CLEMSON | Sunday evening roughly 24 hours after his team suffered its third loss of the season, Clemson head football coach Dabo Swinney addressed members of the media in his weekly teleconference, this time to again discuss the Tigers' 27-17 loss to Pitt while also looking ahead to a week of preparation prior to next Saturday's 3:30 p.m. matchup with Florida State (3-4, 2-2).
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Clemson (4-3, 3-2) has won five in a row from the Seminoles. The Tigers opened as a 10-point favorite over FSU on Sunday.
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The following is an abbreviated transcript of Swinney's Sunday evening teleconference.
OPENING STATEMENTS: "Obviously it was a very disappointing night up in Pittsburgh. They had a great game and made the plays that made the difference in the game and we didn't. Right now, we're not a team that has a big margin for error. Too many missed opportunities. That's for sure. We didn't make plays that were there and lost the turnover margin. We couldn't win third down offensively or defensively. We have to give Pitt credit.
"Tough game for sure. It hurts. You dust yourself off and keep moving forward. We have a lot of ball left. We have to finish strong. That's our focus. We want to win this week. We're disappointed with where we are right now. We've had an amazing journey around here the last 13 years. This is one season in the midst of an incredible journey. We have a lot of great days and great moments ahead. We will definitely grow from this but the focus is on trying to finish strong and the task at hand. We have to grow our patience and continue to focus on the things that we can control ... preparation, attitude and how we finish.
"Also, I'm disappointed with injuries, obviously. I've never been through a season like this with the type of injuries that we have had. We have a total of 18 scholarship players unavailable. We have 14 guys who are done for the year. We hope to get Joe Ngata, Hunter Rayburn and Jake Venables back this week. Matt Bockhorst is done, as I mentioned last night. Your heart breaks for him. He's a two-time grad and working on his Masters now. I just appreciate everything he has done. I love that guy. Again, Braden Galloway is most likely out. Unfortunately, Justin Foster is done for the year, too. He has been battling a lower back issue. It's at a point where he will have to have some surgery. He'll be done. It's a tough situation for us.
"You do this long enough and you're going to have some crazy years. This has been a crazy year for us and it'll make us better. We will grow from it. Right now, we are a 4-3 team. We still have a lot in front of us."
Q: Everyone wants to figure out the one smoking gun. Have you also never had a year where so much has gone wrong ... drops, penalties, mistakes, everything just coming together?
SWINNEY: "Yeah. It's crazy. We get a critical penalty right there before the half and they go on to score. Again, it's all good from my perspective. The one thing I can draw on from my life is that any time I have been in the pit of something, God has always been up to something. That's where my faith comes from. God is good all the time. God is good when you are 15-0 and God is good when you are 4-3. We've got to continue to grind. It's easy to be all-in when everything is good and everyone is patting you on the back. This is where you have a chance to grow and set yourself up for the next five, six or seven years.
"I don't think people realize how hard it is to win. A season like this will give you more perspective. We have a lot of young talent on this team. Everyone is learning, everyone is growing and battling. No doubt about it. It will be an opportunity to teach, lessons to grow from. Our kids are competing but we are 4-3 and that's what we have earned. It's my job to get us better. For whatever reason we aren't making the critical plays. It will turn. It has been an amazing 13-year journey for me ... many ups and downs.
"In 2010 we couldn't make a kick that year. We lost by three here and lost in overtime there, but we went on a 10-year run after that and there is only one other team better. And we beat that team a couple of times. It's all in front of us. My job is to lead, teach and help these guys grow with what we're going through. Man, this staff is working their tails off. We're all disappointed but we have to pick ourselves up and get back at it. That's what winners do."
Q: Will Justin Foster or Bockhorst be back in 2022?
SWINNEY: "I don't think Bockhorst will be back. I have not talked to Justin about that. Bockhorst has had four or five knee surgeries. He will work on his abs, drop some weight and get ready for what comes next in life. What a ride and a journey Bockhorst has had. He has experienced so many things and has grown into a great man. A great leader.
"And about the offensive line, I thought they played well yesterday. We ran the ball well and controlled the line of scrimmage. That was a bright spot. Special teams continues to be a bright spot for us. Our backs ... that's a special group of guys. That's two true freshmen and a sophomore. We will miss Bockhorst, though. That's for sure."
Q: You mentioned running the ball well. The sequence toward the end of the first half with three straight passes ... do you have any more expanded thoughts on maybe getting away from the run there?
SWINNEY: "Yes, we wished we had run the ball on third down there. Again, in a game like that, it's like every play is life or death or seems. Tony Elliott did a great job. He really did. Guys were in a position to go win. We have to teach them to go win. It came down to missed plays and critical opportunities. We always have a call here or there that you second-guess. They played two-man there and we guessed wrong. It was a bad call versus the coverage that we had."
Q: Something Tony mentioned was that this group isn't as vocal as you've had in previous years. What about Justyn Ross and his leadership to this point?
SWINNEY: "He's more of a leader by example. Everyday you see him, he is an example. Outside of one play, I thought he played really well. He blocked well, made some nice plays, but he's not a vocal guy. That's not his deal. But that's an area where we have some good, young leaders who will mature into what we need them to be. Still got some work to do there."
Q: D.J. appeared to be very engaged when he was on the sidelines. He then seemed to come back with some fire to him. Could you talk about that and also, how will you handle both quarterbacks this week?
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SWINNEY: "I was proud of D.J. He didn't pout one second. He was very engaged, supportive and to me that is great leadership. Listen man, he is growing and developing every single day. All that he is going through, it is going to pay off for him. It'll be a part of his journey and a part of his story, just like the season we're dealing with will be a part of our journey. We will look back and see where we got better from it. D.J. went in, it was a great touchdown drive but unfortunately we never got the ball back.
"We'll run someone out there first on Saturday. Everything this week will count."
Q: Seven games in, what is the impact of not having that short-area explosiveness at receiver you had with Amari Rodgers?
SWINNEY: "First thing is continuity up front. We had way more last year. We've started the same offensive line twice this year and we'll have another starting lineup this week. We haven't had good quarterback play and we've had inconsistent availability at receiver. Yesterday we had five scholarship receivers not available, including Will Taylor. Ajou is still learning and still has a lot to learn. Beaux is getting better and better. Ross is doing everything we are asking him to do. We're just down in numbers right there, but we'll get it turned around."
Q: How do you evaluate Ajou's blocking on the perimeter?
SWINNEY: "Just really poor. He's done fine in practice but he's still learning to play at game speed, he's still learning defensive recognition ... just a raw player who still has a ways to go and not just blocking but also route-running. That's where we are right now."
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