Dabo Swinney reacts: What Clemson coach said about Tigers QBs, defense vs. Louisville
Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney’s disposition Saturday night was a complete 180 from the last time the Tigers were on the road.
Unlike at Pitt, Clemson heads back home with a victory, beating Louisville 30-24 at Cardinal Stadium. The Tigers (6-3) are now bowl-eligible and start the month of November with a win.
Here’s what Swinney had to say after the game.
On the quarterbacks D.J. Uiagalelei and Taisun Phommachanh: “I’m so proud of DJ. He’s starting to kind of get on the backside of that storm that he’s going through, and I’m really, really proud of him. Unbelievable heart and leadership by him. I thought Taisun really brought something to the table tonight, did a great job for us.”
On the Tigers’ red zone defense: “We talk about red zone defense all the time. We’ve been a good red zone team. You go back to the national championship in ‘18. Alabama had the ball in the red zone a ton and we kept them out from touchdowns. It’s just something that we’ve always taken pride in. Always. It’s just never over. Two yards is a long way to go, especially when you’re going against Clemson defense. I’m just really, really proud of them. It’s a shortened area. Everything is condensed. When you’ve got a running quarterback like that, it’s almost like playing 12 and playing against 12 from a defensive standpoint.
“They just don’t quit. They believe. We’ve made play after play all throughout the years. I think that’s the first time in my time as the head coach that we’ve won back-to-back games where we’ve had to come back in the fourth quarter to win it. It was a great team effort offensively to go get the lead and then defensively, disappointed with the big play over there on Mario (Goodrich), but just love how they kept competing.”
On Clemson’s defensive play: “We did not play well defensively. That’s our worst game. The quarterback ran for 175 yards, not counting sacks that we had. We did not do a good job at all. That’s the most big plays we’ve given up all year. There’s a lot to fix from that, but they just keep battling. It was good to see the offense step up and pick that defense up tonight.
“The defense has been there all year. Our defense, are you kidding me? Our three losses, they put us in position to win and we didn’t get it done on offense. It was awesome to see the offense pick those guys up. I just think that’s great for our team. We’ve got a lot we can fix and correct and learn. There’s no question when it’s the fourth quarter, these guys don’t flinch. They just believe. As we say, the tougher it is, the better we get, and it don’t get any tougher than first-and-goal from the 2 and it’s four downs to get in there against a group like that. It’s an incredible job by Brent and staff. It’s never over. We’ve instilled in our culture here for many, many years. It’s never over. Just keep battling. Play the next play. Anything can happen.”
On calling a timeout at the end of the game: “That was me trying to make sure I at least gave our offense a chance. You get the ball first-and-goal at the 2, the odds are against you. The clock was against us. I had two timeouts, so I called the one on second down, but it was good to regroup a little bit. They had no timeouts, so now if they score on third down, then at least I’ve got a timeout left and an opportunity for us to get a good return, go kick the field goal and go win the game. But when we stopped them on third down, now it’s a decision and I made the decision to not use it because they were under pressure.
“It’s hard to get a call in, the clock’s ticking. They’re trying to signal and all that stuff. I just felt like it was our advantage when we stopped them right there on third. The objective was if they scored on third down, we’d have had a little bit of time left with a timeout to hopefully get a good return and have a chance to kick the field goal.”
On down-to-the-wire games: “We’ve blown a lot of people out for a lot of years. Everybody complains about that, so hopefully everybody’s staying engaged for the last minute. Keeping everybody’s attention, that’s for sure. It’s going to make us better. It’s hard to win. Just really proud of our guys for finding a way. This is a good start to November for us. We’ve got a couple games at home and hopefully, we can keep some momentum and keep battling.”
This story was originally published November 7, 2021 at 12:47 AM with the headline "Dabo Swinney reacts: What Clemson coach said about Tigers QBs, defense vs. Louisville."
