Dabo Swinney breaks down "special" game, plays in first post-Pittsburgh update |
Grayson Mann
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- Sunday, November 17 2024
One special play turned into a special victory.
That’s how Dabo Swinney has chosen to characterize Clemson’s win over Pittsburgh to close ACC play in 2024. There was plenty to break down, and Swinney provided his first update on Sunday night. Here’s what we learned. On Clemson’s Heart Dabo Swinney didn’t start Sunday’s teleconference with the X’s and O’s of Saturday’s result, but wanted to take the moment to praise his team’s resilience on Saturday. Swinney added that when everything is stacked against you like that, most teams tend to lose that game. “I'm just proud of our team for their belief, their heart, their fight, they stayed together again, just their resiliency to be able to hang in there and find a way,” Swinney said. “I mean, that's the bottom line, and I would say most teams probably lose that game, but our guys, and they really just hung in there and overcame a lot of mistakes, a lot of 'em, self-inflicted for sure. A lot of tough breaks and certainly so many guys out.” On Players Stepping Up Swinney added plenty of praise to the makeshift offensive line, with players like Blake Miller playing left tackle for the first time since high school. He said Trent Howard and Walker Parks played well with the different looks in the starting five. He added that managing injuries at the start of this week will be “crazy." He sees they will roll rotations out, and he feels good about Marcus Tate and Tristan Leigh’s progress back from injury. Dee Crayton also had to step in, with Sammy Brown being disqualified from the game due to a targeting penalty. Barrett Carter stepped up in his own way, directing traffic on defense playing 93 snaps against Pittsburgh with the rotation at linebacker thinning throughout the afternoon. On R.J. Mickens Mickens is “day-to-day.” The senior safety left the action against Pittsburgh but was in the building Sunday, and Swinney said he hopes he can progress quickly. Swinney did not provide an update on Wade Woodaz, who did not suit up against Pittsburgh. Inside Cade Klubnik’s Scramble TD Speaking of special, Cade Klubnik’s 50 yard scramble touchdown certainly leads in memorability from Saturday. Swinney agrees. Cade Klubnik took the time Saturday night to praise T.J. Moore’s block on the perimeter, which set up a wide-open lane for the score. In a half where not much went right, this touchdown play had all the right elements to give the Tigers enough to win. “It's good recognition, Swinney said.” “Obviously, we were running, we had the quarterback draw call and we have no timeouts. They know we have no timeouts, so they probably did not think we would be running the ball, but honestly, we caught them in two-man. They were mixing in some two-man, and it was the right call at the right time, and we felt like we could at least get in the field goal range on the call. And Cade just did an awesome job of beating their safety. And then TJ made the difference for us on the play. He covered his guy up, so it was just really good effort. And man, Cade, he's a fast dude when he gets it rolling and it was a special play, special moment. I mean, again, one of those things that's rare. I didn't know until after the game, but it's the longest game-winning offensive touchdown in Clemson history inside of a two-minute walk off there. It's pretty special what he was able to do on that play.” On Special Teams Swinney felt his special teams unit played their best after reviewing the film. Nolan Hauser nailed a 51-yard field goal to give Clemson a 17-7 lead entering the half, appearing to turn the page with a unit that has struggled this season with consistency. He also added that the punt team had their best game of the year, putting the Pittsburgh offense in challenging field position throughout the evening.
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