Swinney talks ACC Championship Game, loss to South Carolina |
Clemson head coach
Dabo Swinney
Head Coach View Full Profile
told the media Sunday afternoon that his Tigers have to turn the page quickly if they want to have a chance at playing in the Orange Bowl. The Tigers play Virginia Tech this Saturday in Charlotte in the ACC Championship Game, with the winner advancing to the Orange Bowl, and Swinney had a conference call with ACC media to discuss this week and Saturday night’s loss to South Carolina. "We are excited about representing our division in the ACC Championship Game,” Swinney said. “We're playing for an opportunity to play in the Orange Bowl. We're coming off a tough loss and we're disappointed with how we played. We have to turn the page quickly. Big picture-wise we're a 9-3 team and we have a chance to win the conference. It'll be a big, big challenge because Virginia Tech is a great team that's had a great year." On the sack problems against South Carolina "I think we had five sacks. Three were on the line, two were on our quarterback. It's a combination of technique, fundamentals, injuries and also the quarterback doing what he needs to do. It's definitely a tough way to win a game when you don't protect your quarterback. Give them credit, they did a great job. But we also had some missed assignments. We just didn't win the matchup sometimes as well." On where the team is struggling "It started with turnovers. That's been the biggest thing. The first eight games,, we had six and won eight games. The last four games we've had 12 turnovers and we've lost three of those four. That's where it starts. And then we've just not done some of the things well that we were doing well. We're missing some plays. We're not protecting quite as well. We have a few guys who aren't playing quite as well as they were early in the season. But again, big picture-wise, we didn't finish the way we wanted to but we've earned the right to play for the league title. We're focusing on Virginia Tech. We both know a lot about each other. We've just go to get our team's confidence back and get our focus back on execution on fundamentals and tecdhnique. We have to get back to playing football." On how well Va. Tech has played since losing to Clemson ”I've seen them a couple of times. I saw the Miami game right after us. And then I saw the Wake Forest film because we played them. I saw the Georgia Tech game. They've really improved. They've gotten better. Their quarterback is playing at a high level, running and throwing. That game seems like a long time ago. They have won all their games on the road. We've won all of ours at home. But again, you play your whole season to jockey for the best postseason opportunity you can have. We've both earned the right to be in this game. At this time, it's irrelevant what we've done. It's about this game Saturday night." On
Tajh Boyd RS So. Quarterback #10 6-1, 225 Hampton, VA View Full Profile
’s confidence "I'd say he's not playing with the confidence he was playing with then. He's a first-year starter and everything was going perfect for him. He's had some mistakes and he's got to fight his way through it. I'd say the turnovers and the protection problems have contributed as well. We have to do a good job this week of making sure we give him a chance. I did think we ran the ball better last night. That was good to see. We need to be able to do that to help us in the passing game. We have to do some things to get his confidence going. Right now he's just in a little bit of a slump. But he's a really good player." On Price’s status for this weekend ”I anticipated him playing the whole game last night. After the first series, Robbie didn't like what he was seeing. He didn't like the matchup. But certainly I expect him to be much further along, but we'll have to see how the week goes." On how the team can recapture confidence "That's what we do. That's why they call us coach. We have to come in and we have to teach. That's the bottom line. We have to teach, learn and we're a 9-3 team that's learned a lot of valuable lessons that will pay off for us at some point. I don't have any doubt about that. I think we've played 29 freshmen and there's only one other team in the country that's played 29 freshmen and that's Southern Cal. Really, we have to focus them on the task at hand. The regular season is over and we didn't finish the way we wanted. But it's about the next game. We need to try to win this game. If we win this game, the better it gets. That's what we are focusing on. We need to try to get back to being the team that I know we are. But it'll take everyone being accountable, coaches and players. I'm sure there will be a ton of negativity out there with people telling them this and that. You have to listen to the right things and live in reality, not in perception. Come to work every day with a will to win. That's what we have to get from these guys." On
Sammy Watkins Fr. Wide Receiver #2 6-1, 200 Fort Myers, FL View Full Profile
not returning kicks "We felt like Andre was the better option of the two just because of the nature of kick returns with Sammy's shoulder. We didn't want to have a direct hit on it if we could avoid it. Andre's kick return was one of the bright spots. We'll evaluate that this week and see what direction we'll go." On first matchup with Va. Tech "We played our best game of the year defensively against those guys. We were gap sound and didn't give up big plays, while also creating turnovers. We tackled well. We played our best game. These guys have really improved. They're playing with a lot of confidence. It's always a challenge when you play a team twice. Their quarterback looks very confident. Tajh got out of the gates fast and it looked like Logan didn't get as fast a start, but he has really come on. Coach O'Cain has done a great job developing him and using him. He's a big, strong guy who can move the chains with the ball in his hands. They're mixing it up. He's really throwing the ball with a lot more confidence. That may be the biggest difference I see with him now." Rebuilding confidence "The biggest thing is that you have to look at the practice tape, see the things you're doing well, learn from mistakes and then you look at your game film. When you have a bunch of good film to look at, that should build confidence. We don't get caught up in what other people are saying. It's really just a weekly formula of preparation. Guys have to do their jobs. We've got some things on tape where we're getting a lot of good practice reps, but we're not quite transferring that to game day. It's a matter of applying it at the right time. That's our job as coaches to get them confident and right now we're not doing a great job of that. This is where you have to have leadership step up - players, coaches, trainers, everybody. I don't have any doubt that they believe in themselves. They're just frustrated right now, as they should be. But we can't let that beat us this week. We just have to focus on these next four days of preparation. We have to have good practices and good meetings."
Dabo Swinney
Tajh Boyd
Sammy Watkins
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