Swinney pleased with his offense after a 'big day' in Death Valley

Cade Klubnik led a standout performance from the Clemson offense and has played well in camp overall, Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney said.

David Hood - Senior Writer - Friday, August 16 2024

CLEMSON – Thursday was a good day for the Tigers. And a big day.

Clemson held a two-hour scrimmage inside Death Valley Thursday, the last scrimmage of August camp. The team will begin preparations for the opener against Georgia next week, which is also the first week of school.

"It was good. I mean, today's the last preseason game, if you will. So today is a big day for a lot of them, because it's our last full live day,” head coach Dabo Swinney said after the scrimmage. “Tomorrow is kind of our last camp practice, if you will. So we'll break camp tomorrow, and then they'll have a day off Saturday and then we go all Georgia prep starting Sunday. So then we got a full two weeks. We'll start Sunday — Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and then they'll start school Wednesday. And so, we'll just have meetings on Wednesday and then we'll go Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and then it's game week. So, got a good plan, now it's about getting out of camp mode and start bringing 'em back a little bit, and then, again, finish up on Clemson tomorrow and then turn our eyes to our opponent. So it's been good."

The scrimmage was situational, which means the team worked on different situations it will face during a game.

"Today was, again, a big day. A lot of special teams stuff. Today was a lot of situational stuff, especially at the end of practice,” Swinney said. “So just some special situations that can come up throughout the course of the year that you want to — it's too late to work on those things when they come up. So you got to make sure you got a good plan. So, kind of a lot of our checklist stuff to make sure we're ready. And then, a lot of — we're mostly always ones-on-ones and today we mixed in a lot of twos-on-ones, and that's intentional as well. This is that point where sometimes guys get a little comfortable and you need to be exposed, and that's what happened for some guys. For some guys, they were exposed in a good way, really showed some things that you were very encouraged by. So it was a good day as far as getting done when we need to get done."

According to Swinney, quarterbacks Cade Klubnik, Christopher Vizzina, and Trent Pearman were impressive.

"Yeah, I think all three of our quarterbacks. I'm really — in fact, I told the team afterwards — I've been really pleased with all three of those guys, and that's what I was hoping coming out of camp, that we could come out with some confidence with three guys,” Swinney said. “And Paul's (Paul Tyson) our fourth guy, you always forget about him, and Paul could go do it in a heartbeat with his eyes closed. But, those three guys have all made steps and gotten better and I'm really, really pleased with that. A lot of guys making some plays in the passing game, at all levels — receiver, tight end, running back. So just a noticeable level of confidence that I see coming out of a couple scrimmages, and that's what you want to see. So, proud of 'em for that.

“Took care of the ball today. Didn't have a lot of bad decisions or anything like that. And, we held a couple of guys today, like (Phil) Mafah, for example. He didn't get any reps, intentionally. Really wanted to see all those young guys and how they would handle a bigger role. So a lot of guys are flashing, but now — we can do it in practice all day long. We gotta go do it on game day. And now it's about starting to turn the page to that."

The competition at running back behind Mafah is still fierce, and Swinney was asked if any players were beginning to separate themselves.

"I wouldn't say separate. I mean, Keith's (Keith Adams Jr.) kind of his own guy. He's just different. I say that all the time, and if you really watch him play, it doesn't take you long to figure out that [he's] really got to have his own category for him,” Swinney said. “But Jay (Haynes) and David Eziomume, you kind of put them in that Mafah category. They are very talented backs, really proud of them.

“They both had good camps. It's been great, because Jay hasn't really been able to put it fully together, so it's been good for him to just stack days. And the same thing for Eziomume, he's a different guy than he was in the spring. Game has slowed down, he's playing fast — a big, strong, physical kid. So I really like our backs. And then again, Keith just is different. He's just a different pitch, if you will."