Sunday Notebook: Lack of Focus, Missed Tackles Plagued Clemson Defense Against FSU
No. 5 Clemson has now won seven straight over Florida State, after knocking off the Seminoles 34-28 on the road Saturday night.
It was a hard-fought win, as the Tigers had to hold off a furious fourth-quarter rally by the Seminoles, who entered the final 15 minutes of the game trailing by 20 points.
Head coach Dabo Swinney met with members of the media on Sunday to recap the victory.
"Just gotta put people away when we have the opportunity," Swinney said. "You know, you can't give up the amount of yards that we gave up in the fourth quarter against good people."
Sunday Notebook
— Swinney said the team came out of the game fairly healthy outside of special teams player Matthew Maloney, who suffered a torn ACL.
— Despite not recording a catch, Swinney said Beaux Collins had a "huge impact" on the game with his blocking on the perimeter, as the Tigers relied heavily on swing passes to the running backs in the win.
— The head coach said getting the ball to guys on the perimeter was something the staff wanted to do coming into the game.
"Big dudes up front inside," Swinney said. "Just wanted to have to make them run a little bit. See if we could create a little tempo through that, which we did. Just wanted to get those backs, with the ball in their hands. Felt like we had some grass opportunities with how they played. We were gonna have to hold up on the perimeter with our blocking, which we did. So it was good to see, to see us execute."
— Swinney said the defense had 24 missed tackles against the Seminoles, some of it due to being out of position and some of it due to bad angles. However, all things the head coach called "correctable."
"I don't know when the last time was that we had that many missed tackles," he said.
— The head coach said his team did a really poor job of finishing against Florida State. Swinney said some of that was due to "maturity," saying a lack of focus was the issue.
"Really just a bad finish," he said. "Lost our focus, thought we got undisciplined and just also some penalties as well. But the good news is we found a way to win the game."
— Swinney said getting that big of a lead in such a short timeframe might have been a "negative" thing in this case, as his team did not handle it very well.
— Clemson's defense allowed 206 yards rushing after coming in having allowed just 62 yards per game. Swinney said in the first half the Tigers just didn't do a good job on the back side and in getting the linebackers where they needed to be. The staff adjusted and he thought the defense responded in the third quarter.
— Freshman OL Blake Miller had multiple penalties in the game and Swinney said a lot of that comes from him still being young and inexperienced. Backup Mitchell Mayes also saw some action and Swinney said he was pleased with what he saw.
— Swinney said he doesn't think there's any question that DJ Uiagalelei is playing as well as any quarterback in the country. Said he has complete command of the offense at this point, is throwing the ball with accuracy, and is not at all satisfied with being 7-0.
Looking Ahead to Syracuse
Clemson now gets set for another matchup with a ranked opponent, as Dino Babers and the No. 14 Syracuse Orange come to town this weekend with control of the ACC Atlantic on the line. It will be the first-ever game at Death Valley between teams with 6-0, or better, records.
"Dino's done a great job," Swinney said. "I mean, they're a tough bunch, always are. Schematically they present some problems. They're not big on defense, but they really understand what they do and their scheme. They're all over the place."
The Tigers will once again see a playmaker at quarterback in Garrett Shrader, along with one of the best running backs in the ACC, Sean Tucker.
"Anytime you have a great quarterback, you got a shot," Swinney said. "And they got a great quarterback who's big and strong, who's gotten better, better and better. Who's now very confident. And they always have had receivers. They've always had a guy that they're gonna throw it to. They got a great tight end this year, that's kind of a slash type of guy who's making a lot of plays. Then I mean, this back's as good as there is in the country. I mean, he's a great, great player."
"Dino's done a great job, so excited about the opportunity. And really hard to believe that as long as they've been playing football here in the valley, that is the first time ever to have two teams 6-0 or better facing off in the valley. It's really hard for me to believe. But what a great matchup."
Swinney also had a message for the Clemson fan base regarding next Saturday's noon kickoff.
"Get up early, get your ankles taped, grab a biscuit and get to Death Valley. We are going to need you."
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