• last year
Dabo Swinney discusses Clemson's 17-12 win over Wake Forest
Transcript
00:00 Okay, well, really first of all, appreciate our fans.
00:04 It was another great crowd, great homecoming, beautiful day.
00:08 And just our fans were there when we needed them down the stretch.
00:14 But it was just a gritty win.
00:15 I mean, that's the biggest thing I would say and
00:17 sometimes you need to win some games like that to keep growing.
00:21 We've had some games where we had some great, great, great stats this year and
00:25 got beat.
00:26 And today we were very, very gritty and found a way to win and
00:30 lost the turnover margin.
00:31 So hopefully that's again a sign of just that worm turning a little bit.
00:36 But I'm really proud of our team.
00:38 Just took another step today.
00:39 Our goal was to just find a way to win and we did that.
00:43 Try to create a little momentum going into the open date and
00:47 coming at a good time for us.
00:48 We got a lot of guys out.
00:50 And so this is a good opportunity to get some guys healthy,
00:53 defensively awesome.
00:57 I mean, it's freaking awesome.
00:58 I mean, they had 100 and something yards up until that last drive.
01:02 And just terrible, horrendous field position,
01:06 especially in the first half, just really, really poor.
01:09 None more so than the opening turnover on the ball exchange.
01:14 So no points off the turnovers, the difference in the game.
01:19 That's the difference in winning and losing right there.
01:22 So I'm really proud of our defense.
01:24 Tremendous job to the staff and all the players.
01:27 Nate's out, Jay Lou ends up going out,
01:31 Sherry's out, I don't know that until after the Tiger walk.
01:34 And man, Toriano stepped up, Avion went out there, Shelton, Jay Lou.
01:43 And that bunch, y'all saw that game last year.
01:46 It was one of the worst defensive days we've had in a long time.
01:50 So I'm really proud of our defense and just their performance today.
01:55 Again, no points off turnovers, the red zone defense,
01:57 the turnover that we did create.
01:59 All those things were huge part of the game.
02:02 And again, Toriano literally didn't know he was gonna have to go play like that
02:08 until we walked in the locker room.
02:10 And so, really proud of him and how he stepped up.
02:13 Special teams, the kick by White's, the two kicks were actually good kicks.
02:18 I mean, the 51 yard or plenty of leg.
02:20 It was actually a really good kick.
02:21 I know there was a little wind up there, might have pushed it just a hair left.
02:24 But it was a great effort there and I had confidence he could go make that.
02:28 But the kick that he did make was a huge difference in the game down the stretch,
02:31 because it's a five point game instead of a two point game.
02:35 So, really proud of him.
02:37 And then offensively, again, the first half just so frustrating.
02:42 Field position, we had some miscues.
02:45 Obviously, the turnover was just incredibly frustrating.
02:50 But to come out in the second half and we rushed for 200 plus yards, but
02:54 to rush for 167 yards and a half, it's just a really gritty win.
02:59 And great job by O.L., by Phil, by Shipley, really setting the tone.
03:06 Wish we could have got a touchdown there on that opening drive, but
03:08 that was a great drive.
03:09 And coming away with points was very important for us right there.
03:14 And just a very gritty win.
03:17 Cade was excellent as well with his legs.
03:19 He had about almost 50 yards rushing.
03:22 So that was just again,
03:24 tough hard fought game against a tough gritty Wake Forest team.
03:29 Coming off an open date, I knew they would be a tough out today.
03:34 And we didn't make it any easier, again, with the opportunities and
03:38 field position issues that we have.
03:40 But again, you just gotta find a way to win some of these games.
03:44 Our guys did that.
03:45 And excited about being where we are right now as we head in
03:51 the kind of halftime of the season, if you will.
03:54 We got a lot of guys that we gotta, it's a big week for us coming up.
03:58 I mean, I know we don't play a game next week, but it's a huge week for us as a team.
04:02 And getting healthy and also just improving on some things, studying ourselves and
04:08 getting a head start on the next.