Swinney says defense wins the scrimmage but offense closing the gap

DJ Uiagalelei hands the ball to Kobe Pace during a scrimmage. (Photo courtesy Clemson football twitter)

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Tue Aug 17 18:28:06 GMT-04:00 2021

CLEMSON – Another day, another situational scrimmage for the Clemson football team with the defense once again winning the day.

The Tigers practiced for 2 ½ hours inside the Poe Indoor Facility Tuesday, and head coach Dabo Swinney told the media following the scrimmage that it was all about situations.

“Today was what we call a situational day. It used to be a day that was live but had to be thud this year with a couple of live periods at the end. A lot of situational football,” Swinney said. “We have been going for a couple of weeks now and we are really trying to expose these guys and the coaches so that we think situationally. There was first down emphasis, first-down play second down, second-down play third down, and then all third down. We did some coming out off of the goal line.

“We did 3rd-and-3 have to get a first down to win the ballgame, the defense has to get a stop. We got three racks of two minutes with a touchdown to win it type of situation. We did some last plays, so a lot of situational work today because you don't want to get into games to see some of the mistakes we had today. It was good to see that stuff exposed so we can teach and our guys can get better from it.”

Swinney didn’t like the mistakes he saw.

“There were some critical mistakes today. The offense needs a touchdown to win it at the end of the game and the DB makes an interception and just takes off running instead of getting down,” he said. “So, just some situational stuff that we have to teach from. I am really pleased with the amount of teaching we were able to get done today and the amount of work.”

However, it was the defense that once again won the day.

“We didn't have near as many penalties offensively. We did have a couple of tip picks. I thought defensively we had another solid day. We did have another couple of boneheaded mistakes. We did have about four penalties on the defense today,” Swinney said. “I thought it was a little more competitive. I thought Saturday the defense just won the day, top to bottom. Today, a little more competitive. But I will still say the defense had the edge. Won the two-minute drill and won the third-down drill as well. We have some work to do but it's a blessing to have the type of people that we have on this field to make each other better.”

He then laid out of the schedule for the rest of the week.

“We start school tomorrow and it's been a good camp. Everybody is at that point in camp where they are excited about school starting tomorrow,” Swinney said. “When you have camp you have no rules from a time standpoint. You can have them all day and night and we take full advantage of that as we prepare for the whole season. Now we have school and the clock starts and our restraints kick in as far as how long we can have these guys on a daily basis.

“But I feel good about all of the work we have done. We have a lot of evaluating to do before next week and we have to start honing in and getting ready for an opponent. Tomorrow will be a lighter day, in vests, and then Thursday will be our last full live scrimmage with these guys. We will let them rest a little bit Friday and Saturday and then come back Sunday and get back at it. A lot of work to do but I feel good about what these guys have accomplished these last couple of weeks.”

The offensive line and the center spot are still what Swinney called a work in progress.

“I think all of them have done some good things. I think the big thing is consistency,” Swinney said. “All of them can get the job done. I think all three mentally can get the job done, but consistency with our snaps. That is the area we have to make some strides in. You have to be 100-percent or 99.99999 percent when it comes to the C/Q (center/quarterback) exchange. That is an area we have to clean up as we come out of camp here. Trent Howard has done a good job and he's been maybe the most consistent when it comes to the C/Q part. We need a little more consistency there.”

He was asked if Marcus Tate would get a long look at left guard if Matt Bockhorst moved to center, and he said there are plenty of options available.

More on the OL

“Marcus Tate is a guy that has been working at left tackle and guard. He has been working with the 1's and the 2's. Paul Tchio is another guy that has played guard, Mason Trotter has played guard, and we have all kinds of combinations,” Swinney said. “We have a lot of guys that can play for us and we are excited about that. We are still a work in progress with 2 1/2 weeks here before our first game but I think we have more guys that can go in and get the job done for us than we had at this time last year.”

Injuries

Joseph Ngata is out, battling a hamstring. John Williams is out longer-term but will be back at some point. The other guys are day-to-day. It's been a long two weeks of camp with a lot of banging with toenails falling off and sore shoulders.