Dabo Swinney, "We didn't play our best game."

Each Sunday evening Coach Swinney addresses the media at his weekly teleconference. You can listen to the full audio our read some highlights from the call in our transcription below.

Opening Statements:

"What a win, man. Heck of a ballgame. Really proud of our team. That's a veteran football team we were taking on in NC State. I saw a lot of growth in our team, especially from the last road game. We responded, we were down and halftime, and we responded. The reality is when you watch the tape, we didn't really play a great game, but we were still able to win on the road. That's a real sign of growth. We have 36 guys that are either brand new players or guys who are having big roles for the first time in their career. Really didn't play a great game, but to still won the game, that speaks to the heart of our team. Really hard to go on the road and beat three top twenty teams. That's the first time since 1950. Everybody knew what was at stake and there was no way for us to compete for the division without winning that one."

"Offensively we did a better job with the snap count, handling the noise. 224 yards rushing, 2 of 2 on 4th down, no sacks, and only three yards in tackles for loss. Another positive is that it was probably Kelly's worst game he's played all year, but yet he was still able to lead his team to a win. I think that's a sign of growth and maturity in Kelly. He doesn't have to play perfect to win. If I ranked the games this would be his worst performance. All in all offensively, just pleased with how we were able to run the football."

"Defensively, that's the most yards we've given up. We didn't play well, had a terrible first half. Didn't play with great detail. They had their way throwing the ball on us. That quarterback is outstanding, he is a definite pro. We didn't do a great job in the redzone, but at the end of the day, I think NC State only had 4 turnovers in their first 35 quarters of play, they had two turnovers in the last three possessions. We did a good job on third down, they were 3 of 13. The third quarter was the difference in the game, our defense forced four punts in a row. Had some big plays. Lot of room for improvement and we all know what's at stake this week."

"Obviously, the punt return by Ray-Ray was maybe the play of the game. The pooch punt was a huge play in the game, gave us field position. Again, we didn't play our best game, but we still found a way to win is something that I'm proud of. We will get back to work this week. We've got another huge challenge, we all know what Clemson-Florida State means. It will be a championship on the line for us. I know we will get all that they've got." 

On Venables and Tanner Muse's playing time:

"He had a screw put in today and he will play with a club on it this week. And I think The Citadel week they will have him in a much smaller brace. I thought he did fine. He gave up the double-move, but it was a well designed play. He will be ready to go this week."

Dexter Lawrence's health:

"He actually played well. I thought he did a great job down on the goal line. I thought he did an excellent job there. He had a guy fall on him again. He's just battling that ankle, just working through it. Again, nothing that's going to keep him from playing."

On Kelly Bryant's pooch kick:

"I just felt like at the time we weren't doing a great job of stopping them. We needed to try and create some field position. It was awesome execution. Then our defense got in a rhythm and we were able to get some critical stops and get the type of field position we needed to go score against that defense."

On Cam Akers at FSU: 

"I've seen him in my crossover study. He's a great player. There is a reason he was highly recruited. They've got talent all over the field. Just check their recruiting rankings."

On Ray-Ray's versatility: 

"He's been playing special teams and offense all year. We felt like he was going to have to play this week. We've had #21 on the sideline all year. We wanted to have him ready, so we went ahead and put him in #21. He's a natural athlete and we are down a couple of veteran corners and he gives us another veteran mindset. It's a luxury, he's maturing, growing, I think everybody has seen his confidence grow." 

Getting Edmunds and Fields back:

"I don't know until they are tested in the morning. We would love to have them back, but we will be ready to go either way."