Coach Speak: Clemson 30, Louisville 24

Find out what Clemson coaches had to say after the Tigers knocked off Louisville 30-24 on Saturday night.

Dabo Swinney

Opening Statement:

“Hats off to Louisville. That’s a tough game. Fortunate it went our way. What a great college football game. That quarterback is special. That guy is a problem. He really was amazing. Proud of our guys. This is a great way to start off November.”

On D.J. Uiagalelei:
”He’s starting to kind of get on the backside of that storm he's been going through and I'm really really proud of him. Unbelievable heart. Great leadership by him.”

On calling a timeout before Louisville’s third-down play at the end:

“No that was me trying to make sure we at least give our offense a chance. It's first and goal at the two-- so the odds are against you. The clock was against us, so-- I had two timeouts so. I called the one on second down, but it was good to regroup a little bit. So now if they score on third down, at least I've got a timeout left and an opportunity to get a good kick return and kick a field goal to win the game. When we stopped them on third down-- now it’s a decision, and I decided not to use it because they were under pressure.”

Tony Elliott

On D.J. Uiagalelei's performance:

“I thought he started off really really well. He put the ball where it needed to be. Then something with his knee-- got banged up a little bit. Man, he just continues to get better managing the game.”

On if this win will pay dividends down the road:

“I think so. Guys are playing to win and not playing “not” to lose. They had to create their own identity and it's been. a crazy year. The bonds are growing stronger and stronger. So happy for them to have some success.”

On Beaux Collins' play:
“Man, Beaux stepped up for us. You look early in the season-- he had a couple of drops. He battled through. He had to play multiple spots. He's an unbelievable young man. He works extremely hard. He came in very polished.”

Brent Venables

On the final goalline stand:

“Just amazing will-- confidence-- belief. We spent a lot of time on the red zone this week. They’ve been very efficient when they’ve gotten down there. They made two amazing plays to get down there-- just really really proud of the guys. Just incredible toughness. That’s the kind of attitude you've got to have.”

On Andrew Mukuba:

“He made some amazing plays too. Closing on the football, knowing when to take his shot, so to speak. That's what good guys can really do, they can really close. A terrific athlete like Cunningham in space, not only. to run him down, but to get him down too, really proud of Andrew. He made some huge plays tonight.”