Dabo says there is no set time for Boyd to play, talks about Wolfpack

by TigerNet Staff - Tue Nov 02 13:25:29 GMT-04:00 2010

p>CLEMSON – Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney gave no indication during his weekly press conference of how much backup quarterback Tajh Boyd would play on Saturday, but did take time to defend starter Kyle Parker.

Boyd said on Monday that he was told by Swinney and offensive coordinator Billy Napier that he would see the field against the Wolfpack, and Swinney said that meeting was par for the course.

“I meet with those guys every week,” Swinney said. “Kyle did not play well at Boston College. Pretty obvious. He did not have a very good game. As I said earlier, Kyle Parker is not the reason we've lost four ball games. He's not the reason we lost at Auburn. He did not play well the first half of the Miami game. I told Billy he had one series to play better or we were going to change. Then he played great. He was the offensive player of the game at North Carolina. Played great against Maryland. And Georgia Tech? He was outstanding. He's had one bad game. People are so quick to have amnesia. Kyle Parker is a very good player.

“Now he has to perform better; because if he doesn't, he isn't going to be in there. It's that simple. He'll have the opportunity to get in there and play better. Our season has been disappointing. It's not been one thing you could say but our guys continue to battle and continue to compete and want to win. Tajh Boyd - we need to try and play him over the remainder of the season. I think you can expect to see him playing. We've got to get him in there. At this point, I hoped things would be different because it seems like we've been living and dying with every play. Kyle Parker gives us the best chance to win right now. There's no question about that.”

He did say that getting Boyd into the game was part of building for the future.

“Tajh has gotten better,” Swinney said. “I'm excited about him and the future. It's going to be a good situation. He's going to be the starter here, and de's going to mistakes. We don't have any controversy. Kyle Parker has represented Clemson in a first-class way in two sports. He loves Clemson. Loves his teammates. I'm not going to let one game change that. This guy did not have to be here. Heck, he walked away from almost 900,000 dollars to be here. For anybody to question his commitment they are off their rocker. He'll have to play better and he knows that.”

However, he did say that it wasn't set in stone when Boyd would actually get in the game.

“Head coach's decision," Swinney said. "Kyle is the starter. We may slip Tajh in there a little bit here in there just to get him some snaps with our first team center. Things like that.”

The Tigers face N.C. State in Death Valley on Saturday, slated for a noon kickoff, and Swinney said the Wolfpack are playing as well as anybody in the conference.

“N.C. State is a big challenge this week,” Swinney said. “They are a hot team. Playing very well on both sides of the ball. We'll have to do a really super job defending their offense. Number one in total offense at 35 points a game. They've been throwing it for over 300 yards per game. That's been their mode of operation. They've been leading the league in first downs. It all starts with the quarterback. Everybody is familiar with Russell Wilson. He's getting the ball to a lot of different people. He's been effective running and throwing. They have four very good wide-outs. Jarvis Byrd and T.J. Graham are the speed guys. Jarvis Williams and Darrell Davis are the big ones. "

N.C. State’s defensive coordinator is John Tenuta, who also coached at Georgia Tech, and Swinney said the Tigers are familiar with his schemes.

“Defensively they are playing very well,” Swinney said. “Confident. Playing hard. There's an obvious influence of Coach Tenuta from his days at Georgia Tech with his pressure packages. He's had a nice impact on their defense. They are doing a good job getting to the quarterback. Nate Irving [LB], he's their defensive Russell Wilson. He's a big-time player. He lifts them up emotional. All of their defensive line is back. The starters from last year are gone but all of these guys played against us last year. The secondary is young. Started three freshmen last year so those three guys are back. They are sophomores now. They are playing well.”

The Tigers aren’t mathematically eliminated from ACC Championship Game contention, but with that scenario residing in the long shot category, Swinney was asked what the Tigers are playing for.

“We play for Clemson,” Swinney said. “We play to win against N.C. State. Listen, anything can happen if you just keep believing and keep working hard and getting better. It's about playing for Clemson and getting better. We have been laying it on the line. You guys have seen how we have lost games this year. It's about having the best season we could possibly have. It's about

beating N.C. State.”