Swinney message to fans for weekend: Get up, get your ankles taped, and grab a biscuit |
Get your ankles taped, grab a biscuit and get to Death Valley early.
That was the message that head coach Dabo Swinney had for the fans at the end of his Sunday night teleconference. The Tigers (7-0, 5-0) host Syracuse (6-0, 2-0) at noon Saturday in the Valley (ABC), and the winner has the inside track for a trip to Charlotte and the ACC Championship Game. Syracuse defeated NC State 24-9 Saturday, and Swinney said the Tigers will need to play well. “Dino (Babers) has done a great job. They are a tough bunch. Always are. Schematically they present problems,” Swinney said. “They’re not big on defense but they really underhand what they do on that side of the ball. Their biggest guy is like 270, but they’re moving every snap. They’re going to try to create advantages with a lot of movement. They do a great job in the secondary. They have two really good corners, their backers are active and they have some elite playmakers. Any time you have a good quarterback, you’ve got a shot. They’ve always had receivers. They have a great tight end who is making a lot of plays. Their back is as good as there is in the country.” Swinney then had a message for the fans: get those ankles taped and grab a biscuit. “I’m excited about the opportunity,” he said. “It’s hard to believe that it’s the first time ever where two teams are 6-0 or better are going to be facing off in Death Valley. And we're going to need our fans big time. Show up early. Everybody get up, tape your ankles and grab a biscuit and let's go. It's gonna be a great day.” Swinney said the Tigers didn’t get back to Clemson until early Sunday morning. “Long trip back for us. We had a little issue with the fuel on the plane. We got here a little after 6 AM,” Swinney said. “Good to get back home and good to have the victory. It’s a hard, hard place to go play. We have a lot of bad memories from playing down there. I’m proud of our guys for getting the victory. That’s what we went down there to do. Our fourth road win. I saw a stat today … nine ranked teams went on the road this weekend and their record was 1-8. We were the only ranked team to go on the road and win. It’s hard to win. “A lot of good things in the game. Special teams were so huge for us. The big return, the field goals, we stopped a fake and got the ball. We did a lot of good things in the game. We won that part of the game. We won the turnover margin, too. I’m just really proud of our team. They have been through some battles. We’re 7-0 and not many teams can say that. I have such an appreciation for winning and us finding a way to win. This needs to be a great week of preparation.” Injuries “We came through the game OK except for Matthew Maloney. He tore his ACL, so he’s out. He has had one before (other knee). He is a great kid and was starting on about three (special teams) units for us. We’re in a pretty good spot injury-wise overall, though.” Offense “Offensively we were efficient, scoring on five of our first seven drives. We got back on track on third down with 10-of-18. Really proud of DJ (Uiagalelei). Great leadership. He managed the game well. No turnovers, which was huge. We continue to do a good job in the red zone. We just had some critical penalties and we missed some plays. I’m proud of the offensive line … no sacks (on the OL). We had one on DJ where he just held the ball. We had another one where they called it a sack, but it was a draw. Hopefully they’ll change that. “To come back out in the second half, we had a one-play touchdown and then we had another great drive. The fourth quarter we had a 20-point lead and took a couple of shots and didn’t hit on them before we went on an 11-play drive.” Defense “Biggest thing - we didn’t finish the game well in the fourth quarter (defensively). We didn’t start or finish well on defense. Next thing you know you have an onside kick. The three stops on downs, the goal line stand … we did a lot of good things on defense. It was great to get Sheridan (Jones) back. (Jeremiah) Trotter had 13 tackles. We have several guys who are really consistent. Tyler Davis is so consistent. Just a poor job on third down defensively and missed tackles. There is no other way to say it. We had 24 missed tackles. I don’t remember the last time we’ve done that. Just a bad finish and we lost our focus and got undisciplined. The good news is we found a way to win the game. We had some critical, critical plays. We just have top put people away when we have an opportunity. You can’t give up the yards we gave up in the fourth quarter against good people. Everything is correctible. I’m excited to get back to work tomorrow and keep building.”
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