Dabo Swinney is ready to move on from Louisville, shift focus to Hokies

Clemson coach Dabo Swinney is on to Virginia Tech.

Grayson Mann - Staff Writer - Tuesday, November 05 2024

Dabo Swinney was ready to move on from Louisville.

He’s certainly ready to wash away Saturday’s result and get ready for the challenge Virginia Tech poses.

He sees Louisville and Virginia Tech as very similar groups in many ways. Both squads have had multiple one-possession losses, indicating that they may be better than their record suggests.

Some of those one-possession Hokie losses include an overtime loss to Vanderbilt, a controversial overturned hail-mary TD against Miami, and Rutgers.

Virginia Tech enters its matchup with Clemson 5-4 (3-2 ACC), hoping to secure bowl eligibility against the Tigers.

Swinney recognizes the situation the Hokies find themselves in, and carries plenty of respect for Virginia Tech head coach Brent Pry’s squad.

“This is a team that's four plays from being undefeated,” Swinney said. “I mean, they're very similar to the group we just played and very similar in style lineup. They are one of the best-rushing teams in the country. These guys can run the football. So obviously, with how we played last week, that's going to be an area we've got to have, get back on track and have a great improvement this week to have a chance to win the game.”

Virginia Tech certainly holds one of the best rushing attacks in the nation, racking 5.2 yards per carry on the ground. That goes for the 20th-best attack in the country.

Against Louisville, Clemson surrendered 7.8 yards per rush on the ground, giving up several chunk plays to Isaac Brown and the Cardinals.

While Louisville and Virginia Tech have plenty of similarities, Hokies QB Kyron Drones is quite the separating factor. He currently is responsible for 16 total touchdowns, averaging nearly four yards per carry when he gets the rock.

Drones is questionable heading into Saturday’s matchup. Despite his status being up in the air, Swinney took the time on Tuesday to praise the junior signal caller.

“He is a really good player,” Swinney said. “This guy's big and strong. He can make all the throws, but honestly, I didn't really know who the other kid was until I watched the tape. He's a very good player. This guy can sling it and he's not quite as big, but he's still a really good runner as well. But drones is a grown man. I mean, he is a grown man. He makes a lot of plays with his legs. He extends a lot of plays. He has good chemistry with that group of receivers. So they will involve him in the run game, with design running a lot. They do a lot of that, a lot of the power read. So he's a handful.”

Swinney knows that his team has to finish against Virginia Tech. Calling back to the team’s word of the year, the finish down the stretch has become more important to salvage the rest of Clemson’s 2024 season.

In his eyes, the Louisville talk is over. It is time to focus on a trip to Blacksburg.

“Well, yeah, we didn't finish,” Swinney said. “We didn't finish. We had two blocked kicks. We had another scoring drive with the tip, the tip ball opportunity. So we missed it. If you make those points, they're different. It's a different deal. They got 10 points off of the two blocked kicks. We had a fourth and one that, honestly, they just got us had a nice, we had a motion guy, and they triggered the motion guy right through the gap, so you just had to tip your hat to 'em on that one. Sometimes that can happen in football, but it just didn't. But they kept playing. They competed their butts off, and they finished well; they finished well with a couple of really good scoring drives and just didn't do enough throughout four quarters.

"That game is over. Guys, let's move on. We're playing Virginia Tech this week.”