Editor’s note: Rough transcript of Dabo Swinney’s Sunday Teleconference. Light edits for clarity and flow. Some Q&As have been removed for featured articles later this week. The full audio is above.
Q: Y’all have rotated quite a lot on the defensive line, more than in the past. Has that produced the desired results late in games?
Dabo Swinney:
“No, we haven't produced the result we want. We're 1-2. Again, I thought the defense played well enough in the LSU game to win that game.”
“We’ve gotta get off the field. Too many third-down conversions, completion percentage. I mean, their teams are possessing the ball too much. We’re soft on the perimeter. There's a lot of things we gotta improve on. No, what we've been doing right now is not getting us the desired result. That's for sure.”
Q: The thinking is that rotating gives freshness late in games. Do they look fresh when you watch the film?
Dabo Swinney:
“Yeah, playing tough, playing physical. Guys are playing hard, I mean, we're just not getting the job done. I mean, we stopped them three straight drives in the fourth quarter against LSU. Three in a row, defensively, three straight stops and we didn't capitalize offensively.”
“Then the Troy game, again, they only gave up one touchdown. Just offensively, obviously, not to rehash that game, but we had the five straight craziness and got down 16-0.”
“But this particular game (Georgia Tech), we couldn't stop the quarterback. I mean, he beat us, I mean, straight up. He had 100 yards rushing, and they won the matchup, they won that battle.”
“Even with that, I mean, it's one play. There was plenty of opportunities to win the game in all three phases, and we didn't get it done. We had our opportunities, the things that we control, but then also, you give Georgia Tech credit, and you give LSU credit. Those are two good teams, and they found a way to win them.”
Q: Cade has turned the ball over in every game so far. Moving forward, how can he improve on his ball security?
Dabo Swinney:
“I mean, he's gotta be more decisive. Obviously, the ball got knocked loose from his body the other day. So he's gotta keep it high and tight there, and tucked in. Avoid the collision on the ball, make sure we avoid that. There was a helmet on the ball right there.”
“Then just decision making. He's had a couple of poor decisions. I mean, the tip pick, that wasn't really his fault, the one against Troy. I mean, we didn't get the guy's hands down, just kind of a crazy play.”
“He’s just got to be on the same page. We had the one against LSU, he overthrew the seam ball. Really, that ball shouldn't have even been thrown there, but that was just a decision. Gotta get back in sync. He was really, really good last year, taking care of the ball and not turning it over.
So gotta try to get back, dial in in that area if we're gonna have a good opportunity this week.”
Q: Watching the tape, what was your evaluation of the team in open-field tackling and handling Georgia Tech’s physicality at the line?
Dabo Swinney:
“Offensively, I thought we got it going. We rushed the ball for 174 yards. There was only two negative yards in the whole game offensively, and that was when Cade just fell down. No sacks, and we were 8 of 13 on third and fourth down. I mean, I thought the offense really got it going.”
“It was just the turnovers, the drop, the two three-and-outs in the second half. One of those was the drop, was missed opportunities there. But we still got a lot of little details and things that we've got to get better at. So that part of it was pretty good. It was good getting Walker Parks back in there. I thought he battled his butt off.”
“I just didn’t think we played well defensively. I mean, 8 of 15 on third down on two punts. The 90-yard drive, when you need one stop, the game-winning drive. We did some good things, too. The two fourth-down stops were big. Holding them to three points off of the two turnovers was big.”
Q: What do you make of the struggles at corner right now?
Dabo Swinney:
“Just poor technique, poor fundamentals, not playing with confidence. That’s really it. We’ve got to be better.”
Q: All of them, I mean, you’re referring to?
Dabo Swinney:
“It’s just the position. I’m just talking about the position. Right now, we’re just not playing to our capabilities. We’ve got to get better. And I think disappointment’s a part of it, too. These guys work their butts off, and they live in a very loud world and sometimes disappointment can lead to a little bit of lack of confidence or guys doing too much, whatever, instead of focusing on the things you need to focus on. You’ve just got to learn from it, grow from it, keep going. We’ve got good players. We’ve got to get them playing good.”
Q: Peter Woods and T.J. Parker — what’s your evaluation of those two guys through three games?
Dabo Swinney:
“I think Peter has been pretty solid. I think he’s been pretty solid, and I think TJ has had his moments. He’s been good, but not great. We need him to be great.
So I think just like everybody, everybody’s got room. We’ve all got to get better. There’s nobody on our team that doesn’t need to get better, and there’s no coach that doesn’t need to get better. We’re all in it together. We got to all take it up another level.”
Q: The Josh Sapp touchdown that got overturned — did you agree with the ruling?
Dabo Swinney:
“I mean, it was close. I mean, they felt like he definitely had his foot in, but I think they felt like he didn’t fully control it going out there. So I mean, it was close, but they got the reviews. So they had a close-up view of it, thought he bobbled it.”
Q: What went into the decision to wear the purple jerseys on Saturday?
Dabo Swinney:
“Just changed, just because they were wearing their whites. Just changed it up since we weren’t truly the home team.”
Q: How was the gap control and run fits from Sammy [Brown] and Wade [Woodaz] yesterday?
Dabo Swinney:
“Pretty good. Sammy, I think, had another good game. He graded a winner. And I thought Wade, he was a little less on his grade and missed a couple plays.
He’s probably — his biggest miss was the spy and he got caught up in the trash. Instead of staying out of the pack there where he could just fold over and make the play, he got caught up in the fray of the front. And the quarterback ran around us for 13 yards or so on a big play.
But linebackers have been, I think, have played pretty dang good for us after the three games. I mean, they got room for improvement for sure, but they’ve been pretty consistent, those two guys for sure.”
Q: I remember you getting on T.J. Moore during the first scrimmage for his lack of blocking. Were you impressed with that area yesterday, especially on the touchdown?
Dabo Swinney:
“Yeah, that was a nice extra effort right there, downfield. Big plays in the open field, whether it’s running back, getting there, or you throw it into the open space. Big plays come when you have guys working hard to block on the second and third level. So that was definitely a positive.”
