CLEMSON -- Back in town and fresh off reviewing film from a Saturday night gone wrong in Charlotte, Clemson head football coach Dabo Swinney spoke with members of the media Sunday evening as part of his weekly, in-season teleconference.
The following is an abbreviated transcript of Swinney's meeting with reporters on the call.
OPENING STATEMENTS: "It was a really hard-fought game. We are a pick-six away from a 3-3, overtime slugfest. But too many mistakes. We did a lot of good things in the game with our defense and special teams. Offensively, we really struggled. But we will own it and grow from it. It's a tough opener and a tough matchup and we knew that going in.
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"I love the character and toughness of our team. I love our mentality. Two elite defenses on the field. I think that will prove to be the case throughout the year and I think both offenses will get better. Overall a great experience for us. It is something we can learn from. Our kids care and they are deeply invested. The only thing we can't do is go undefeated. Everything else out there as far as our goals remain on the table. We will get better and go to work on developing our team.
"We came through the game pretty good from a health standpoint. Looks like E.J. Williams will be out for a few weeks. He has to have some surgery on his thumb. He will be out for maybe four or five weeks. Hopefully we will get him back after the open date."
Q: After watching the film, what stood out to you about your offense ... what you will need to work on?
SWINNEY: "I don't want to take away anything from UGA's defense because they're really good. 3:50 in the second quarter in the first half and it's zero-zero, yet we made a critical error, a critical bust. We took too many sacks. We had a sack on a receiver because we missed a signal and didn't run the right route. We had some on the offensive line and on the quarterback. We dropped a snap. We had a critical drop on a third down. We didn't manage the game well either, players and coaches. There are a lot of things that we can do much better. And again, I am not taking anything away from UGA. They're going to give everyone they play trouble.
"We got out of rhythm, too. We had seven snaps in the first quarter. We had some good drives going but never finished. I would say we played a C- game. D.J. did not play well the first couple of quarters - pocket awareness, game management. But there is no greater teacher than in-the-fire experience. I have no doubt he will respond. I'm glad I was able to watch them have some critical mistakes. I know Justyn Ross will respond. We have to help them as coaches as well."
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Q: You talked about not managing the game well. With the benefit of hindsight, would you have gone about offensive play-calling differently, particularly with the running game?
SWINNEY: "Yes, I think so. For sure. We just seemed to always be behind the chains. You can't draw it up any better and we just turned the linebacker loose. We have a hat on him, but we didn't get it done. I don't know that many people will be efficient running the ball on UGA, but we were nowhere near effective enough. D.J. just wasn't settled in and we didn't do a good enough job of supporting him with the running game and hanging in there with that."
Q: Your assessment on how Matt Bockhorst performed at center?
SWINNEY: "He actually did pretty good. He did have one bad snap. He did a pretty good job. I was fairly pleased with him and his effort and knowledge. It was his first time playing that many snaps at center. I thought he did a good job in an incredibly difficult matchup. Definitely room for improvement. He was not bad. Right now it's the plan to keep him there."
Q: Seems like the QB run has been a big part of the offense in recent years. What do you envision for DJ there?
SWINNEY: "We got away from that. We ran a counter and didn't block. We had a couple of nice runs, a nice draw, two nice counters with him. He needs to be effective, but ... we didn't give him enough opportunities. We need him to be effective and take what's there. Some of those things we had called where he has the option and he chose to throw it a couple of times. It starts with us getting in rhythm and not having the miscues. You have the first three-and-out. You're backed up on the 10. You come back and you're backed up again. You have a big, big missed assignment on third down. You come back and put several drives together that we just didn't finish. It's hard to get into a rhythm when you're playing a great opponent like Georgia. So we give them credit. As far as DJ, we need good pocket presence, game awareness and make plays when he needs to."
Q: With E.J. out and Justyn working his way back, how big is it for you in evaluating the way Joe Ngata performed?
SWINNEY: "Justyn IS back. He's had a great camp. He did not play well in the game but I am not worried about him. It was great to see Ngata have a game like that. He's a guy we have been talking about. He had a good freshman year and last year we couldn't keep him on the field. What you saw last night is what I have seen many many times in practice. It's been great. He was one of the guys who took it from the practice field to the game field. He's a big, strong, body who can run. He's got a great physical presence to him. Hopefully that'll give him some confidence. Frank Ladson is a big, physical guy, too. He got a couple of PIs last night. You best believe D.J. will get better. Nobody cares more than that guy. He knows what he has to do. He's certainly disappointed in how he played.
"We could easily go play whomever and win 50-10 and play a lot of people and everyone is happy. I just feel like these type of games are the best way to teach. It's hard when you go play some of the best teams in the country. We have chosen to do that and we will continue to do that. You gain a lot of confidence when you compete like that. I'm disappointed that we did not win the game but I am excited about what we can do moving forward."
Q: You had some guys on defense who were in starting spots for the first time. What did you see on film from those guys?
SWINNEY: "I was really pleased. We handled tempo well. Structurally we were in position for much of the night. We didn't do a good enough job of setting the edge. But they just played relentless. How about Mukuba? He looked like he belonged. Mario Goodrich played really well. Ruke Orhorhoro belonged. Andrew Booth played great. Skalski and Spector played great. Jalyn Phillips and Joseph Charleston got a lot of experience and did a heck of a job. Tre' Williams had a couple of busts, but he's a presence in there. He's got some maturing to do, but he belongs in there. I was really pleased with our defense and special teams. Will Spiers was awesome. He had two 50+ yarders and pinned three inside of the 20."
Q: D.J. growing as a leader has been a point of emphasis. How would you assess that at this point?
SWINNEY: "I was pleased with that as much as anything. He was over here today watching every play. He was the first one in the building. I was really proud of how he responded and I told him that. He had a lot of adversity for two and a half quarters. It would have been easy for him to get worse. I loved the look in his eye. We just didn't make a couple of plays for him. He responded well to the adversity. He came on and made some big-time plays and put us in a position to win the game. We didn't do enough around him to get it done. It was good to see that because he hasn't really had a lot of adversity. Watching him after the game and into today ... that's why he is going to be successful."
Q: You are a big believer in not overthinking things you cannot control and narratives. This is the first time in several years where you are not in control of your destiny. Do you address that with your guys?
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SWINNEY: "We just try to go win this game this week. That's what we have always done. Every goal we have we are in 100-percent control of. It's a long season. We don't get caught up in all of these narratives. We have played one game, maybe the best team or a top two team. We played a 10-3 slugfest. I think we are going to be just fine. We'll go get better this week and go earn it. Let's stay focused on what we can control."
Q: You lost some important personalities from last year's offense. Where is this group in terms of leadership, chemistry and cohesion?
SWINNEY: "They're good. They're still a work-in-progress. You have new quarterbacks and running backs. I love the leadership of Jordan McFadden and Bockhorst. You have a sophomore at right tackle and a true freshman at left guard. You have receivers who are getting healthy. Frank and Ngata haven't really played since their freshmen year. You go schedule a different opponent out of the gate, you're probably asking different questions. But we played UGA and we'd do it again. We're not the veteran group that the defense is. That's for sure. We have plenty of talent and experience, though. And they're going to improve. Man, it's important to them. Same thing with the coaches. We have to get better as well."
Q: The status of Tyler Davis? Do you expect him back now?
SWINNEY: "That's the plan. Hopefully he'll be ready to roll."
