Hangin' with Chad

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Mon Nov 07 13:42:52 GMT-04:00 2011

CLEMSON – Clemson offensive coordinator Chad Morris said on Monday that he woke up the Sunday morning after the Georgia Tech loss disappointed, and that he was determined to fix what didn’t work in the loss to the Yellow Jackets.

Morris spoke with the media Monday morning in the WestZone, and he said that he spent the bye week getting his team back to basics so he doesn’t have to wake up next Sunday with a similar feeling.

“I was disappointed with the loss. Losing is not an option. Never has been and never will be,” Morris said. “Nothing can convince me that why we lost is right. We don’t lose - period. That is how we condition our players, that is how we practice and that is how we play. Winning is the name of the game. This is the fourth time in four years that I woke up with a loss. I don’t like that feeling and neither do the players on this team.”

Morris said the bye week was a productive one.

“I thought we did a good job of managing the week and getting guys healthy,” he said. “We got back to fundamentals and focusing on things that maybe we can't focus on quite as much. Obviously, ball security is a big focus for us. We also went back and reviewed ourselves and where we are at this point in the season and focus on what we need to focus on.”

Clemson’s first year coordinator said that he was pleased with how quickly the players got over the loss.

“Players are really resilient. That is the way kids are,” he said. “Kids take it better than the coaches. They put it behind them. They understand we didn’t play our best football, and they came out ready to work and it wasn’t doom and gloom. They wanted to know what they needed to do to fix it. We worked on getting them more physical and the attention to detail. I am pleased that they came with a workmen’s attitude. They don’t want to taste defeat again because that is a bad taste. That is all you can ask for.”

Clemson quarterback Tajh BoydTajh Boyd
RS So. Quarterback
#10 6-1, 225
Hampton, VA
View Full Profile threw two interceptions against the Yellow Jackets, and Morris said that Boyd came to practice ready to work.

“He didn’t beat himself up. He was disappointed in his play,” he said. “He was one of the main ones that came out, and said, ‘What do I have to do to make sure this doesn’t happen again?’ I was pleased with the way that he –and really all of them – responded in practice.”

On the health of Dwayne AllenDwayne Allen
RS Jr. Tight End
#83 6-3, 255
Fayetteville, NC
View Full Profile and Andre EllingtonAndre Ellington
RS Jr. Running Back
#23 5-10, 190
Moncks Corner, SC
View Full Profile

“Dwayne worked out, especially later in the week. He worked out pretty hard later in the week. Andre went through very limited drills, but he should be ready to go this week. Andre will be playing and ready to go against Wake. I don’t anticipate that being a problem at all.”

On the turnovers

“One thing that we have talked about since I walked in the door here in January, and the thing that we have talked about that can hurt this offense is turnovers. Turnovers will kill anybody in the country. We had guys just laying the ball on the ground. We had the miscommunication with Tajh and Sammy where Tajh just locked in on Sammy. He should have gone to the field, or the five man [Nuk Hopkins]. Then we had the two with the young running backs trying to make a play and just laying it on the ground. They were putting the ball in jeopardy where they were letting the ball get away from their body. When that happens, both of those young backs just don’t have the upper body strength to be ready for that. Both were trying to make plays and you can't fault their effort. That is why we have been so successful this year is that we haven’t turned the ball over.”

On winning helping recruiting

“The exposure that the program has been getting is remarkable. Winning is the best recruiting tool you have. We have definitely had lots of exposure over the last eight or nine weeks. That has definitely helped us out a whole lot.”