Swinney on Klubnik vs. LSU: “Cade did not play well. It was a very average game for him.”

Every Sunday night during the CFB season, we get a chance to hear from Dabo Swinney via his weekly teleconference. Here is a rough transcript and the full audio from earlier today.

“Obviously, got a chance to see the tape. A lot of really good things on there, and a lot of disappointing things. The good news is nothing we can’t improve upon. I thought it was a heck of a college football game, down to literally the last play.

Both teams competed with great effort, and they came out on top. It was a physical, tough game. I’m proud of the fight from our guys, especially defensively. I thought they played well enough to win the game.

Seventeen points against that offense—that’s an explosive offense. That offense, like ours, will get better and score a bunch of points before the season’s done. I was really proud of how our defense competed, especially in the fourth quarter. Got the ball back three consecutive drives to our offense and just didn’t capitalize. But I was pleased with how they competed. We looked like a Clemson defense is supposed to look—tough, physical, knocked the ball loose, held them to 17 points. Outside of the first play, where we didn’t quite get him down, they had 2.8 yards per carry the last 58 minutes. That’s winning football.

The two takeaways by 8 and 5—got the ball out a lot. They had a lot of screen game, but again, I was really pleased with the stops we had in the fourth quarter, getting the ball back when we had to. I think they were 4-for-12 on third and fourth down. Just got to finish on the ball a little better.

The difference in the game was they made a couple more plays than we did. We had some critical penalties that extended drives. I do think we tackled better. There were a couple plays, but I think we tackled better in an opener, especially. They competed their butts off, but the penalties were a big factor. They made a couple of one-on-one plays, and the time of possession got out of whack—but that was more about not sustaining drives on offense.

All in all, defensively we played well enough to win. Same thing with special teams. Kickoff, field goal protection was really good. Good to see people coming after it in a live situation. Made a kick, missed the 48-yarder—just a hair right. Super pleased with Jack, averaged 44 yards a punt. That was a big moment for him in his first opportunity out there. We had a nice punt return to set up the tying drive opportunity at the end. Field goal block effort was really good too.

So a lot of positives in those two phases. Offensively, though, we just did not play anywhere near like we’re capable of playing, or like we’re going to play. We did make some big plays—11, 87, Tyler Brown, [Bryant] Wesco, [T.J.] Moore—they all made some big plays. Good to see us punch in the fourth-and-one. They competed and fought to the last play, but just nowhere near the level we’re capable of.

Too many missed opportunities. Critical drops on contested plays we need to make. Not good on third down. A couple of critical penalties. Cade did not play well. It was a very average game for him. The good news is we all know he can play better. Just did not do some of the basic things. And that’s usually what these games come down to—doing the routine things. He’ll get better from it. He also made some plays that we didn’t help him out on. A lot we’ll learn from as a staff, and it’ll make us better.

That was a playoff-type game as far as competition and talent on the field. Very competitive, a defensive battle. They just made a few more plays, and we made too many critical mistakes—missed opportunities and big penalties. Didn’t get the start we wanted, but it was a great college football game, great environment, really thankful for our fans. Nothing’s changed for us. If we had won 17–10, we’d still be here trying to learn and improve with the same goal of winning this week.

I think we’ve got a chance to be a great team. Disappointed with some of the execution, but if this team will play with that type of passion and clean up the execution—and certainly Cade’s got to clean up some things—then I think this team will get better as the season goes on. Lot of opportunity ahead.

Looking forward to getting back on the field tomorrow, another great game week. Big opportunity now that we’ve played a game to learn, emphasize what we need to, and show how small the margin for error is in games like that. Injury-wise, we’ll see on a couple guys tomorrow, but for the most part we’re fairly healthy.

On the offensive line:

Nobody was perfect. Some good things, but a couple of missed IDs and pressure off the edges. Not good enough to win, but not terrible. We could’ve helped them in a couple situations, but nobody on offense played well enough to win. Missed too many opportunities. Overall, not a winning performance for that side of the ball.

On getting away from the run game:

Rhythm. Not converting third downs. A few miscues early, some plays that didn’t go our way. Some better decisions needed on critical plays that extend drives. Then you get rhythm. We’ve got to call it, commit to it, and execute. That’s not just the OL—that’s quarterback, running backs, everyone. Had a nice lead play and got a bust on the hat with one of our backs. It all goes hand in hand.

On Cade and hot routes vs. pressure:

Oh yeah, absolutely. He just didn’t play well. I can’t sugarcoat it. Plenty of opportunities were there. For whatever reason, he got rattled—started scrambling when he didn’t need to, leaving the pocket, not putting his eyes on the right things. That happens when you haven’t played a lot of ball for a while. You miss a couple of plays and then you start trying to do too much. But he’ll be fine. He’s much more capable than he showed. He will respond. I promise you.

On Ronan Hannafin and T.J. Parker starting:

I thought the whole D-line played well. We tackled better. A couple times we didn’t set the edge, but it’s not always the end—one time a cover-2 corner didn’t trigger the way he needed to. But they competed. The ball came out quick, they didn’t hold it long. I thought Ronan was a real bright spot—fast, physical, plays violent, knocks the ball loose. That was a big-time game for him to grow. Top-10 opponent, and for him to come out of that game confident will bode well. He just needs to stack games and gain experience. Stephiylan and Capehart were disruptive and did some good things too. Defensively, played well enough to win. A couple tough calls against us, but we settled in and stopped the run. That’s where it starts.

On Antonio and Khalil’s injuries: We’ll see. Between now and tomorrow, next couple practices, then we’ll go from there.

On RBs in pass protection: We had one missed corner blitz—Adam [Randall] will learn from that. Safety was in position, he was a check-release guy, and he missed it. Another one on EZ-E [David Ezimume]. Definitely room for improvement, but also some good things. Adam only had 5 carries—one for a one-yard TD, the other four just not enough opportunity. We’ve got to give him more. But a lot of that comes from rhythm and sustaining drives. Only had 22 minutes possession. Jay Haynes got in there—on his first play, missed his block on the lead. Didn’t get much opportunity after that. They’ll all get better. In games like that, with elite talent, a few plays make the difference. We’ll be better because of it.