TUESDAY DABO PC AND INTERVIEWS

CUTrevor 2018-11-06 08:27:28


As always, we'll have Dabo's press conference at 11:00, followed by player interviews. I'll have the videos and quotes from Dabo this afternoon. Stay tuned!

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CUTrevor 2018-11-06 10:29:07


Dabo said Mark Fields looked good at practice last night, so hopefully he'll be able to play on Saturday. Pollard will also be back. As I reported on Sunday night, he was able to play against Louisville, but since they got off to such a fast start, they just held him out.

Bockhorst has an ankle, so he might still be out, but obviously he hasn't played a whole lot in meaningful games this season.

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CUTrevor 2018-11-06 10:33:22


Dabo said BC is built a lot like the Tigers in the sense that they know their identity. Of course, he talked about how physical they are, how they use so many tight ends and how tough RB A.J. Dillon is.

Incidentally, Dillon got a little banged up late in the game at VT the other day. He did not return to the game in the 4th quarter even though it was a tight game. He missed a couple games last month before returning against Miami a couple weeks ago with a big game. I'm sure he will play on Saturday night, but he may not be 100%.


I'll have Dabo's PC posted shortly, followed by player interviews. Stay tuned!




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CUTrevor 2018-11-06 11:01:12



DABO:

We’re excited to get going with this plan. We’re getting into it deep today with our Tuesday prep. This is a really good football team…obviously, this is the two best teams in this division at this point. We get the opportunity to lock up [the division] on Saturday night in Boston and settle it on the field. This is the way it ought to be…championship wee for us. We have a chance to clinch the division. You work all year to this point, and now you’re four quarters away from achieving one of our main goals each and every year. I’m really proud of our team for putting themselves in this position.
 
But we’ve got a huge challenge. Boston College is a really tough, hard-nosed, very well-coached football team that I think has had a heck of a year. Especially up there at home…this will be a major challenge for us. We’re excited about it and looking forward to it. Offensively, for them, it starts up front…they’re big, strong and physical. This team is built like us as far as they know who they are, just like we know who we are. There’s a lot of veteran leadership and experience on both sides of the ball. We’re kind of mirror images of each other in that way. Us and them…we’re both very prideful groups.
 
But their style is a bit different as far as how they go about things. You’re going to see a lot of 12- and 13-personnels, so two tight ends in the ballgame. The quarterback [Anthony Brown] is an outstanding player…a very good football player. [AJ] Dillon is a 245-pound back, and then [Travis Levy] behind him is a heck of a player. These guys have all made big plays. [Tommy Sweeney], ironically, Sweeney, is the best [tight end] we’ve seen. He’s a really, really talented player. He leads them in receptions. Then, they have a couple of good wideouts on the outside, [Kobay White] and [Jeff Smith]. [Smith] got behind us last year and beat Trayvon [Mullen] deep down the sideline…it’s just a very well-coordinated offense. They will stress you big time with all their action game, and the boots and swap boots, the pop passes…they do an excellent job from top to bottom on this offensive side.
 
Defensively, it’s the same old Boston College. You look at our game last year, and it was 7-7 in the fourth quarter. We popped a couple of big plays on them and were able to get control of the game, but every yard is a tough, dirty yard against BC. They make you earn everything…they’re very well-positioned and very well-coordinated on the defensive side, really big and stout inside at defensive tackle. The two ends…[Wyatt Ray] is right there at the top of the country in sacks. [Zach Allen] is an All-American. They’ve done a nice job recruiting, especially in the back seven. I think that’s where they’ve improved the most since I’ve been competing against BC. They’ve always been really stout and good in the front seven, but the back group, their safeties and their corners, are athletic…guys that can run, and guys that can cover. And they ask them to cover. They’ll mix up their coverages and play some zone and some man…but same thing, I think they’re very well-coordinated, as far as how they game plan week in and week out, to attack what you do best.
 
So, it’s a big challenge. They’re sound in the kicking game. Again, one of the better returners we’ve seen…I think he’s averaging 11 or 12 yards a return. This is what championship football is all about. You turn on the tape and you go, ‘well, that’s why they are where they are. They’re a really good team.’ And then you turn on our tape and you look at us and go, ‘well, that’s why we are where we are.’ This is what it’s all about, and we get an opportunity to get after it on Saturday night and see if we can find a way to win it.
 
On earning his first win as Clemson’s head coach in 2008 at Chestnut Hill:

“It’s almost to the date…it was November 1…that first win, so we’re not too far past that. It’s always a special memory. That was an unbelievable moment, and every time I go up there, I think about that for sure. Hopefully we can find a way to celebrate in that locker room one more time…definitely have some good memories there.”
 
On the play of running backs AJ Dillon and Travis Levy:

[Levy] did [have a big game against Virginia Tech last week]. He popped a split zone right up the middle on them, and it was a big play. He’s also really good in the passing game…they do a good job of involving him. He’s electric. He’s a different type of runner. He’s not as big [as Dillon]…he’s just over 200 pounds, but he’s a very, very good player. And then Dillon is just…he’s 245 pounds. That guy can move. He’s a load. A lot of people bounce off of him, so you have to do a good job of swarming and getting more than one person there, and you better wrap up and try to tackle him through his legs.”
 
On how Clemson defended Dillon last year:

We played well last year against these guys. We didn’t play great offensively…we turned the ball over, and we had terrible field position. We got backed up a couple of times and then turned it over and put our defense in bad field position a few times. But, defensively, we played well. They popped a few plays on us, but I thought our guys did a nice job of tackling, for the most part. We didn’t tackle great at safety, so we have to tackle better there…but it’s a mindset. It’s like playing Georgia Tech. There’s a Georgia Tech mindset, and there’s a BC mindset…it’s just a certain style of play, and if you’re not ready for that, they’ll embarrass you.
 
On keeping players focused and not complacent despite multiple consecutive lopsided wins:

We just do what we always do…we don’t prepare any differently. We really don’t. Yesterday was the same Monday practice that we had against Georgia Southern. We don’t do anything differently. We try to create consistency in our preparation. We don’t do anything different as coaches. Our schedules aren’t different, and we go about our business and put our plan together with a daily routine. We try to make that game the biggest game of the year, every week. We really do that. I know a lot of people say that’s just ‘coach-speak’…well, it’s ‘coach-speak’ because that’s what you have to do to be successful…be consistent. We work very hard at that, and we learn from it. If you win or you lose, you don’t get too high or too low. Fans are really high or really low, and we don’t do that. We just stay focused on the task at hand. Our guys have really bought into that…the consistency in our preparation. This is the biggest game of the year, because it’s the one we’re playing. It just so happens that after this one, if you win, they’re going to hand you a trophy. That’s pretty cool, but this isn’t any bigger than last week. Last week, if we hadn’t won that one, then this one, they don’t hand you a trophy. They’re all big, and that’s the mindset that we bring to it every single week.
 
I’m proud of our team. I think the focus and leadership of this team has been pretty special, because we’ve played a couple of teams over the last few weeks whose records aren’t very good…but our guys have shown up. They’ve played to a standard, and they take pride in their performance. That’s a really good quality of this team.




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CUTrevor 2018-11-06 11:46:16


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CUTrevor 2018-11-06 12:11:45


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CUTrevor 2018-11-06 12:51:40


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CUTrevor 2018-11-06 15:29:00


That's it for today, guys. I'll have a synopsis for you shortly. Don't forget to check back tonight at 7:00 for live play-by-play and coverage of the season opener vs. The Citadel at Littlejohn! I'll have post-game interviews as always. Stay tuned!


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