Bye Week Came at the Perfect Time

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney does not use the term off week, nor does his team, that is because there are no "off" weeks when you are chasing your third national title in the last four years.

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney does not use the term off week, nor does his team, that is because there are no "off" weeks when you are chasing your third national title in the last four years.

Instead of that banned word, the Tigers prefer the term "bye" week. But what ever the coaching staff call it, Swinney believes that it comes at a perfect time for the Tigers.

"Yeah. It's been five games. It's hard to be perfect all the time," Swinney said. "The open date is coming at a good time. It's a chance for us to reset, get healthy and get a head start on Florida State, while also doing a lot of self scout on us. Everyday is critical. I'm really proud of this team, though, and our leadership."

The Tigers' record is perfect through the first five games of the season, but the Tigers have been far from perfect in their play.

In fact, the Tigers were fortunate to escape Chapel Hill last week with a win over the North Carolina Tar Heels and Swinney hopes that their close-call in Chapel Hill can create the urgency required to achieve their goals this season. 

"Four of (the games) didn't bring any adversity. Not that we didn't have any mistakes. We did. We just didn't have any adversity," Swinney said. "I hope that we can use that to create the sense of urgency that it takes. We have had great preparation. Our guys have been great. They've been awesome. Now, we don't have to play perfect to win. But we do need to play well."

The Tigers will not only use their bye week to improve, scout, work and prepare for their next opponent—the Florida State Seminoles—they will also use it to give their team a break from the grind of football.

If the Tigers are going to make their fifth straight ACC Championship and fifth straight College Football Playoff, they are going to need to be as fresh as they can be because the grind is going to be even more difficult the further they go in the season.

"Our guys have been going since July. Our freshmen have been here since June. FSU has two weeks to get ready for us as well," Swinney said. "You get beat up and banged up. That was a physical game the other night. We'll work hard Monday through Thursday and then we're giving everybody Friday, Saturday and Sunday to get reset. 

"If we want to be in the ACC Championship again, we have to make every day count. We have a chance to win the division but we're a long way from that. We're 5-0. You can't be better than that. It's an opportunity for us to grow our team a little."