Swinney previews Florida State

THE WEST ZONE message board | SHOP NOW: DEALS on CLEMSON apparel

CLEMSON -- Clemson head football coach Dabo Swinney met with members of the media Tuesday during his weekly news conference, this time to talk about his team's upcoming opponent, Florida State (3-2, 2-1).

The Tigers (5-0, 3-0), coming off a BYE, are a 27-point favorite over the Seminoles. The two teams will meet one another in Death Valley on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. in a game televised by ABC.

ALSO SEE: The latest on 5-stars Justin Flowe and Jordan Burch | Tuesday Insider Notes | THE STORY OF DABO SWINNEY - PART 9 | Monday Recruiting Insider

The following is an edited, condensed transcript of Swinney's Tuesday presser.

OPENING STATEMENTS: "Great break for us. I think everyone needs a break every now and then. It was a lot of fun. Just taking Saturday and Sunday and enjoying some family time, but also watching football. I doubt many accountants take a week off and watch more accounting. But as a coach, it's a weird job. You get a weekend off and what do you do? You watch football, so it was fun to be a fan. Stayed up too late watching a few games ...

"We're excited to be back. A BYE just reenergizes you. We're back at it this week and we had good energy at practice last night.

"Florida State is the most talented team we have played. All you have to do is check the recruiting class rankings if you believe in that stuff. They've beaten us in recruiting in five of the last six years. They are easily the most talented team we have faced to this point. On paper, roster, they're the most talented. They're getting better, too. They should be 5-0. I'm sure they are disappointed over what happened against Boise State. They were up at around 30-13 late and blew it. Same thing against Virginia. They had a chance to win that game on the road. They are truly two or three plays from being 5-0.

"They have started to create an identity. They're really fast. They're physical. They're running the ball better as far as what they're trying to do. Cam Akers ... everything goes through him. He is a very committed runner. We have to match his physicality and mindset because this guy is a committed dude. He just keeps coming and they just keep giving him the ball. They are RPO-oriented, tempo, double-moves and they are better up front. They struggled there last year. They are much improved. They've had to play two quarterbacks, but both can win for them. Both are experienced. Both will run the offense.

"Defensively, they are huge up front. No. 11 is a special player. He is very talented and has the ability to pressure the passer. They're all big, big guys who are hard to move. They've done a nice job. They have created a lot of turnovers. What has hurt them is they have had a lot of penalties. They've also overcome a lot of that because they are +5 in turnover margin. We're minus 1, so we have to take care of the ball. And we didn't create a turnover at North Carolina. We win the turnover margin, we will win the game. Simple as that. And vice versa.

"This is my 17th Clemson - Florida State game. It never gets old. This is one of those games that has settled the division and has represented the Atlantic. We have 39 more days before the division will be settled, so everyday is important. This is a huge game. We both want the same thing. The winner is in control of their division destiny. This is playoff football. That's what it is every week. We need our fans to show up and continue to give us that incredible environment."

Q: When you look at the way Kendal Briles he runs their offense, what do you see from him as a play-caller?

SWINNEY: "Committed to the run whether it's 0, 0, 0, 1, 2, 40. They play fast, so tempo. I'm sure they will do that to try to neutralize our substitutions. Splits ... some guys will line up on the sideline. They have wide splits. We have to do a good job with our leverage. They're more downhill with their running game. They're running more lead, split-flow zone. Then you have all the RPOs. A lot of slants, double-moves and then some drop-backs. It all starts with that run game. They didn't run the ball very well last year, but that No. 3 is a good player."

Q: You said you have been soft against the run the last two weeks. Can you expand on that?

SWINNEY: "We missed some tackles and didn't fit things up properly. Charlotte was good. I told y'all going in that they could run the ball. It only takes a couple of big runs. We didn't fit up a power they ran on us for 31 yards. We missed two tackles on that last drive and it resulted in a long run. We gave up 4.1 and 3.9 the last two weeks. That's not our standard. We have to be disciplined, line up right, squeeze properly, just details. We've had some missed tackles. It's not like people are mashing us, but details are important. Good backs have a way of finding those creases. We had different guys in there late against Charlotte, but our standard doesn't change. North Carolina popped a couple of big runs on us."

Q: Isaiah Simmons said he and the other players approached last week like it was a game week. Are you pleased with the response from them to this point?

SWINNEY: "We did not play well at North Carolina on either side of the ball. Just too many mistakes. We turned the ball over and gave up field position, we had a bunch of penalties and got very little going from a rhythm standpoint, things we can control. North Carolina had a good plan, played clean, played tough, so you have to give them credit. They milked the clock, too. It was a good formula for them, but again we can't lose to Clemson. To be honest with you, we did lose to Clemson but we won the game. We don't have to play perfect to win but we need to play well. We have to play cleaner. That one game in Chapel Hill was not indicative of our season, so the guys were eager to get back to work. We're really young, but we've got good leadership."

Q: The last four years Renfrow had 180, 190 catches. Who has been challenged to take that role so far?

SWINNEY: "Everybody. Our third down percentage has been higher. We've done a nice job. We just have to keep playing. Amari has only played two games. The first game up there at Syracuse he had two touchdowns. One was about 90 yards. He didn't play hardly at all against Charlotte. Amari, Ross, Tee, Overton, those are the main four guys right now and then our backs, Trevor, they're all a part of it."

Q: Any injury updates, particularly Tanner Muse?

SWINNEY: "Very clean injury report yesterday. Guys were feeling good. Blake Vinson is gone. Everyone else is back and ready to go."

Q: You do a good job of controlling the noise and blocking out things. Do you think the people outside hold you to a different standard now?

SWINNEY: "Man, I don't even think about it. If you try to live your life from the outside in - and a lot of people do that - if you're affected by the outside, you won't be great. You have to focus on things you control. When you focus on things you can't control, those things control you. I have no control over what people write. If I worry about that, I get distracted. You have to think the right way. When you're dealing with young people, that's important. Our program blossomed from the inside out, not from the outside-in. When I got the job, I wrote down the things we had never done and all the things people said we couldn't do. We didn't get distracted by things that didn't matter. Most people don't really know or understand anyway, so it doesn't matter."

Q: How hard is it to get that from a young team? That focus?

SWINNEY: "You just teach. You educate. You communicate. We have 120 young people who have family, friends, social media, so that's part of it. I'm glad that we have people who have an opinion on Clemson. That means we matter. Our program matters. It's good that people are talking about Clemson, good or bad. I went back to the shed this past week, took the tarp off the shed, got on the Roy bus, gave it an oil change, fluffed up the seats a little bit and now we're back on the Roy bus. Here we go."

Q: If the bill on players capitalizing off of their likeness were to go through, would you be at a disadvantage to other programs with more money and larger alumni bases?

SWINNEY: "We've probably been at a disadvantage for a long time around here, but we have found a way to blossom from the inside out. There's no way for me to answer that. I have no idea. There are a lot of positives that could come from that. We'll have to let the smart people figure it all out and then I could have an educated answer. I've got to get ready for Florida State."

Q: The decision to play more dime, has that impacted your defense more, maybe the growth of your defense early?

SWINNEY: "No. We're top 10 in the country in defense. We're giving up 12 points per game and our schedule has been stronger through five games this year versus last year when we were giving up 16 points a game early. It's hard to score on us. I love our growth. After five games, holy cow, this was going to be a tough September. I thought there would be some adversity but I thought it would come against A&M or at Syracuse, but it happened at North Carolina. North Carolina has a pretty good first group on both sides. Get up there, you don't have your A-game and it gets rolling against you.

"I like our five defensive ends. They've had some success, some failure, there has been a lot of coaching. We just need to apply the knowledge we have learned and not make some of the same mistakes. I'm very confident with our development. Tyler Davis has played just five games. Same thing with Nyles and his new role and Jordan and the sack he had up at North Carolina. I like what we've got going on at backer. As I told you in August, the best part of our defense is our back seven. Guys are smart, they're rarely out of position. They give up some plays but they're human. We've done a nice job there. We have to get better, yes. If you're at your best right now, it's probably not going to end well. We're 5-0 and we're not close to playing our best football."

Q: Does Clemson now remind you of Florida State when they were rolling?

SWINNEY: "I hope not. I hope Clemson is just Clemson. We're not trying to be anybody else. We're just trying to be the best version of us every year. I would say consistency-wise there are some similarities. They had like 14 top five finishes in a row. We're a long way from that, but we have been consistent. They're Florida State. They're a great program."

Q: No. 15, is he the best wideout you've faced?

SWINNEY: "He's good. He can cut on a dime. They've got some speed. He can change direction, cut on a dime and take it the distance. He is a great player."

Q: What about your commitment to the run?

SWINNEY: "They (UNC) had the ball over 11 minutes in the fourth quarter. We had a three-play, touchdown drive. Just style of play. And then rhythm. We had penalties. We threw a screen pass and fell down and it was probably going to go for 50. We only had 60-something snaps. We try to get 80+ a game. We have been explosive and we get big plays, so sometimes those numbers are skewed. But we're very committed to the run, one of the best running teams in the country."

Q: Was the break good for Trevor in particular because he has been up and down?

SWINNEY: "I don't agree with that. He's not up and down. He's not some cyborg, robot who will never make a mistake. His success creates a different standard with some people. He has made huge plays with his legs. He's undefeated as a starter. I think he has done very well. He didn't play great at North Carolina. He had a couple of mental errors that he doesn't normally have, but I wouldn't say he's up and down. He has been pretty consistent. Can he do better? Sure. All of us can, including us coaches.

Q: What have you seen from your self-scouting over the last several days?

SWINNEY: "I won't get into our (internal) analysis. I'm sure this is riveting television. I'm sure a lot of people watch this. Our self-scout is very beneficial to us. We look at everything, the formations, the personnel, placement, etc. We do a cross-over every week for us and for the opponent. The computer-generated information spits out a lot of information that we have studied, too."

Q: J.C. Chalk seems to have been targeted more in the passing game early. Any additional thoughts on where he is now in your system, as well as Jaleyn Lay and Davis Allen?

SWINNEY: "I wouldn't say we're targeting J.C. It's just how it has worked out. We've had some bootlegs off of our run game. He has been a factor in the run game and he did have a nice third down play at North Carolina. That was more quarterback-driven. He has made some nice plays. His confidence is up. He is still improving and developing. Davis is coming along. Jaelyn is coming along. Luke Price has been the next guy for us. He's physical and one of the strongest kids on the team. He has a nice edge to him that we like."

AVAILABLE NOW: Men's Nike Orange Clemson React Element 55 Shoes! Click HERE!