Dabo Swinney Relives 'Great College Football Game,' Hopes Clemson will be Healthy in Week 5

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney discussed what he's learned a lot about his team's mental makeup and what areas need to be improved in Sunday's teleconference.

Clemson is 4-0 and has a lot to build off of through the first thrid of the regular season, head coach Dabo Swinney said Sunday. 

After reviewing the film from a 51-45 win over Wake Forest in double overtime, Swinney felt like there were many positives, especially on the offensive side of the ball. 

"It was a heck of a college football game, reliving it again, watching the tape," Swinney said. "Both teams competed literally to the last play. Kind of college football at its best. If you will look around the country, it's reminded every single week how hard it is to win and especially to win one on the road. That's the first time we've won overtime on the road since 2009.

"You learn a lot about your team and your coaches when you get in a situation like that. This group won't quit. They'll fight, and I think that's a positive."

The Tigers survived quite the scare and needed 559 yards of offense to get past a talented Wake Forest team. Swinney said he kept that in mind when he looked at the mistakes Clemson made, especially on the defensive side of the ball. 

"At the end of the day, we really rose up when we had to have it and we got a big stop," Swinney said. "Second to last possession, we hold them to a field goal and then the last possession of the fourth quarter they had to punt. And then obviously down to the last play. 

A great game to win and one that I think can really serve us well as we build our team and continue through the season here." 

The No. 5 Tigers (2-0 ACC ) now turn their attention to a showdown with No. 10 NC State (4-0), which visits Clemson for a 7:30 p.m. game at Memorial Stadium on Saturday. 

"They got a good group all across the board again, one of the more veteran teams, I think, in the country this year," Swinney said. "We'll have our hands full for sure."

Swinney didn't offer much in terms of injury updates this early in the week. He said he hopes that everybody who missed the Wake Forest game, including cornerback Sheridan Jones and safety Andrew Mukuba, will be back for Saturday's game, but they'll see how those players do throughout the week. 

Here are other notes from Swinney's Sunday teleconference: 

• Clemson defensive tackle Tyler Davis was "player of the game," according to Swinney. After missing the previous two games, Davis had six tackles and was praised by Swinney for his all-out effort. 
• The "biggest disappointment" from the Wake game was the Tigers' 10 penalties for 120 yards. He said it's hard to win a game doing that and also giving up as many big plays as the defense did. 
• Swinney is very pleased with the progress left guard Marcus Tate has made on the offensive line, and he said "has come a long way."
• Defensive back Malcolm Greene was a surprise scratch from the Wake game. Swinney said Greene was injured in the Louisiana Tech contest and just couldn't get healthy enough to play in Week 4. 
• Swinney said the big plays Clemson gave up in the passing game to the Demon Deacons were attributed to a lack of fundamentals and technique from the defensive backs, but he also praised Wake Forest for making some great plays even when his guys were in the right place. 
• Schematically, Swinney said the defense should have protected the cornerbacks better after Wake made big plays. The Tigers played Cover 2 and press man before going to Tampa 2 to try to win the game. 
• Swinney was "really proud of the offensive guys" for scoring the most points through four games since also producing 175 points in 1900. Only the 200 team (186) has scored more points in school history to this point in the season. 

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