WATCH: Dabo Swinney postgame press conference for Charlotte |
Head coach
Dabo Swinney spoke to the media following Clemson's 52-10 win over Charlotte on Saturday night.
Opening statement:
“There was a lot of good stuff in the ballgame today. We ran the ball well. In the second half, we substituted so many guys defensively. To see that many players continue to play well throughout the game was great. I thought the guys were ready to go and the other guys challenged on the sideline.”
On his takeaways from the win:
“It was an awesome crowd tonight and an unbelievable environment. It’s a game where we got better as a team. We achieved the objectives we were trying to achieve this week and got better for next week.”
On utilizing 110 players in the game:
“We’ve got a lot of guys who can say they played for the Tigers, and nobody can take that away from them. They were rewarded for their hard work and had a chance to go out and play. That was pretty special. ”
On the keys to the victory:
“We were able to pressure Charlotte a little bit and pressure their run game. That was effective for us. All in all, I thought we got better as the game went along. I thought our guys were ready and excited. They took control right out of the gate. I was able to get a lot of guys playing time that they needed and get a lot of guys out, too. The mindset that they had, it was good for me to see.”
Postgame quotes for Charlotte's Will Healy:
On performance
“Yeah, obviously really impressed with Clemson. They did an unbelievable job. [I was] impressed by the way their guys played and they really got after us. I think we compounded it by making a few mistakes of our own. You know, the pick six, we can’t do. And too many penalties; I think we had 12 or 13 penalties. We definitely didn’t help ourselves but give them credit. They did exactly what they were expected to do and they got after us.”
On run game success
“I think Benny Lemay’s a really good running back. I was proud of those guys, you know, Malik Harkness was stepping in; Dominic Taylor was down and then Fish went down and Gage had to come in. At one point in time we were down three or four offensive linemen. I thought those guys still did a good job of at least covering guys up and Benny ran really hard.
On passing game struggles
“Well I think you’ve gotta give them a lot of credit. They’re really, really good. And, again, I don’t think we did a whole lot of things to help ourselves on top of it. We didn’t throw the ball great, but I don’t know. They’ve got some really good DBs and they put pressure on our quarterback so I don’t know if they were a whole lot of throws we could have made.”
On defensive performance
“Well, I think the problem that I’m having right now is giving up so many points on defense that aren’t coming on defense. I think this is four straight games now with either a special teams touchdown or a pick six or something. They’re putting points up on the board in other ways than just giving them up on defense. I think we responded… and we had a hard time getting them off the field. I think they only played, you know, in the second half and that’s how dynamic their offense is. But I didn’t think we ever quit or laid down. I just don’t think we executed that well.”
On the fight of his team
“Yeah, I mean, they’re going tempo with 45 seconds left in the game and we’re tired. We’re worn out, and you couldn’t lay down. And they didn’t. And I think time after time we’ve shown that we will continue to fight. And so I am very proud of it. I hope that becomes a staple of our program. We’re still not good enough to shoot ourselves in the foot, turn the ball over, have thirteen penalties and expect to be in the game, especially against the number one team in the country.”
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