Swinney talks turnovers, the future of Chad Morris

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Sun Dec 01 18:15:41 GMT-04:00 2013

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney Dabo Swinney
Head Coach
View Full Profile addressed the media Sunday afternoon, and his statements echoed pretty much what everybody already knew – you can’t win by committing six turnovers.

Swinney’s Tigers turned the ball over six times Saturday night against South Carolina, including four in a fourth quarter that saw the two teams tied at 17-17 when that quarter began. When it ended, South Carolina claimed a 31-17 victory.

“It’s a very frustrating and disappointing loss. Very proud of how our guys fought to overcome some obvious critical mistakes we had in the game,” Swinney said. “The real positive in this game is that our guys' effort was good, they played hard and we almost overcame the mistakes. There were just too many. It comes down to how we play. The turnovers - you just can't win with that many. We had critical penalties and a couple of fluke things. Just very disappointed with the finish. It's definitely not what we wanted.

Swinney said one positive was that the offensive line played one of its best games of the season.

"There were a lot of good things in the game. The o-line played probably its best game,” he said. “(Brandon) Thomas, (Tyler) Shatley and (Isaiah) Battle performed very well. Hot Rod, man, it was great to see us run the ball the way we did. Tajh played very well up until that turnover. He was fighting for extra yards there. That was a critical turnover because we were going down to tie it up. We got a stop but then we fumbled the punt return and that was the dagger.”

Clemson’s defensive line also held up well.

“Defensively I thought Vic BeasleyVic Beasley
RS Jr. Defensive End
#3 6-3, 225
Adairsville, GA
View Full Profile was active. Grady JarrettGrady Jarrett
Jr. Defensive Tackle
#50 6-1, 290
Conyers, GA
View Full Profile played maybe the best game he's had all year. We were inconsistent in the secondary,” he said. “Shuey and Stephone played pretty good games. The first half we just couldn't get off the field on third down. I thought we responded well. One of the things I was pleased with was how we came back from adversity. We got down 10 points and it was great to see our team respond on the road and to get momentum going and to come out and win the third quarter, tie the game up and have it tied going into the fourth. So I was glad to see us fight back. But again, too many mistakes in critical situations. In this game it's been our inability to win the turnover margin. That's been the difference, but again, I do like how they competed in the end. Score and finish aren't what we wanted, but there were some positives.”

Other notes

Injuries

"Injury-wise we came out of it probably the best we've come out of a game this year.”

Turnovers

"We were ahead of where we were this time last year. We had 16 going into this game. We've been a good turnover-margin team, one of the best in the country. We just had a complete blowup in that area. I wish I could point to one thing. Sammy kind of floated the ball. Adam was open, but their guy came up from the backside and made a great play. The ball hit Martavis, and that's a tough break. Tajh, he's fihting for yards and the ball was out there. Same thing with Adam. For whatever reason those things have come in spurts. And it's very disappointing because those things change games. We win the turnover margin, we feel like we can win the game but we didn't give ourselves a chance in that regard."

On wanting to be in a BCS Bowl

“We absolutely want to be in the BCS. That's a no-brainer. I still think we're one of the best teams in the country. That's a fact. We've been one of the most consistent teams in the country. I wish we could win them all but there are only a couple of undefeated teams. We've had 10 turnovers in those two games. That's why y'all hear me talk about the turnover margin all the time. Yes, we want the best possible postseason we can get. The Chick-fil-A Bowl is great. But I think we should be in the BCS. We were in the top 10 for 14 weeks this year, which was a school record. I think our losses have been to two good teams, one of which is playing for the national title. We're a team that can play with anybody in the country. We'd love to be in the BCS and we think we deserve to be."

How we will handle Chad MorrisChad Morris
Offensive Coordinator / QBs
View Full Profile as other teams come calling

"Those are things as they arise that we always communicate on. I've had no communication with anyone about anything like that. If we have guys that have opportunities, if jobs come open, the biggest thing is communication and everyone being on the same page. We usually don't address that during the season."

Swinney ended by saying that no one has contacted him to talk to Morris at this point.