Clemson Leaves Final Intersquad Scrimmage Disappointed: 'The Worst Day We've Had'

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney will look to get more out of his team heading into a high-stakes game with No. 11 LSU to begin the year.

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney wasn't pleased with his team during the program's final preseason scrimmage on Thursday. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

On Thursday afternoon, the Clemson Tigers had their final intersquad scrimmage of the preseason, but head coach Dabo Swinney wasn’t pleased with the outcome. 

Some of the players, who are expected starters, didn’t see the field as much as the rest of the group. The Tigers were looking to see if any reserve players were able to make some noise to move from the practice roster to the travel roster for LSU on Sept. 5. 

Swinney wasn’t impressed. 

“I just feel like today, and again, a lot of guys, I think they got more opportunity than maybe they thought they were going to get, unexpectedly, and just got exposed,” he said on Thursday. 

A lot of the mental cues were off for Clemson on Thursday. Whether it was penalties or late starts, it could be attributed to a few factors that the Tigers are currently going through. Clemson began classes on Wednesday, and the heat that has come with fall camp has made it more rigorous than in years past. 

Swinney has historically seen it as a down day for the program.

“This is the worst day we’ve had, and we didn’t have anything new in,” he said. “I mean, we’re just doing what we’ve done all camp, so I just think it was a lack of focus and some of the guys just kind of lost their focus.”

Especially defensively, Swinney saw plays that featured “too many mistakes that will cost you”. Fortunately, it’s in the correctable ways. However, they will need to be fixed in under two weeks before the Tigers head west to Baton Rouge. 

“Too many stupid penalties, bunch of dumb penalties, especially in the red zone,” he said. “Dumb stuff on defense, we pick off a ball in a two-minute drill. Game’s over, and we got the guys running.”

The end of August typically brings in those distractions that coaches want to limit, while anticipation for the beginning of the season will continue to rise until the ball is kicked off in Week 1. Clemson’s head coach understands that it is a difficult process to deal with all of the outside noise that leads up to a game that College GameDay will be attending to open the year. 

But all of that will need to be put behind the team if it wants to upset the No. 11 team in the country to begin the year. 

“It’s a lot of stuff, dog days,” Swinney said, “but I just thought it was a day that wasn’t good enough on either side of the ball.”

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