CLEMSON -- Tuesday morning Clemson head football coach Dabo Swinney held his second news conference of the season, this time to talk more about his team's heartbreaking loss to No. 1 Georgia in the season opener while also looking ahead to Saturday night's opponent - Appalachian State.
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The following is an edited transcript of Tuesday's news conference.
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OPENING STATEMENTS: "We're excited to get back in the Valley this weekend. We had a great start to the week yesterday.
"Appalachian State is 1-0 and a tough team. Coach Clark is a good guy. He came down here and visited a few years ago.
"They have had a top 25 win three years in a row. They expect to win. It doesn't matter where they go. They have our full attention. Offensively, they're a true zone read type of team with a quarterback who creates option principles. Their quarterback is special and holds about every record up there you can have. We have a lot of respect for him. He has three really good receivers. This running back is an outstanding player. He has great vision, patience and understands what they are doing. They have a bunch of guys on the offensive line who have been around.
"Defensively they created a bunch of turnovers last year. We have to come out on top in that area this week. We have to clean up some details and mistakes and play with the physicality we played with last week. We want to get a W going into a conference play. That's our goal this week. We're excited about playing at home in the whole month of September. We want to create some confidence and rhythm.
"Back to App State, they're active up front. They're going to be all over the place. We have to catch a lot of movement up front. They had one kid who wasn't able to play this past weekend. We expect him to be back this weekend. They've got good experience on the back end. We have to be very disciplined on offense against these guys.
"We went into the game the other day healthy and came out healthy."
Q: You said last night that you want to rebuild some foundational principles. Can you elaborate?
SWINNEY: "Yes. Effort, belief, physicality and toughness. It's not where you play and when you play. If you play the right way, good things will happen. This is a team that has a chance to come together and have a good year. I really love this team. It's a close team. It's a close staff. It's fun to come to work. I think the wins are going to come. That's what I'm talking about ... attitude, leadership, foundational things that we built this program on. I'm most encouraged about that from the other day."
Q: Did you get away from this over the last several years?
SWINNEY: "No, but we have a lot of young players. We played more freshmen than anybody last year. Look at our roster. We don't lose many people, so it's not just for this year but for next year, too. We need to have the how right ... the way things need to be."
Q: When you look at fundamental mistakes against UGA, did you have some expectation for that?
SWINNEY: "Part of that is you're playing UGA. That was elite talent on both sides of the ball. Things get magnified. When you have talent on talent especially in an opener, some things can get exposed. Some things you cannot teach. You have to experience them. Our team will really grow from that experience. The margin for error is really small. Leveraging the ball or how critical a missed tackle can be ... those things. How critical alignment is or how one play can impact a game. These are little things that you have to do ... the boring, routine things that you have to do well.
"When you watch the tape, our guys are very frustrated because we missed a free opportunity. To get another game like that, we have to go earn it and make the playoffs. Two plays can change a game and your momentum. Momentum in a game like that is powerful. When we won the national title in 2018, do you think we were 44-16 better than that Alabama team? Check the rosters. So this was a missed opportunity for us.
"You can really truly grow your confidence when you play in a game like that against that type of talent. There's a lot that can come from that. It's not always what you see on the scoreboard. People can say and write what they want. If we'll improve on some of the details, we'll get better this week."
Q: Is it hard for a defense to keep attention to detail when the offense is sputtering?
SWINNEY: "It shouldn't be. You should still be excited to go play defense. Just go play. And the same for the other side. We were down 14-0 in the national championship. But we just kept on playing. We were down 10 points in the fourth quarter in the 2016 national championship. You just keep playing. You have to grow from these moments. I didn't think we handled that part of it well."
Q: Kylon Griffin made his first career start at safety. Your thoughts on what he did?
SWINNEY: "He did some good things but missed some tackles. We had nine missed tackles. For an opener, that's not terrible especially when you're playing UGA. We've had more against lesser opponents in openers. He had a couple of missed tackles, one on a screen in particular. You figure out how small your margin for error is in a game like that. He did some good things. He's going to be a good player for us."
Q: Tyler Venables played 10 snaps. Why just 10 for him?
SWINNEY: "Just the way the game went. Coaches' decisions. We played who we started. We didn't have that many snaps. He had the one play where he was a little deep on his alignment and next thing you know he's getting picked by the ref. So those are the little details you have to clean up."
Q: You preached all summer about moving forward regardless of the UGA game. Does what happened to Florida State last night put this in perspective and maybe create even more urgency?
SWINNEY: "No. I'm not worried about FSU. I'm just worried about beating App State. This is the biggest game of the year. We had a great practice yesterday. Let's have a great Tuesday practice."
Q: Could we see a slight shift in your receiving corps this week?
SWINNEY: "We have six guys we consider starters. It's a week to week deal. We went into the game based on where we were coming out of practice. We like our group. Some guys did well and some we were disappointed in."
Q: What's holding T.J. Moore back?
SWINNEY: "We've played one game. We've played one game. Nothing is holding him back. He's right there. He just needs to keep coming."
Q: Do you have to teach freshmen how to play with juice for 60 minutes?
SWINNEY: "Sometimes you have to just experience stuff. You have to just go do it and get exposed to it and then you get better."
Q: Do you feel there is anything structurally flawed with your offense in terms of a lack of big plays?
SWINNEY: "Main thing we need to do is stop shooting ourselves in the foot. That first play the other day was going to go 30 yards. We hit a big play and then we get a penalty. How about we give UGA some credit, too. I don't see many people who will line up and get a million big plays on those guys. We'll get better from it. We're in a good spot, man."
Q: How has your team responded over the last 48 hours?
SWINNEY: "Great. We've got great leadership. People have no idea what these guys put into getting ready for a ballgame. And it doesn't go your way and then they have to deal with all the craziness out there. I've seen more confirmation in this moment. Hey, it's easy to lead when the sun is out. Anybody can lead when it all goes your way and everything smells good. I love this team. I love what I do everyday. I love the grind and challenge. I love our staff. I'm having a blast with these guys. I'm having a ball. It's going to be a fun year."
Q: Jeadyn Lukus gave up the touchdown but it looked like he held up well.
SWINNEY: "He did. It was a bright spot. He didn't get any live work in during the scrimmages. He got out-flanked a couple of times but had no hesitation in his game which was good to see. He's got to clean up some things, but he was a big shot in the arm for us. Shelton was ready to play, too. We were only going to play him at nickel. And that's a credit to him. He worked his butt off to get ready. It'll be nice to get him back. But Lukus, I was kind of holding my breath but he did some good things.
Q: What has A.J. Terrell meant to your program? I ask because he served as your honorary captain.
SWINNEY: "Great. Made the first big play in the national championship game in 2018. Set the tone that night. He's a big reason why we won that night. He's a great human being. His mother and father are some of the best human beings you'll ever meet. I've known Avieon since he was in the sixth grade. He's a dude, now. Avieon is a really good player. It's very important to him. He cares. And he's just a sophomore. A.J., his number just got retired at his high school and he just signed a new contract with Atlanta. He showed up with a pro mindset everyday here at Clemson."
Q: Your evaluation of Peter Woods?
SWINNEY: "At times he was the best player on the field. He's a problem. He's a man. There will be some things he will learn from. He can clean up some things. He will move throughout the year. He started on our punt team, too. He's just a sophomore but he's a leader. He's a very committed kid and very respected. Man, T.J. did some good things, too. He had some powerful rushes. He's got long arms. We held up well there. We were really able to negate the run right at us. Biggest problem was third and long. Give their quarterback some credit, too."
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Q: How about some of your backup defensive linemen? Your assessment of them?
SWINNEY: "All of those guys ... the arrow is up with all of them. All have shown good progress. Jaheim is going to be a kid that will help us. Same thing with Hoffler. He'll continue to improve. Denhoff has made a nice jump for us. He's a high motor guy. He knows his strengths and weakness. It was so good to see Tre'. Ya'll know what he has been through. He has been unavailable the majority of his career. That kid can play. He just needs to play.
"We kind of got three starters there with Payton, Tre and Capehart. Capehart was really good Saturday. Really good. He plays like that every week, he'll have a heck of a year. Stephiylan showed up. He had a bust on the goal line, but that kid has got it. Big Burley got in there and you saw what he can do. These are freshmen. They're on their way, man. We have a couple of young ones in Hevin and Champ who are coming. I'm pleased with the overall group that we have."
Q: Ronan Hanafin moved from wideout to defense?
SWINNEY: "Yeah. We moved him to defense three weeks ago. Almost a month ago. I've been waiting on y'all to ask me about him. Maybe we need to close practice more to keep out the spies. We are really excited about him. That's how we recruited him. I told his family up front that we loved who he was. It was harder for me to evaluate him as a receiver. I told him up front that you let a kid play what he wants to play and then you figure it out from there. That's just part of coaching.
"He didn't get here until last summer. There's nobody here that works harder than Ronan Hanafin. He's one of the best pure football players on the team. After spending a year with him, I think he's more natural on the defensive side. Turn on the special teams tape. He almost blocked a punt the other night. We did move him in camp, so he's a little behind. He doesn't know how the cake was made. We just handed him a fork. There will be a role for him on this team. I see him as a guy who has a chance to be a high level player for us defensively.
"You can't coach his toughness and the will that's inside of him. You'll see something special out of him over the next two years. I think he's more of a safety but he could play nickel, free safety and strong safety. He's very physical and can really run. He's about 215 pounds. He's everything you want on your team."
Q: The former UGA quarterback Aaron Murray said Cade wasn't maybe as bad as people thought, but pointed out happy feet at times.
SWINNEY: "I didn't think he was bad. The people in this building didn't think he was bad. He made some big-time plays. Definitely in a game like that, live and getting tackled, there were a couple of times where he could have reset in the pocket. He took one sack but there were no sacks by our offensive line. He saw the field well. We're very confident in Cade and where he is and where he is going. He wasn't the reason we lost the game.
"Let's reduce the negative plays, let's not put the ball in jeopardy. We coach him hard, but he's our guy."
Q: Would you like to see him get the ball out quicker at times?
SWINNEY: "I wouldn't say that but I thought there were two plays where he got a little spooked. He just needed to reset. Again, these quarterbacks don't get hit in camp. We don't have preseason games. Saturday will make him better. The game wasn't too big for him. He'll get better. He saw the field well. It's just unfortunate that rhythm and momentum ... again, they're a big part of those games. His first play was his worst play. He just missed it."
Q: How important is this week just to build confidence for your offense?
SWINNEY: "It's always important whether you're undefeated or 4-3. It's always important to play well that week. 8-0, 4-4 ... it doesn't matter. It's always about the next game and trying to win that day, win that moment. It's never not important."
Q: You feel good about how your team has put the UGA game in perspective?
SWINNEY: "Yes. I saw it immediately in the locker room, leadership. We had a senior meeting yesterday. You're living in a world of craziness where there is zero perspective. For young people, it's a good opportunity for them to manage that. Because that (outside noise) comes with it. That's part of being great. You'll get a ton of love but also some hate. I've been doing this a long time and have had enough love to last me the rest of my life but also enough hate. Those things come and go. All of that is circumstantial. The foundation of Christ, his peace, his promise and his grace, that never changes. That's what I build my life on.
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"You have to handle things. Y'all going to write crap and terrible stuff. That's ok. When we do well, y'all will write great things. I don't read it. It doesn't affect me. I don't take it personal. I love what I do. I love our kids. My life is on a foundation that doesn't change. Hopefully that's something our kids will learn from as they go forward. They'll learn how to handle adversity and success. Hopefully the lessons they learn throughout their career will build them into great men. That's what football does. Tough game, man. But it's fun."
