Dabo Swinney on Clemson as Miami heads to Death Valley: ‘We’re still a work in progress’

Opening Statement: “All right, good evening, everybody. Hope everybody that was out there got caught up yesterday. Long trip. Really proud of our team, really everyone, the players and staff, for just finding a way to go get it done.

We got the mission accomplished: stay undefeated in the league, and we needed to win on the road. That was the next thing for us. So still got a lot that we gotta improve upon, but it was still our best game, as far as just doing some complementary football things. Special teams, defense, and the run game was the difference in the game.”

“Defensively, probably our best game. Really flew around, played tough, played physical. I mean, it's hard to hold people in today's football without a touchdown. And no offensive touchdown.

The last three games, we've only given up six points in the second half total. And so I'm pleased with what the guys have been able to do. And they've gotten better as the game has gone.

Obviously, the quarterback was a concern. And I think it was a career low for him. So we just continue to do a lot of good things.”

“Tait did not get a good start, but settled in. And again, just every chance we get to coach him, he's gonna get better. But probably the biggest thing is we didn't have a lot of plays in the second half.

I think, not taking the knee at the end, I think we only had three drives, and two of them were—one was from the one, and one was from the two. The 98-yard drive was just huge. I mean, that's only the seventh time ever in Clemson history to have a 98-yard drive. Really proud of the guys. Some of those guys up front, I thought, played their best game.”

Q: So the two passes by Tait to Christian that were low and behind him—what a great catch, first of all, by Christian on the first one—but have you typically seen Tait in practice be more accurate on those screens and slants?

“Yeah, very accurate. Very accurate. He really has practiced well. And he's been very accurate, and he just wasn't the other night. He just missed.

We should have caught the second one, probably put the game away. That was actually an easier catch. But yeah, he's gotta be more consistent with that.

And that's one of his strengths, actually, is throwing the ball on the move. But did not have a great night with that the other night.”

Q: How did the return trip go for you guys? How are guys feeling? And what are you gonna try to do this week, if anything different, to kind of combat the West Coast hangover on the back end of a long trip like that?

“Well, I think it would be different if we had gotten home today. Like, if we'd played on Saturday, that'd probably be different.

But that was kind of what yesterday was to just—I don't really remember yesterday, to be honest with you. What a crazy day. We got home at like 11 a.m. So it was kind of a—but that was kind of the day to reset a little bit.

And then everybody coming in here today. So players are off today, too. They're getting their treatment and all that stuff, and nutrition, stretching, and all that stuff today. But they'll get on the field—we don't get on the field until tomorrow night.

So I think we'll be in a good spot by then. But thankfully, it was a Friday game instead of a Saturday game. So that, I believe, will help us.

And then as far as just this week, it's just kind of a normal week from a prep standpoint, timing-wise. But we got by far the best opponent that we've had here at home coming in here to the Valley, so big challenge for us.”

Q: How would you grade London Merritt? 

“Yeah, London Merritt, I thought, by far played his best game. He really played a heck of a ball game for us.

I was super proud of him and how he played. I mean, just relentless effort, disruptive. We sacked the quarterback a couple times, but we really affected him with—it's probably our best game as far as just really affecting the quarterback from a rush standpoint. And London was a big part of that.

I thought he did a great job. Made a big extra-effort play when we missed a couple of tackles and he got him downfield. So he's just getting better and better. But that was his best game for sure.”

Q: How did you end up grading Gavin Blanchard on the tape that he put out?

He did a good job. He had one bad play on the sack. We should have been picked up there. It's kind of a three-man bump. You gotta bump it all the way out, and he just didn't quite get it.

Harris got it, and he didn't. But man, he played tough. He played physical. He got after people. He's a smart kid, loves to play the game, and we thought he did some good stuff.

We got a bunch of those guys in there. And again, that's slowly but surely, we're kind of building some depth in there, which is encouraging. So we just gotta keep it coming.”

Q: Did you see anything on film with Nolan's missed kick? What did he say about that? Did anything feel off on that one specifically, or was it just a miss?

“Yeah, just a miss. Just a miss. He's just human. Just showed he's human. That was it. Just a miss.”