SUNDAY NIGHT: Swinney on offense, O-line, Ga. Tech, NCSU

CLEMSON | Upon further review of film from Saturday's narrow win over 28-point underdog Georgia Tech in Death Valley, Clemson head football coach Dabo Swinney addressed members of the media Sunday night as part of his weekly teleconference.

ALSO SEE: Long night in Clemson | See Tigerillustrated.com subscribers' reaction during and after Clemson's win over Ga. Tech | Clemson's verbal commitments

The Tigers will begin practice for their conference road opener on Monday, a trip to Raleigh (N.C.) next weekend to face N.C. State. The Tigers are an 11-point favorite over the Wolfpack.

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The following is an abbreviated transcript of Swinney's Sunday evening teleconference.

Q: How much pain is Bryan Bresee fighting through (shoulder) right now?

SWINNEY: "They've got him in a brace. They've got him braced down pretty good to where his arm can't get into that position, hopefully. He is amazing. We have had a bunch of shoulder-type things. He is battling through it and doing great. He's playing fast and physical and is disruptive. He is a special player."

Q: What area would you like to see your offensive line improve the most?

SWINNEY: "We have to cut out critical penalties first. We had a couple jumping off sides, we didn't snap the ball one time. There are some fundamental things where we're not turning guys loose, getting to the second level and picking up the twists. There are two games in a row with no sacks, so that's a positive. A lot of positives, but the offensive line has to be the most cohesive group on the team, truly. We're bringing some guys along who are going to be good players.

"First thing we have to do is cut out some of the mistakes, missed assignments ... very correctible things. What's frustrating is that we're not seeing these things in practice. We want to transition this to game day. Saturday was a weird day. We prepared zero for what they did defensively. That created some anxiety for a young guy like Marcus Tate. All of a sudden it's not what he practiced for and it took him awhile to settle in."

Q: Sticking with the offensive line, there was talk in the preseason about depth and you were excited about those guys. Is there any thought to working more players?

SWINNEY: "We've lost three big-time depth guys - Dietrick Pennington, who will be a great player, Tayquon Johnson and John Williams. All of those guys were going to help us this year. We have to play more guys. We got into that last year. Mason Trotter broke his hand. We just got him back, but he can only play right guard. We need to get Hunter Rayburn going, too. There just weren't a lot of plays yesterday. That's on us as coaches. They didn't get their opportunities."

Q: When you're dealing with an extraordinary number of developmental (younger) guys, how do you strike a balance between scrutiny and keeping their spirits up?

SWINNEY: "This is a developmental game. We have good players. Last week, we had a great week of practice. We saw so many great things. All of a sudden you get in the game and it's very different. We have to make sure one mistake doesn't lead to two more. What's real. What's not real. We want to keep them focused on what we have to do to get better. You don't want to kill their spirit. This is our team. These are our young guys.

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"I go back to Chandler Catanzaro. His freshman year he was 57%, but he left here as the school's leading scorer. Our players really, really care. They're coachable. They're humans. They're not video game people. We have to help them. You don't want to kill their spirit. This is the best we've got. It's kind of where we are right now. We're growing each and every week. If we can cut out some of these critical mistakes, we can make a lot of progress. Critical errors are costing us in critical situations. We challenge them but we do it in a positive and constructive way. We have some guys who are just growing into their roles and learning a lot of football on the run."

Q: After watching the film, how would you assess the way D.J. Uiagalelei played? What do you need to see from him this week?

SWINNEY: "He continued to get better. He had two balls on the ground. He was 18-of-25, probably his best day from a percentage standpoint. He missed three throws that I can remember. I was proud of his toughness, his heart and will to win and what we had to do to win that game, he made some great plays, some great runs that sparked our team. He showed great heart and great leadership. It's everybody around D.J., too. They have to improve. D.J. has prepared everyday. It's just a matter of time before he puts it all together and has the type of game we know he's capable of having."

Q: Do you believe his running more can give you a lift offensively?

SWINNEY: "Yes. We've always known he can run the ball. It was one of our regrets from the UGA game ... that we should have run him more. The presentation of Georgia Tech's defense was totally different (than what we expected). I do think it got him going a little bit. Hopefully there will be more of that down the road."

Q: You're just getting into N.C. State. What have you seen from them to this point?

SWINNEY: "They are an excellent team. They had 10 of 11 back on defense and lost two key players. They're a veteran group. Same thing on offense. Their offensive line is a good group. We all know that's a tough place to play. We're going to have to play our best game and we're a long way away from playing our best game to this point. Hopefully this will be the week."

Q: How difficult is it to make in-game adjustments when you prepare for something totally different than you're seeing?

SWINNEY: "It depends on the makeup of your team. If it's a team with a lot of young guys, it's more of a challenge. What they showed us defensively, we only saw it in their game with Central Florida last year. They haven't used it against any other team since. You spend all week practicing for something else. It's different for everybody ... the backs, the quarterback, the offensive line, the receivers. I was proud of the staff and the guys for hanging in there. We just didn't finish some of the drives. We were efficient on third down but messed it up ... critical penalties and missed opportunities. It almost cost us big-time."

Q: One question that kept popping up is the absence of the deep throw, a vertical pass game, more activity up the middle. Where is that now and how did you evaluate that yesterday?

SWINNEY: "You have to get into rhythm. You're not going to throw deep balls when they're dropping eight or the middle of the field is in robber coverage. You have to run the ball and play-action them and manipulate their backers some. That's what we did and that's why we won the game. We made the adjustments. Their philosophy was they weren't going to give us the big play. They were keeping everything in front, giving up the run and forcing us to be patient and methodical. You can better believe we will work on that. Because we'll see it again, for sure, but we'll be more prepared."

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