Sunday Night Notes: Swinney on Peter Woods, Tyler Brown, and win on the road

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Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney says Peter Woods is working his way back into the lineup, while the younger defensive ends are trending upward.

Clemson, now ranked No. 10 in the country (AP), went on the road Saturday and defeated Florida State 29-13. The win gives Clemson a 4-1 overall record and a perfect 3-0 record in the ACC. Next Saturday at noon, Clemson will travel to Wake Forest (noon/ESPN).

"Great trip for us. It's fun to win but really special when you can do it on the road,” Swinney said Sunday evening during his teleconference. “I'm really proud of our team and our staff for getting it done. A lot of good things and a lot of things we need to do better. I'm really proud of our team. Winning four in a row down there is really hard to do. We took some steps forward in finding different ways to win. We have to keep growing and learning and improving in a lot of areas.”

He praised his defense and special teams.

“Special teams, we continue to do a lot of good things. The punt returns, the five field goals, especially with two blocks, to see Nolan Hauser not be affected by that and I was impressed with his poise,” Swinney said. “I wish we could have finished a few of those in the red zone, but last night will serve him well. We only punted twice in the game. Kickoff ... Robert Gunn continues to be a weapon there.

"Defensively, 22 yards rushing. That's the story of the game. Almost 40 yards negative. A couple of sacks. We won the line of scrimmage. We had a season high six three-and-outs. For five games straight we have shut them out in the first quarter. So, a lot of good things from that standpoint. I was disappointed on fourth down. We had a couple of missed tackles. I felt like we had a couple more sacks there. We were fortunate, too. There were a couple of things discipline-wise where we have to do a better job with our eyes. It's the best game we've had as far as giving up big plays. Bottom line, we really controlled the line of scrimmage.”

Clemson’s offense struggled to finish drives with touchdowns but still found a way.

"Offensively, 500 yards. We had 6.6 yards a carry. We had 12.4 yards per completion. A lot of big plays. I was pleased with our twist pickup and our pass blocking,” Swinney said. “Not as good on third down as we needed to be. We left a lot out there. We had too many wasted plays, which negated some good drives. I knew we were going to lean on Phil Mafah and it was good to see him take it over late. It was another hard-fought game, a great win.”

Swinney said the Tigers are healthy.

"Injury-wise, we came through it pretty good. Always at this time of year you have some guys banged up. Overall, pretty good shape,” he said.

What did he see on the blocked field goals

"We didn't do our job. There's a certain technique that you have to execute, and we have to coach it better, and we have to look at our personnel. Give them credit, too. But we did a poor job on our end."

On getting Peter Woods back out on the field

"It was big. We limited his snaps. I think he played about 20 snaps. We progressed him last week but he didn't get all the good-on-good (in practice). He took all the reps on Thursday from a team script standpoint. He felt really good after the game. I think him just getting back out there playing was the biggest thing. He told me after the game that he was really looking forward to getting back into his routine and having a full week of practice. He's still a young player and needs reps and practice. When you've been on the shelf for a few weeks, it's good to get back out there."

On getting Tyler Brown increased playing time

“We worked him in there like Peter last night. He's progressing back in practice. He has yet to be able to have a full-go week. He has been on a progression and has made a ton of improvement. Hopefully he'll continue to heal up. It was a pretty bad high ankle sprain that he had. I think he got 17 plays last night. He just has to get back into a spot where he can get all the reps in practice. Same thing with Adam (Randall) and (Collin) Sadler. They were ready to go if needed. We wanted to hold them, so that worked out well."

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