Swinney on Florida State, "They've got freaky dudes everywhere."

Dabo Swinney was on Off Campus with Mark Packer Thursday evening. Here is some of what you missed.

Packer opened by joking with Swinney if he could use a laptop during this interview.

On the win in Raliegh last week in a rock'em sock'em game:

"Yeah, it was. We knew it was going to be that way. Their whole team was fourth and fifth year guys. Especially with the way the game went last year we knew it was going to be a big, big challenge. That quarterback, if I'm in NFL scout or GM, there are two places I'm going to go visit quick. I'm going to Raleigh and I'm going to Syracuse. Those two quarterbacks, Finley and Dungey, they are the real deal. I mean really really good players. Those guys are pros."

On NC State:

"I was just very impressed with their team, and playing up there they do a great job. It's always a great environment, it really is. Heck of a ball game and we were down at the half. The third quarter was the difference in the game. We were dominant in the third quarter, which gave us a chance to win it in the fourth quarter. We knew it was going to come down to the wire, and it did. Just proud of our team for hanging in there. We didn't play a great game, but we did what we needed to do to win." 

Finding a way to win:

"We took a punt to the house, and that was a big momentum swing. But we made enough mistakes to lose it, that's for sure. We kicked a couple balls out of bounds, we missed a field goal. We missed a couple of wide-open touchdowns, we had a couple of critical penalties... At the end of the day, our guys found a way to win it. Just really proud of them, especially in that environment."

On Kelly Bryant:

"Kelly hadn't been challenged on the road. He got hurt up there at Syracuse, didn't get to play the second half. It's the first time he's had to win a game in the second half on the road like that. We pretty much had control of the game at Virginia Tech and Louisville. He didn't play his best game, probably his worst game. But for him to still have great body language, and great energy, and great confidence and to continue to find other ways to make a difference...He didn't have to play perfect to win. I think that's a great confidence booster for him moving forward."

On Ray-Ray McCloud:

"We blocked it okay, but he must have broken like seven tackles. It was unbelievable. I told him if I had known you were going to turn into Deion Sanders out there I would have put you in 21 a long time ago. He ended up playing some defense for us too. I'm proud of Ray-Ray, he's really starting to blossom into his skillset. He's in a good place mentally and he's having some fun. He's a dangerous player."

On Florida State:

"Nothing has changed for Clemson. Every year since I've been head coach, it's come down to Clemson and Florida State. Either Clemson has won the division or Florida State. This game has always been the major deciding factor. Nothing has changed this year for Clemson. If they beat us, we don't win the division. If we beat them, we win it. It's just really that simple. So nothing has changed, whatsoever."

"The only thing that's different is they can deny Clemson, they just can't win it. If you take all the teams we've played and you turn the tape on without any logos, you just had blank helmets and blank jerseys and you just watched all the opponents that we've played, trust me when I tell you that you would quickly pick out which team is Florida State. It wouldn't take you very long, you would say oh yeah, that must be Florida State. They've got freaky dudes everywhere."

"There's a reason why a bunch of you guys picked them to win the national championship, or finish second or whatever. They've got an unbelievable roster. Their season hasn't gone the way they wanted it to, but that doesn't make them any less of players, or any less of coaches."

Mark Packer is a frequent guest on Clemson Sports Talk. You can listen to Mark Packer weeknights on Sirius XM's ESPNU Radio.