Swinney on passing attack against Gamecocks: "I don't think I've ever said no" as much

Clemson played conservative on offense against South Carolina (Photo by Merrell Mann).

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Mon Nov 27 13:48:03 GMT-04:00 2023

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney knows he could have punched in the final drive of the game against South Carolina for a score, but much like the previous 59 minutes, he kept it conservative.

Clemson’s defense was superlative in the Tigers’ 16-7 victory over South Carolina Saturday in Williams-Brice Stadium, a common theme over the last decade.

South Carolina’s first two drives ended with a fumble and an interception, and then the Gamecocks rattled off a 12-play, 81-yard drive that ended in their lone touchdown. Their next eight drives ended in punts, and the ninth finished with a turnover on downs.

Only once in those final nine drives did the Gamecocks breach Clemson’s side of the field, which was all the way to the Clemson 49. Over their last nine drives, the high-water mark was just across midfield. Five of those drives were three-and-outs. The next seven drives after the TD saw the Gamecocks gain exactly one yard.

South Carolina had 92 yards of total offense in the first quarter, minus 6 in the second quarter, and eight in the third quarter. That’s right, South Carolina had two total yards of offense in the second and third quarters. In desperation mode and the Tigers playing a little looser on defense in the fourth quarter, the Gamecocks managed 75 yards.

Clemson surrendered only 169 total yards, the fewest in its series with South Carolina since 1989 (155).

So what did Swinney and the offense do? It ran the ball most of the night and kicked field goals.

Even when the Tigers could score late, Swinney went with the safe play.

"Have you seen our season? Have you seen how many fumbles we've had this year? I wish it wasn't in my mind, but it was in my mind,” Swinney said of going into Victory Formation. “We did the smart thing and the right thing. You fumble that ball, and it's a scoop and score and then an onside kick."

Quarterback Cade Klubnik was 15-for-27 for 100 yards and an interception, but the Tigers rushed the ball 46 times for 219 yards, an average of 4.8 yards per carry. Still, the Tigers managed just 319 yards of total offense against one of the worst defenses in the nation.

What wasn’t working?

"I don't know if it wasn't working. We probably played a little conservative as the game unfolded,” Swinney said. “We didn't have the ball a whole lot early. Don't think we got into good rhythm early. But we did enough. Their style of play, too. South Carolina played mostly odd front on us. They went to a little more of that defense the last couple games of the season they've kind of gone to that to minimize big plays.

“We put some drives together. We missed some plays. Obviously, we had the one turnover, which was an opportunity, too. We'll watch the tape. Again, pretty conservative. But we did what we needed to do to win.”

Swinney said the Tigers played for field position and hinted that the Tigers scaled back the passing attack.

“Field position was huge. It was just the style of the game,” Swinney said. “I love to throw the ball. I love throwing it around. But I don’t think I’ve ever said ‘no’ more than I did tonight just because of the type of game it was. I felt like we had great control of it.”