Dabo Swinney on NC State, Injuries

The Textile Bowl and continued control of ACC Atlantic Division destiny will be at stake in front of the eyes of the nation on Saturday, Oct. 1 when the No. 5 Clemson Tigers host the No. 10 NC State Wolfpack on ABC's Saturday Night Football. Kickoff at Memorial Stadium is set for 7:30 p.m. ET. 

"They're like this team we just played (Wake Forest)," head coach Dabo Swinney said. "(They have) veterans on both sides of the ball, an elite quarterback, good between the lines, they're always well-coached. Dave Doeren has done a great job. They're one of the more veteran teams in the country. We'll have our hands full for sure.

Saturday's game will be the first in the series to feature both teams in the AP Top 10. The Tigers and Wolfpack have previously met five times with both teams ranked in the AP Top 25, including Clemson wins in 1991, 2017 and 2018 and NC State victories in 1986 and 1992. The lower-ranked team took each of the first three meetings until higher-ranked Clemson squads earned wins in 2017 and 2018. With Clemson at No. 5 in the AP Poll and NC State at No. 10, the game will feature the highest combined ranking between the two teams in series history, surpassing the 2018 matchup when No. 3 Clemson trounced No. 16 NC State, 41-7. 

"I think they've always been good. NC State has always been a tough opponent ever since I've been at Clemson," Swinney said. "This is my 19th time playing them. Philip Rivers was the quarterback when I came in here in 2003. They've always been tough. We've had some games a few here and there that got out of hand, but most of them have been hard-fought games. I'm sure this will be the same."

Ranked Clemson teams are 20-7 all-time against NC State, and Clemson is 7-5 all-time against ranked NC State teams. Clemson enters the contest having won 36 games in a row at Death Valley, dating to a loss to Pitt on Nov. 12, 2016. 

A 37th consecutive home win on Saturday would tie the ACC record set by Florida State from 1992- 2001, as Miami's FBS-record 58-game home winning streak from 1985-94 predated the Hurricanes joining the ACC in 2004. Clemson would also tie Florida State and two different Yale runs (1900-03 and 1904-08) for the 11th-longest home winning streak in FBS history.

"They force you to be patient in how they play structurally," Swinney said. "They will pressure you. With the way they play their front and their star player in the middle, you have to make sure everyone is on the same page. A lot of zone pressures. They'll drop defensive tackles. You have to understand where your windows are. This is a team that's a little bit more multiple in what they do coverage-wise. You have to be physical up front. They will zone pressure you to death.

Dabo on Injuries:

“I don’t know anything at this point,” he said. “We’re hopeful on all those guys. So, we’ll see where they are as we go through the week.”

Swinney added that he is expecting Tre Williams back this weekend, he's been nursing some inflammation, trying to be careful with him so this thing lingers through the season. Added Xavier Thomas is "close" to returning.

"Tyler Davis was awesome Saturday. He was MVP. Sitting him for two games is what he needed. And he would have kept playing. Coming into the year, I really felt like our defensive line had the depth of that 2014 group. Tyler missed the first two games. Bryan Bresee has had to miss. Tre WIlliams has had to miss. We haven't had Xavier yet. Capehart is coming. Payton Page is coming. Ruke is what we thought he was. Getting Bryan back is huge. You could tell he hadn't practiced a lot.

"We haven't been full speed yet. We'll see on Xavier. He's close. I don't know if he's going to be able to play or not. We do have a long season ahead. At some point we'll have them all. Our depth has been a blessing.