Dabo Swinney considers Texas A&M 'one of the best teams in the country'
COLLEGE STATION - Dabo Swinney knows what's coming to Clemson this weekend. On a Saturday night in College Station almost a year to the date, he watched his team pick up the victory.
It didn't come easy. The Texas A&M Aggies fought from 15 points down and scored 13 in the fourth quarter. Clemson would hold on to win thanks to a failed two-point conversion, 28-26.
And as the Aggies look for redemption, Swinney believes that A&M isn't a team anyone should be sleeping on.
"They're definitely one of the best teams in the country," Swinney said at his Tuesday press conference. "Regardless of what happens this game, I think that's going to play out."
On Monday, Aggies offensive lineman Jared Hocker said that "there will be an upset" in Memorial Stadium come Saturday night. While a bold prediction by the offensive lineman, the Tigers might have caught word heading into the weekend.
And they're making sure A&M knows exactly why the path to National Championship will go through them. In the meantime, Swinney is preparing his defense to face off against Kellen Mond.
"He is really going to own their system as opposed to last year where he played really great against us, but it was just his first or second game," Swinney said of the Aggies' gunslinger. "Now he has a whole year under his belt. He is an excellent leader. I think he is a very smart player. He has great instincts for the game. But just his size, his skillset and his ability to beat you both running and passing is a challenge.”
Longtime defensive coordinator Brent Venerables also had high praise for Mond, who threw for 430 yards and three touchdowns against the Tigers' secondary. He believes they won't see another quarterback like him all season.
“His ability to execute is probably at a really high level without making mistakes,” Venables said. “He’s a great runner, a very dangerous runner and again can extend plays, and the receivers do a great job helping them extend plays."
The Tigers lost all four starters on the defensive line. Last season, the self-dubbed "Power Rangers" created consistent pressure and sacked Mond three times.
The new unit collected four sacks against Georgia Tech in their home opener last Thursday along with nabbing two interceptions. Swinney hopes that the group can duplicate their success against the Aggies offense.
"Hopefully our experience on the back end this year will help us and show up a little bit better and we can be better positioned and make some of those competitive plays," Swinney said. "They'll get off the bus throwing the football downfield."
The Aggies will face Clemson on Saturday, September 7 at 2:30 p.m. and will air nationally on ABC. The Tigers enter the game as a 17.5-point favorite at home.
