CLEMSON FOOTBALL

Open date comes at a good time for the Tigers
Swinney is hopeful last week's win over North Carolina creates a sense of urgency.

Open date comes at a good time for the Tigers


by - Senior Writer -

Clemson players and coaches have been taking advantage of the open date to heal wounds, make adjustments, and do a little self-scouting. The team participated in a community service event this week and now the players have the rest of the weekend to just be college students.

In other words, the open date comes at the right time for the Tigers.

"Yeah. It's been five games. It's hard to be perfect all the time," head coach Dabo Swinney said. "The open date is coming at a good time. It's a chance for us to reset, get healthy and get a head start on Florida State, while also doing a lot of self scout on us. Every day is critical. I'm really proud of this team, though, and our leadership."

Clemson escaped Chapel Hill with a 21-20 victory over North Carolina last Saturday, the first time in nearly a year that the Tigers have been pushed to the limit in a game. Swinney is hoping the close call creates a sense of urgency for his team.

“Four of (the games) didn't bring any adversity. Not that we didn't have any mistakes. We did. We just didn't have any adversity," Swinney said. "I hope that we can use that to create the sense of urgency that it takes. We have had great preparation. Our guys have been great. They've been awesome. Now, we don't have to play perfect to win. But we do need to play well."

The Tigers will use the time to recuperate.

"Our guys have been going since July. Our freshmen have been here since June. FSU has two weeks to get ready for us as well," Swinney said. "You get beat up and banged up. That was a physical game the other night. We'll work hard Monday through Thursday and then we're giving everybody Friday, Saturday and Sunday to get reset.

"If we want to be in the ACC Championship again, we have to make every day count. We have a chance to win the division but we're a long way from that. We're 5-0. You can't be better than that. It's an opportunity for us to grow our team a little."

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