Coach Speak: Postgame Notes from Tiger Town
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CLEMSON HEAD COACH DABO SWINNEY
Opening statement:
“There was a lot of good stuff in the ballgame today. We ran the ball well. In the second half, we substituted so many guys defensively. To see that many players continue to play well throughout the game was great. I thought the guys were ready to go and the other guys challenged on the sideline.”
On his takeaways from the win:
“It was an awesome crowd tonight and an unbelievable environment. It’s a game where we got better as a team. We achieved the objectives we were trying to achieve this week and got better for next week.”
On utilizing 110 players in the game:
“We’ve got a lot of guys who can say they played for the Tigers, and nobody can take that away from them. They were rewarded for their hard work and had a chance to go out and play. That was pretty special. ”
On the keys to the victory:
“We were able to pressure Charlotte a little bit and pressure their run game. That was effective for us. All in all, I thought we got better as the game went along. I thought our guys were ready and excited. They took control right out of the gate. I was able to get a lot of guys playing time that they needed and get a lot of guys out, too. The mindset that they had, it was good for me to see.”
CLEMSON CO-OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR TONY ELLIOTT
On the game:
“You’re truly excited for the guys to get a win. Obviously, Charlotte is a good team. They’ve been playing well, and [we] knew they were going to present some challenges on defense… [We’re] really excited about the way we started the game. The challenge this week was for our guys to come out and… get off to a fast start, be efficient and play clean. I thought we really did that in the first half, and in the second half we had an opportunity to play a lot of guys and give them an opportunity to grow up.”
On building momentum for next week’s game:
“We’ve been very explosive leading up to this game, but not quite as efficient. [We’re] not quite clicking on all cylinders. We wanted to come out today and make sure we got off to a fast start, improve our efficiency on third down and just find that rhythm, and I thought we did that in the first half. That allowed us in the second half to come out and give some guys some meaningful snaps.”
On the plan with Trevor Lawrence’s playing time:
“The biggest thing is [that] we just wanted to give guys opportunities, and once we felt like we had the game in control, we wanted to give some guys some meaningful snaps. [It] was the same thing with Travis [Etienne]. Travis was out of there early. Trevor [Lawrence] was out of there early. The decision was made before the game.”
CLEMSON OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR JEFF SCOTT
On the game:
“[I’m] really proud of our guys. This was kind of the next test coming off of a physical game against Syracuse last week and coming out to play a game we’re expected to win big. To be able to go out there and get off to a fast start was really big. That’s something we really challenged the offensive guys [to do].”
On the quarterbacks:
“It was great to be able to get Trevor [Lawrence] out of there and let Chase [Brice] get some good reps. I thought he did a good job. It was great to see him throw that touchdown to Joseph Ngata. That was big. And [it was also big] for Taisun [Phommachanh] to get in there and get some good experience.”
On the plan with Trevor Lawrence’s playing time:
“The plan was to go out and get control of the game, and then if we could do that let Chase [Brice] get in there and play.”
CLEMSON DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR BRENT VENABLES
On playing 110 players:
“It was a lot of fun to watch those guys get out there and get an opportunity… It was great to reward them when those guys work every bit as hard. Backups, third team, walk-ons and scout team guys, they all deserved that opportunity because they’ve been working about as hard as anybody in the program.”
On joy in watching the back-ups play:
“I think it’s all the same. Those guys are grinding all the time, and they’d probably surprise you a little bit. They were able to go out and execute and make plays. It was a great opportunity for them, and it gives you confidence as a coach. It develops them, and it gives both them and the coaches confidence when they go out there and execute.”
On watching the back-ups on film:
“They’ll show. It’ll be their first time showing up all year to film study. It’ll be a lot of fun going through the tape with those guys and watching those guys get around and make plays.”