Sunday Notebook: Swinney Proud of Tigers Ability to Finish Against Florida State; Updates Injuries

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney spoke with the media on Sunday night, updating the health of his team, as well as discussing the offenses ability to finish in the Tigers 30-20 win over Florida State.

The Clemson offense has struggled to finish off drives all season long.

However, on Saturday, trailing by three points with less than four minutes to play, the offense finished off a drive and in a big way. The Tigers went 58 yards in just three plays, with Will Shipley's 21-yard touchdown run putting Clemson up for good in a 30-20 win over Florida State.

After the adversity the Tigers have faced all season long on that side of the ball, head coach Dabo Swinney was happy to see something positive go the group's way and is hopeful his team can build on that success.

"Really proud, you know, mostly of taking the ball there or with 3:48 to go win it," Swinney said on Sunday night. "Was proud of those guys. And again, a great finish, the run with Shipley. A lot of things we can build on and I think take some confidence from. Still got a lot to improve on, and do a better job with but proud of those guys."

Overall, the head coach was pleased with the performance of his offense, but at the same time noted there is still a lot of room to improve, especially when it comes to turning the ball over. Swinney thought the unit as a whole played better than it has in recent weeks and was especially pleased with how the Tigers ran the ball.

"Great win for us," Swinney said. "Did a lot of things in the game that we haven't done as well. Thought we moved the ball well all night. Obviously just came up with some empty drives, not getting points, not capitalizing with field goals, and then had a, with great field position, had a critical fumble down there with E.J. (Williams) but a lot of good things." 

"Ran the ball effectively. Really, really pleased with that. Made some big plays in the passing game and was pleased with Justyn Ross and Beaux Collins continues to get better and (Joseph) Ngata made some nice plays. Obviously, a great, great play by Davis Allen. So, you know, just a great, great job of getting the job done."

In what has been a common theme throughout the season, the Tigers had a few more players go down with injuries against Florida State. Offensive linemen Mason Trotter and Will Putnam, as well as freshman running back Phil Mafah, were all banged up during the win. 

However, the head coach was optimistic regarding all three players, saying each had a shot at being back next week when the Tigers travel to Louisville to take on the Cardinals.

"Injury wise, we had obviously a couple of offensive men go out. Putnam was able to come back in and just kind of tough it out. It was pretty. Both of those. He and Trotter are pretty sore today. So we'll kind of just see where they are, day-to-day. Same thing with Mafa. I think we'll have hopefully everybody ready but you know, we've got a couple of guys that'll probably be a day-to-day deal. Just had to see how they recover."

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