late on that one. He thought it was cover-zero and it was something he hadn’t seen on tape. We still have to make the play. You’re going to get hit no matter what. You need to make that play to keep the drive alive. The other one that we gave a drop to T.J., the conversion route, the go-ball, Cade flushed and threw it on the run and didn’t have to because he had a clean pocket. That was a play we have to make, too. And we will make it.”

Question: The second half, the offense just looked more crisp. Adam looked like he was running harder. Can you put your finger on what happened?

Swinney: “Honestly, it’s the first opportunity he’s had. We didn’t give him much of an opportunity in the first game. We were three and out in the first two drives. We had a nine-play drive and then we had a fourth and two, a first down, a good, tough run and then we fumble it. The biggest thing was just possessing the ball. We put a good drive together just before halftime. That was good to carry that into the locker room, even though we didn’t get the touchdown. We just played with more precision and did some of the basic stuff well. Our timing wasn’t quite as good on some of our counter stuff. And those are things we need to get on tape. They were doing a lot of twists inside, so we went to more of our gap scheme stuff.

“Adam showed a ton of heart, toughness and leadership along with Cade. We did change some things up in terms of our launch point in the backfield. We started to convert on some plays and we went from there. We had five great drives together. I was proud of how they finished. It would have been easy for that one to get ugly.”

Question: Gideon Davidson got his first career carries. How do you think he did?

Swinney: “The first one there was a communication problem. The second one was a six-yard run. He read the puller right. I wish we could have had a different type of game where he would have gotten more playing time. I thought he did a good job.”

Question: Tristan Smith had the touchdown called back, but what did you like from him in the limited time you had him out there?

Swinney: “He has to get more plays. That’s two games in a row where we haven’t had a lot of plays. We want get him and Cole more time. I hated it for him. You saw his explosiveness right there. The ball was a little low and his knee was down. It was good to see him get some experience and that first touch in a game.”

Question: Anything more on Khalil Barnes and Antonio Williams?

Swinney: “No. Nothing more right now.”

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Question: You mentioned possessing the ball. Was it disappointing to see them possess the ball for 13-14 minutes there?

Swinney: “Yeah. We have to get off the field on some third and longs and I think on a second and long they created a third and medium. Even though they didn’t score, it creates field position. I’d like to see us have more three and outs. We played a bunch of guys and some of those guys made some mistakes, mistakes we can coach off of. But yes, for sure. They were better than they needed to be on third down. The name of the game is points. We’ve played two games and given up three touchdowns. Really two because one of those was on us as coaches.”

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Question: The play where Christopher Vizzina came in, was that a package just for him?

Swinney: “We just wanted to get him in a game in a critical situation. I felt like that would be good for him. We just missed a block. If we just block the spot right there, he’ll get the first down. Obviously the game was tighter than we wanted, which there are positives in that, too. I wish we would have been able to get him in there more.”

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