Elliott: ‘No Ugly Wins’
Although the Clemson Tigers, who currently sit at No. 2 nationally, escaped Chapel Hill, N.C., with a victory Saturday against the UNC Tar Heels, coaches are using the game as an opportunity to teach players that wins are hard to come by and that opponents, ranked or not, shouldn't be taken lightly.
The Tigers secured a 21-20 win after the Tar Heels failed to convert a gutsy call to go for a two-point conversion with less than two minutes left in the game. Clemson has a bye week coming up this weekend.
“At the end of the day, a one-point win, it's just like a 50-point win,” co-offensive coordinator Tony Elliott said. “There are no ugly wins, so we're excited to get the win, but (it is) a great opportunity for us to teach our guys going into the open day that every game is not going to be easy, but at the end of the day, it's our job to take care of our business.”
He said that Clemson, which has won the national title two of the last three years, has the “heart of a champion,” and that was on display Saturday.
“After the end of the day, they found a way to win,” Elliott said about his team. “You know when the play had to be made, they made the plays that needed to be made to win the game. … At the end of the day, it comes down to the will to win, and those guys showed they had the will to win.”
By Clemson’s standards, the game was a light offensive outing, with 331 total yards, 125 on the ground and 206 in the air.
“There are a lot of little things we can coach off of from this game,” head coach Dabo Swinney said. “We just missed some plays that were there. Their style of play and how they milked the clock and us not playing as good a defense as we've been playing ... we didn't complement each other very well. Next thing you know, we're in a dogfight.”
Heading into the bye week, the Tigers will have some extra time to prepare for perennial ACC rival, Florida State.
“We've got a very, very good opponent coming in,” Elliott said. “Florida State’s getting better. But it (the bye week) gives us a chance to really, really teach and push our guys on defense and know that they've got a bunch young guys. We’re playing some young guys. We’re playing a lot of people. So (it) just give us a chance to really, really get our guys' attention.”
