WATCH: Coaches after South Carolina
Watch and hear from both co-offensive coordinators as the Tigers put on an offensive showcase on Saturday against South Carolina. We also heard from Brent Venables, whose defense surrendered a ton of points and yards tonight.
CLEMSON HEAD COACH DABO SWINNEY
Opening statement:
“I’m so proud of our team. It’s so hard to go 12-0. It’s only the third time ever that’s been done here. Also, what an amazing accomplishment for this team to achieve something that hasn’t been done in my lifetime by beating South Carolina five times in a row.”
On the victory:
“Give South Carolina credit for making plays and continuing to compete. At the end of the day, our team was too strong across the board. I take my hat off to my players and staff to win a rivalry game by three touchdowns.”
On the offensive showing:
“That was an amazing performance by our offense. Trevor [Lawrence] was unbelievable in his first rivalry game. Our receivers made tons of plays. Hunter Renfrow made some amazing plays on third down. Our offense played maybe its best game of the season and had great balance. All of our running backs ran well, and our offensive line dominated and gave up no sacks.”
On the outlook moving forward:
“There’s a lot that happened in tonight’s game that we can improve on defensively, but the positive is that we won by three touchdowns. But it’ll make us better heading into the postseason. Now, we’ll focus on making more history next week. There’s never been a team win four ACC Championship Games in a row, so we’re excited about having that opportunity.”
On the significance of the win:
“The seniors got their 52nd win. Playing in his last game at Death Valley, Christian Wilkins was amazing. He had a great touchdown run and got a sack, as well. All in all, we’re division champs and state champs, so we’re going to enjoy this one tonight. We’ve got bragging rights for a year, but we’ll be ready to move on tomorrow and focus on Pitt.”
CLEMSON CO-OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR TONY ELLIOTT
On the game:
“I’m just really, really proud of our guys and how they showed up ready to play. We knew that we were going to have to set the tempo up front, in the trenches. We told the guys that in the first two play calls, we were going to establish the run. They really took that to heart and carried over the momentum from the second half of the Duke game.”
On Adam Choice’s career-high three touchdowns:
“For him to come out and have such a big game...it couldn’t have happened to a better guy. He’s been the rock in my room, and I’ve tried to express that as much as I can. He makes me a better coach.”
CLEMSON CO-OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR JEFF SCOTT
On the senior class:
“First of all, I’m really happy for our seniors. That was the big message for us going into this game...this senior group deserves a great finish in Death Valley. We said ‘we’re four quarters away from your last game in Death Valley.’ For that group to finish the way that we did is really special.”
On Clemson’s start to the game:
“To have a great finish, we needed a great start, and to be able to go out on our first four drives and get touchdowns was huge and was something we talked about all week long.”
On the offensive line’s performance:
“I am really proud of the offensive line...no sacks [allowed] again tonight. I believe we’ve had one sack [allowed] in [the last] five games, which is incredible. Also, [we] had over 350 yards rushing, which is awesome. Those guys don’t get enough credit, since we have a bunch of special, skilled kids around...we’ve had skilled guys around here for a long time, but now we’re running the ball better than we ever have.”
CLEMSON DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR BRENT VENABLES
On the season:
“I’m proud of our guys to be 12-0 and beat [our] rival five years in a row. It’s tough to do. It’s been done once in 78 years. I’m proud of our seniors and their incredible leadership. They won 52 games, and to finish their last game here in Death Valley, that’s big time.”
On the game:
“I’m disappointed in our performance tonight...not with everyone. I thought South Carolina and Jake [Bentley] had a good plan, and they played well. Obviously, I didn’t coach them very well tonight. I’m very embarrassed about different things that happened there tonight, and obviously, it’s my responsibility to get our guys ready.”
On specific improvements:
“We kept letting guys get inside of us. It’s not really complicated.”
SOUTH CAROLINA HEAD COACH WILL MUSCHAMP
On the game:
“We came here to win the game, and we didn’t get the job done.”
On the defense’s injuries and ability to get stops:
“It is what it is. That’s where we are right now. We’re a little short on defense, and that has limited us. At one point we had six true freshmen on the field. They’re going to be good players, but I wish we weren’t put in this situation...it’s not fair to them. But that’s where we are right now.”
On the play after halftime:
“Offensively, we played extremely well. We needed to score touchdowns in the red zone. In both situations, I told [offensive coordinator Bryan McClendon] he had four downs. We needed to go score, knowing our situation defensively.”
On fourth down plays:
“I think they defended the ball on both of those. I had a hard time seeing down on the other end zone, but down here [in the West End Zone], I thought they did a good job defending the ball.”
On postgame feelings:
“The guys fought their guts out. We came here to win the game.”
On Jake Bentley’s performance:
“I thought he played extremely well...gutsy, tough. That’s who he is. I’m glad he’s our quarterback.”