CLEMSON -- Clemson head football coach Dabo Swinney again addressed members of the media Tuesday morning at his weekly news conference.
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As always, Swinney spoke on a range of subjects as No. 19 Clemson (6-2, 5-1) prepares to travel to Virginia Tech (5-4, 3-2) on Saturday. The Tigers are a 6.5-point favorite.
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The following is an abbreviated transcript of Tuesday's news conference.
OPENING STATEMENTS: "Excited to have another opportunity this week coming off a very disappointing performance this past week. We have another tough challenge. It's another really good team and very similar to the team we just played. They have four losses by a total of 21 points and they have had a lead in every one of those games. They're one of the most experienced teams in the country. They had a couple starters out last week. I'd expect both to be back this week.
"It's one of the best rushing teams in the country. With how we played last week, we have to get back on track there to have a chance to win. Both quarterbacks are really good players. It's a talented duo there. Drones is a 230-something pound kid. He's a good runner and can extend plays and can throw. Their back is explosive and can run away from you in the open field. They have a little bit of midline built into their running game and how they go about splitting your defense. They have good receivers at all three spots and very good tight ends. It's a complete offense. It's a team that will battle and compete to the end. I have a lot of respect for Brent Pry and the job he has done up there.
"Defensively, it is one of the best fronts we have seen. No. 52 is second in the nation in sacks. Their two inside guys are good. No. 16 is a really, really, special inside player. They'll put him on the outside some, too. It's a complete defense and a really good back seven. They play tough and physical and with a lot of confidence."
Q: After last Saturday's performance knowing now that your fate (in the conference) is out of your control, what is your message to your team on a Monday as you try to look forward?
SWINNEY: "Life is hard. Football is hard. Failure is hard. It takes courage to keep going. You have to pick yourself up and go. I wish we'd have never lost a game in history. It's hard to go undefeated and it's going to get harder. It's disappointing when you are in control of your destinty and then you're not. We don't control that but we control what we do today ... our attitude, our work ethic and how we respond. We could win all of our games and may not get to Charlotte. We don't control that. But hey, you have to go play the next game. That's why they call it a season. We've had a lot of really good seasons. Some seasons we've won the championship ... more than most.
"You only lose if you lose the lesson. These are kids who work their butts off and they're having to deal with disappointment ... especially in this arena. It's so public and it's a sport for people to criticize and attack. That's the world we live in.
"As a coach you challenge them and teach them and encourage them. You grow. Tough people win in the end. The only reason they win is because they keep going. Yeah, we lost a football game. It's hard. It's going to be harder. There will be very few undefeated teams as we go forward ... a lot like you have in the NFL. We'll have more parity.
"We did not deserve to win that game Saturday. We didn't do what it took to win the game. Greatness doesn't go on sale. You have to pay full price every week. You don't get it on sale at the Dollar General. At Clemson we get everyone's best shot. There are always setbacks but we have to be resilient. Resilient people have a desire to keep going. You'd much rather teach the other stuff because it's more fun when you win. We're 5-1 in our league. We don't control our destiny but we can control how we respond. So let's focus on what we can control."
Q: Do you regret not taking a defensive end in the portal last off-season?
SWINNEY: "We love our roster. We love our roster. Sometimes you have some injuries. I don't have any regrets on how we put our roster together this past year."
Q: How do you evaluate the depth at defensive end behind Peter?
SWINNEY: "Jaheim is coming on and doing some good things. Hoffler is coming on. Peter is one of our best players for sure. We have to keep getting better. Fortunately we have almost everyone coming back. Capehart is probably out a little while. Shelton is probably done. Not sure if he'll make it back over the next four weeks (toe injury). It's similar to what Antonio had last year. Peter is day to day."
Q: Can you talk about some of those communication issues you had on offense Saturday where it seemed like you were slow to get moving late?
SWINNEY: "We just didn't finish on some of the drives and we didn't kick the field goals. We had 200+ rushing and 200+ passing, but there was still more there. We didn't capitalize to take the momentum when we had the opportunity. We had a chance to take it to 14-3 and we got a tipped ball that knocked us out of field goal range. Our guys played physical. Mafah played 98 snaps. Cade competed his butt off. We had a couple of critical mistakes where we could have punched it in.
"There was a ton to be pleased about, but we didn't get the points that we needed. To have that kind of production and no turnovers and you lose the ballgame, that's only happened twice here in 129 years. It's a weird deal. We just played no complementary football. We have to put it together and get back on track. We have to win the turnover margin, stop the run, run the ball, get takeaways, reduce penalties ... everything that we need to do to get better."
Q: What do you see from Va Tech's red zone defense?
SWINNEY: "They're aggressive. A lot of press coverage. They're very physical up front. They'll light you up in the red zone. They're a good team and a have a good defense. I'm sure they're frustrated with being 5-4. They're four plays away from being 9-0. This is a team that has played tough. But again, it's hard to win. Sometimes it comes down to a couple of plays."
Q: Were you surprised with the lack of physicality on your defense Saturday night?
SWINNEY: "Oh yeah. I thought we got our butts kicked. You burn the tape. That's not what we've seen. That's not what we have seen. We weren't tough and physical. We didn't play anywhere near our standard. A few guys did, but collectively as a group we didn't."
Q: You had 179 yards late in the third quarter and just seven points. Are you saying what happened after that was ...
SWINNEY: "We didn't finish. We had two blocked kicks. We had a drive with a tipped ball. They got 10 points off the two blocked kicks. We had a fourth and one where they just got us. They triggered the motion guy right through the gap. We kept playing and finished well. We just didn't do enough for four quarters.
"That game's over guys. We're playing Virginia Tech this week. What do y'all want to talk about?"
Q: What kind of difficulty does Drones present for you with him coming back for this game?
SWINNEY: "He's big and strong and can make all the throws. The other guy isn't quite as big but is a really good runner. Drones is a grown man. He makes a lot of plays with his legs. There is good chemistry with that group of receivers. They will involve him big time with their run game."
Q: Your confidence level in Ashton Hampton with Shelton Lewis out now?
SWINNEY: "Young player we have a lot of confidence in. Hopefully we can get him more opportunities as we go forward."
Q: Does Khalil Barnes' role change some now?
SWINNEY: "With Shelton out, that changes things some. Khalil gives us a ton of flexibility on where we can play him. He's certainly our best nickel but can play strong or free safety as well. That's kind of a week to week deal."
Q: What element of your team are you most excited to see some potential improvement in this week?
SWINNEY: "Our defense. We have to respond. These guys at Virginia Tech, it's what they do ... they can line up and run the ball on anybody. They are a stretch team. We just have to do what it takes to stop the run and we talk about those things all the time. For the most part, we have done a nice job with that but we did not last week. That's pretty evident. So I'm excited to see them respond. Hopefully they will play like I know they are capable of playing."
Q: Is Tyler Brown still day to day?
SWINNEY: "Yes. Getting better but still week to week."
Q: Has Virginia Tech changed their offense over the course of the year?
SWINNEY: "No. They'll mix in the wham stuff with it when they bring the tight end back. It's pretty much the stretch. They have all the boots. There isn't one trick play they haven't run. They have a reverse off of every play. They have not only installed them but they have called them. You have to prepare for a lot of things they throw out there. They challenge you in a lot of ways. The main thing they want to do is run the ball."
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Q: The initial College Football Playoff rankings are today. Will you pay any attention to that?
SWINNEY: "No. I'm not tuned in and sitting there waiting. I'm trying to find a way to beat Virginia Tech. That's all I'm worried about. A lot can happen in college football. Just when you think you know, you don't know. You just keep going. I'm not worried about any rankings and I haven't been.
"We've got great kids, a really good staff and a bunch of people who work really hard. Nobody's perfect but I love our kids, our team and we have to do some things better to have the finish that we want to have. You try to win every single game. The reality is we've had one undefeated team. But the reason why we've had so many good seasons is because we keep going. It's disappointing and you hurt when you lose a game because you put so much into it and you hate to late people down. But we'll regroup and keep going to fight again."
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Q: You've touched on what players can do better on defense. What about what your defensive coaches can do better?
SWINNEY: "Everything that the players need to do better, that's starts with the coaches. We have to do everything better. We have to teach better, coach better across the board. We have to do a better job this week than we did last week of coaching and teaching those things."
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