Swinney On Clemson's Dominant Win Over Notre Dame: 'Tonight Was Our Night'
Dabo Swinney and third-ranked Clemson went out and put the nation on notice Saturday.
The Tigers knocked off No. 2 Notre Dame 34-10 in the ACC Championship Game, giving Clemson its sixth consecutive ACC title and avenging their 47-40 double overtime loss in South Bend on November 7.
With a probable sixth straight trip to the College Football Playoff on the line, the Tigers played one of their best games of the season. They controlled the game from start to finish and the final score wasn't indicative of exactly how one-sided this game actually was.
The Tigers become the first Power-5 team in history to win six consecutive conference championship games. They accomplished that in one of the most difficult college football seasons on record and in what was the biggest ACC Championship Game in history.
"This is special. You know, everything for us goes through the ACC Championship," Swinney said. "And, you know, you win this league, good things have a chance to happen for you. And we really got it done, so proud of our team. And hats off to Notre Dame, they've had an amazing year, incredible, but tonight was was our night."
After having to sit out the Tigers loss in South Bend, quarterback Trevor Lawrence wasted no time in proving how much of a difference-maker he can be. Lawrence was intercepted on the teams first possession of the game, but bounced back and had one of his better games of the season.
The Tigers junior quarterback threw for 322 yards, completed 69.5 percent of his passes and threw two touchdowns. He also added another 90 yards on the ground and a rushing touchdown.
"Trevor was awesome, but that's who he is," Swinney said. "He made a lot of checks and checked into some great plays. We empower him, because he can handle it. And he made some great, great decisions. You know, they didn't fool him, he just didn't hold it quite long enough on that one interception but he made some big-time plays. But that's just who he is. And, you know, all the Heisman stuff and all that I mean, he just wants to win."
Whether Lawrence wins the Heisman or not remains to be seen. However, if the Tigers head coach had any say, there's no doubt in his mind who the best player in the country is.
"I hate even having to even campaign for him, if you will," Swinney said. "But again it's become a stat award, and it said is so media driven. To me it's not about stats, it's about who's the best player. And he's, you know, he's the best player. And there's a lot of great players in college football, but there's only one Trevor Lawrence, and he's a generational player."
