Clemson vs. SC State Postgame Quotes & Notes |
Clemson vs. SC State
Sept. 6, 2014 * Memorial Stadium Postgame Coaches’ Quotes Clemson Head Coach
Dabo Swinney “This was a great win and I’m proud of our team today. We had to respond after last week and I think we did, and that’s what matters. The coaches, support staff, the players - everyone put forth the effort we needed today. “It was a long week of practice and preparation, but I think we imposed our will today. The defense did a good job standing up today and getting the shutout on their offense. “I’m proud of our offense, too. Both our quarterbacks played well…they all did. I thought our running backs played tremendous as well. I liked what I saw from Jay Jay McCullough with his offensive contributions and big play catches, and I thought Demarre Kitt played well today. “We were glad that Ammon Lakip could respond from last week and it was good to see his confidence build a little today. When it came to our special teams, our kickoff coverage was awesome. “This was an excellent win for our program. But we have bigger fish to fry. We’ll regroup here for the next week, a bye week, but then we’ve got the opportunity to play the No. 1 team in the nation. It’ll be a challenge, but we’re looking forward to it. I’m excited for that opportunity.” SC State Head Coach Buddy Pough What do you attribute the result to? “They were better than us, I’ll put it obviously.” What can you take away from this game? “Not a bunch right now. You try to figure out how you do find some silver lining in this particular dark cloud. I haven’t quite figured it out yet. I can tell you this, and that is that there are days when teams like ours don't match up with teams like theirs. Today was one of those days. We couldn’t do much of anything from the very first play. Offensively, it was not good and through the rest of the game it was pretty much more of the same.” Did you think that you could do some things coming in? “I thought we could. But we didn’t play very well up front on either side of the ball. That surprised me some. I thought we were further along than that. We’ve got a couple holes in our offensive front in particular and we’re still trying to fix some of those things. But at the same time, I thought we’d be better.” Could mental preparation be part of it? “Mentally I didn’t think we were very good. At the same time, who’s to say why you don’t do some of the things you want to do under these circumstances.” How do you pick the guys up and keep them positive? “What we wanted to do was to come out in a good frame of mind and healthy. We didn’t do either one. We got beat up pretty good and we’ve got a lot of guys banged up. And our state of mind right now is not very good. So put those two together, we’ve got a lot of work before next week.” Clemson vs. SC State Sept. 6, 2014 * Memorial Stadium Postgame Clemson Player Quotes Jadar Johnson, Safety On the defense not allowing any points: “We were just coming off a bad fourth quarter against Georgia and that’s all we could think about is showing everyone what we could do. We had all the tools and stuff, but we weren’t mentally there in the fourth quarter, so coming out in this game, we just had to show that the defense is there.” On not losing focus: “We had our leaders keeping everybody up. Grady Jarrett and Deshaun Williams were just telling everybody to stay up no matter who the opponent is.” On Florida State: “When we play, we play against faceless opponents, so we are just going to come with a gameplan to do whatever the coaches tell us to do.” On defensive game plan: “It was just ‘everybody get to the ball.’ We have a little saying where we have a party at the ball every play, so if someone gets to the ball, the whole defense swarms and gets in on the tackle.” Artavis Scott, Wide Receiver On playing time: “I think I’m a regular player anyway. Even though I’m a freshman, I just build and watch everyone and what they have done. As I go in the game, I don’t think of myself as a freshman, I just think of myself as a regular player.” On second touchdown: “When I saw the play, I knew I had to get into the endzone. I think I might have gotten robbed on the other end, but I had to get in there, so I just lowered my shoulder and made it happen.” On making the most of his opportunity: “Every time I get my chance, I’m going to make the most of it. Every time my name is called, I’m going to out there and perform and do what I have to do each week.” On first touchdown catch: “Coach (Chad) Morris called it because I had seen the safety in busted coverage and I knew the ball was coming to me. Cole (Stoudt) made a great pass and I was so concentrated on catching the ball, and I knew this was what I wanted. I was excited for my first touchdown catch. I was blessed.” Cole Stoudt, Quarterback Overall thoughts: We had the hard week of practice and then we just went out there and executed the best we could, and that’s what we did. We eliminated our mental errors and just went out there and had some fun.” On relationship with Deshaun Watson: “It’s kind of like me and Tajh (Boyd) were. We are just trying to get each other better and try to be the best we can be for this team.” On being in the record books for total yards: “It’s exciting going out there and seeing our offense get so many total yards between two quarterbacks. It’s exciting seeing that we were only two yards short of the all-time passing record. It’s exciting seeing our offense going out like that and being explosive.” Deshaun Watson, Quarterback On first game in Death Valley: “It was great. Seeing all the orange in the stands and all the fans and Clemson Family support, and then running down the Hill with all my brothers for the first time was a great experience. On quarterback system: “I just go with the flow. I play my role and try to be the best teammates I can be. Coach (Dabo) Swinney and Coach (Chad) Morris call the shots, so whatever they want to do that’s best for the team, we are going to go with that.” Clemson vs. SC State Sept. 6, 2014 * Memorial Stadium Postgame Clemson Notes Team Notes * The 73 points is the most since scoring 82 points against Wake Forest in 1981. * The victory margin of 66 points is the largest since 1957, when Clemson defeated Presbyterian College 66-0. The margin is tied for the seventh best in school history and tied for the second largest at Memorial Stadium. * The offense totaled 735 yards, the third-highest single-game total in school history and the most yards ever against a non-conference opponent. It is also just the fourth time in school history in which Clemson has recorded at least 700 yards of total offense. It is the most yards of total offense by Clemson since 2012, when the Tigers totaled 754 yards NC State. * The Tigers rushed for 268 yards. That is the most rushing yards by Clemson in a game since 2012, when it rushed for 328 yards against NC State. * Clemson held SC State to just 44 yards of total offense. That is the sixth fewest yards ever allowed by a Clemson team. It is the fewest yards allowed by the Tigers since 1963, when Clemson held Virginia to 41 total yards. * The Tigers held SC State to just seven rushing yards. That is the fewest rushing yards allowed by the Tigers since the 2008 game against SC State in which the Tigers held the Bulldogs to -10 rushing yards. * Clemson opened the game with a seven-play, 68-yard drive that resulted in a touchdown. The Tigers have scored on the opening drive of the game in each of the last three games and six of the last eight. * Clemson had 12 players catch a pass in today’s game. That is the most players to catch a pass in a game since 12 caught a pass against Virginia last season. Additionally, nine different players rushed the ball in the game, the most since the SC State game last season when 10 Tigers carried the ball. * Clemson totaled 392 yards of total offense in the first half. That is the most yards of total offense in a half since the Tigers had 454 in the first half against Syracuse last season. * The Tigers are now 29-0 all-time against FCS opponents, including a 3-0 mark against SC State. Clemson has defeated the Bulldogs by a combined score of 179-20 in those three games. * Clemson is now 73-0-1 when recording at least 500 yards of total offense. The Tigers are also now 65-0-1 when recording at least 200 yards passing and 200 yards rushing in a game. * Clemson tallied 467 passing yards, the second most in a single game in school history. The record is 468 passing yards against Syracuse in 2013. * With Jadar Johnson’s 60-yard interception touchdown return, the Tigers recorded their fourth interception return for a touchdown in their three games all-time against SC State. * Clemson was not forced to punt in today’s game. It is the first time since the 2009 ACC Championship game that Clemson did not record a punt. * Clemson scored nine touchdowns in the game, with eight different players scoring a touchdown. Artavis Scott was the only Clemson player to score more than one touchdown in the game. * Clemson backup quarterbacks are now 34-36 passing for 373 yards and seven touchdowns in three games against SC State. * Clemson’s average starting field position was its own 40 yard line. The Tigers improved their average 21 yards from the Georgia game, in which Clemson’s starting field position was its own 19. Individual Notes * Cole Stoudt had a career-best game, completing a career-high 22 passes for a career-high 302 yards. His previous career bests were 19 completions for 144 yards at Georgia last week. * Freshman Deshaun Watson established new highs in his second career game. Watson completed 8-9 passes for a season-high 154 yards and three touchdowns. * Vic Beasley recorded his second sack of the season in today’s game, giving him 23 for his career. That moves him into a tie with Adrian Dingle and
Keith Adams * Charone Peake recorded his second receiving touchdown of the season on a seven-yard pass from Deshaun Watson in the second quarter. Peake has now scored a touchdown in each of his last three games in which he has played, two of which came against SC State. * Adam Choice saw his first action in a Clemson uniform in today’s game. The freshman running back carried the ball 12 times for 72 yards and one touchdown. He also added two catches for 15 yards. * Artavis Scott set the single-game record for receiving yards by a freshman with 164 yards. The previous record was 155 yards, set by Aaron Kelly against Temple in 2006 and Sammy Watkins against Auburn in 2011. Scott caught six passes, including two for touchdowns, the first of his career. * Mike Williams hauled in a career-high four catches for 86 yards. His 86 yards were two shy of his career high of 88 yards set at Georgia last week. * Jay Jay McCullough caught three passes for a career-high 61 yards and scored his first career touchdown. * Wayne Gallman recorded 10 carries for 77 yards in his second career game to lead the Tigers. * Demarre Kitt recorded his first career reception, a 16-yard pass from Deshaun Watson, in the second quarter. * C.J. Davidson scored his second rushing touchdown of the season, the sixth of his career. * Jadar Johnson recorded his first career interception and returned it 60 yards for a touchdown. 
Dabo Swinney
Head Coach
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Keith Adams
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for fourth place on the Clemson career sacks list.
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