What did Clemson coach Dabo Swinney, Penn State players, say about the Lions' 22-10 Pinstripe Bowl win?

NEW YORK — Clemson coach Dabo Swinney spent the last week talking about how excited he and the Tigers were to play Penn State in Saturday’s Pinstripe Bowl. But, once the game started, it quickly became clear that the best version of his ACC team did not show up. The Lions led first and throughout an eventual 22-10 win here at Yankee Stadium.

“We just did not execute and get off to the start that we needed to have, so incredibly disappointing with the result,” Swinney said. “Big picture of the game, again, offensively there was drops, took a couple sacks we shouldn’t have taken, but for whatever reason couldn’t hang on to the ball. “Critical, critical drops at critical times and that kills drives. It’s 1st downs that you don’t get. It’s more field position that you don’t get. It’s more opportunity to go score that you don’t get. So really disappointed with that.

“Both teams played hard, so disappointed with the result. But I’m still proud — regardless of the result, I’m really proud of this football team. From where we were — we did a poor job of winning close games this year. We just did. We had some close games and some opportunities to win some games early, didn’t get it done, and we were a team that was disappointed and lost some confidence and you’re sitting there 3-5 and looking at a losing season and kind of a gauntlet ahead.”

Swinney added on Penn State interim head coach Terry Smith:

More: Everything Penn State coach Terry Smith said after the Lions’ Pinstripe Bowl win over Clemson

“I’m really thankful that I got to meet Terry this week. I really didn’t know him and I am really thankful that I got a chance to meet him. What a great guy. Congratulations to him and their team because they earned it. They earned the win. They made the plays that we didn’t make.

“Again, it’s 6-3 in the fourth quarter and all of a sudden two plays kind of change everything. But I’m happy for him. I know he’s been through a lot this year, and he’s done a tremendous job of steadying the ship and leading them.”

What did Nittany Lion players say after the win?

Here are a few select quotes from Penn State players after the win.

“Like Coach Terry said, I told Coach Terry a couple weeks ago, if we get in a bowl game, I’m playing. I made a dedication to this through this program, Coach T, Coach Franklin, all them guys that I’m going to play through this whole season. This program gave me a million opportunities, so playing in the game, this is nothing, man. I love football. Love playing football. I love this program.

“It was sort of a no-brainer for me. I don’t really comprehend not playing in a game. It’s an opportunity to go out there with my boys one last time, and it was a privilege. We worked hard to get into the bowl game. Things didn’t go our way in the beginning, but we worked hard to get in this position, so I was just going to go out there and take advantage of it.”

PSU DE Dani Dennis-Sutton on deciding to play in the Pinstripe Bowl.

“I feel the same way. Having another chance to play a game, like, that’s special. You’ve got to take advantage of it. Like Dani said, it was a no-brainer for me to play in this game and finish it out the right way with everybody else. It’s been amazing. Terry is somebody that you want to play for. He’s such a good leader. You can tell why everybody rallies around him.

“He instills that toughness in us and makes us play for something bigger than ourselves. I really respect him and thank him for everything.”

PSU WR Trebor Pena on suiting up for the bowl game.

“Personally, it’s been a big impact on the whole team. Like I said in the past, this is just Terry being a head coach. He always been my coach. So nobody really got to see Coach Smith’s personalities, and I feel like that’s really showing his character, of who he is as a head coach.”

PSU CB Daryus Dixson on interim head coach Terry Smith.