Football

NO.4 CLEMSON WINS CHICK-FIL-A CLASSIC 41-10 OVER GEORGIA TECH IN ATLANTA

2022-09-06 16:38:53
0

By Trevor Groves

ATLANTA, GA - Talk about a tale of two halves! Although Clemson fans predominated in the stands at Mercedes-Benz Stadium just a stone's throw away from the Georgia Tech campus, you could cut the tension with a knife when the Jackets cut the lead to 14-10 in the 3rd quarter. Most who cover Clemson closely, including myself, were expecting the Tigers' offense to roll right out of the gate now that they are finally healthy, including DJ, Ngata and Shipley, with nearly all of their weapons and offensive linemen returning. However, that was far from the case for the first two and a half quarters in Atlanta on Monday night with the eyes of the entire nation on the fourth-ranked Tigers. If you were hoping Dabo would make freshman Cade Klubnik the starting quarterback--as many Clemson fans were--perhaps you even enjoyed seeing DJ and the offense get off to a shaky start. But DJ did not let the pressure phase him. He pushed through the adversity, and the offense eventually found its footing, exploding for 27 points in the second half for the 41-10 win against a feisty Tech team that they beat just 14-8 in Death Valley last season.

The defense lived up to the hype, as I knew it would, and allowed the offense to find itself. I wrote in my preview that the Tigers can go 13-0 and make the playoff with defense and run game alone, regardless of who is at quarterback, and Monday night illustrated my point. Sophomore Andrew Mukuba intercepted a deep pass on the very first play from scrimmage with Henry hitting the quarterback on the pass, and the defense proceeded to force one three-and-out after another. Henry, Simpson and Barrett Carter were all over the place, and Bressee came up with a big sack as well. It was Carter's second career start for the Tigers, and he made his first high school start in the same stadium, growing up near Atlanta. The defense could have easily had a couple more interceptions. One should have been an easy pick-six for Nate Wiggins, and another went through Trotter's hands in the end zone.

Although DJ had a fumble in the red zone, just like he did against Tech last year, made some bad throws and took a couple bad sacks, he also made some tremendous plays. For example, the long completion to Davis Allen was an incredible throw even by Trevor Lawrence standards. Then there was the improvised lateral to Shipley for a big gain. I gasped a little bit on that play, having a flashback of the "shovel-six" DJ made at Pitt that cost the Tigers the game, but the lateral was just out of the reach of the defender this time. His 9-yard touchdown run was also impressive, and he made a couple great throws that were dropped, including one in the end zone by Beaux Collins. The touchdown pass to Beaux in the back of the end zone was another great pass.

And for those who were dying to see Cade make his debut, they got their wish at the end of the game when he came in and drove the offense 66 yards, going 4-6 for 49 yards and culminating in a roll-out touchdown pass to Will Taylor. Incidentally, did that TD play look familiar? Because it should have. It was almost identical to the rub route from Deshaun Watson to Hunter Renfrow with one second left to beat Alabama for Dabo's first national title. Talk about a good omen for Cade! They call the play "Orange Crush." Unfortunately, I was in the tunnel making my way from the press box to the field when Taylor scored. If it had been a minute or two later, I would have been standing right behind the end zone, just like I was for the play against Alabama.

As I expected, we saw freshman WR Antonio Williams make an immediate impact. He had 4 catches and was a nice spark for the offense. 11 different receivers made a catch, but Ngata only had one for 7 yards, which was a little disappointing. But at least he made it through the game injury-free! Dacari Collins did not make a catch, but he did draw a huge pass interference call, which bailed the Tigers out on 3rd down. At that point in the game, Tech had made it 14-10 and had all the momentum in the stadium. Who knows what might have happened if the Tigers had gone three-and-out on that possession, but the PI enabled the Tigers to drive down the field for a field goal and retake momentum, as well as flip field position.

Perhaps the most pleasant surprise of the game was Aidan Swanson, who made his first start at punter. That was the one position that was a question mark throughout August camp, and Dabo revealed to me just days before the game that Swanson would get the nod as the starter over kicker BT Potter, the Groza Award candidate. Swanson was under pressure to deliver right out of the gate with the offense struggling early and field position critical, and he answered the bell with several booming punts and excellent hang time, pinning the Jackets deep. Potter was also perfect on both his field goals and kickoffs. Speaking of special teams, how about the two blocked punts?! It was the first time since 2007 that the Tigers blocked two in a single game, and they have been few and far between for the Tigers over the years. The first block was by graduate Carson Donnelly, and the other was by freshman LB Wade Woodaz. Both blocks resulted in Shipley touchdowns, and the first block by Donnelly was huge, as it gave the Tigers a 7-0 lead after it was recovered by Spector, who had a couple nice plays in the passing game as well.

There will be a lot of clamor from Clemson fans, I'm sure, for Dabo to make a change at quarterback, sighting that Cade looked fantastic on his debut series. He did indeed, but keep in mind that he was not playing against all of Tech's starters on defense, and by that time, with a 24-point lead in the waning minutes, the wind had been completely taken out of the Jackets' sails, and they weren't playing with their hair on fire like they were when it was a 4-point game. We will see much more of Cade in the next couple games against Furman and LA Tech in Death Valley, but the starting job is still DJ's to lose. Put your trust in Dabo, folks. He knows the stakes and knows better than anyone which quarterback gives the Tigers the best chance to win a national championship. If he determines that guy is Cade, he won't hesitate to make a change, just as he did in 2018 when the Tigers were 4-0.

My score prediction of 34-6 was slightly off but still closer than the odds-makers, who had the Tigers favored by 23.5 points. I'll have more in a bit after I'm able to watch the game again and dissect it more thoroughly. In the meantime, the trophy presentation, post-game interviews, highlights, notes and quotes are below!

GAME NOTES

**Note: Final stats subject to change following resolution of

stat crew input difficulties in the fourth quarter.**

Clemson recorded an interception on the season’s first play from scrimmage. Safety Andrew Mukuba registered his first career interception on the play. The takeaway was Clemson’s first opening-drive takeaway since Nolan Turner recorded an interception on Virginia’s opening drive in the 2019 ACC Championship Game.
Clemson blocked two punts in a game for the first time since 2007 against South Carolina. Nelson Faerber and La'Donte Harris recorded the blocks in that 2007 contest.
Safety Carson Donnelly blocked a punt in the second quarter, Clemson’s first fully blocked punt since Jadar Johnson blocked a punt for a safety against Georgia Tech in 2015. (Note: Tanner Muse tipped a 25-yard punt in the National Championship Game to end the 2016 season against Alabama.)
Clemson added its second punt block in the fourth quarter. True freshman Wade Woodaz was credited with the block in his collegiate debut.
Clemson held Georgia Tech to 75 rushing yards and has now held five straight opponents below 100 rushing yards, dating to last season, for the first time since the final five games of 2010.
Clemson held Georgia Tech to 2-of-16 on third downs, its fewest third-down conversions allowed since holding UConn to zero third-down conversions last season.
Running back Will Shipley opened the scoring with a one-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-goal in the second quarter.
Shipley has now rushed for a touchdown in a career-long four consecutive games, dating to last season. The four-game streak represents Clemson’s longest since Travis Etienne rushed for a touchdown in seven straight games in 2020.
Shipley added his second touchdown run of the game on a three-yard fourth-quarter run, his fifth career multi-touchdown game.
Quarterback DJ Uiagalelei improved to 12-4 as a starter and completed 19-of-32 for 210 yards, a passing touchdown, a rushing touchdown and no interceptions.
Wide receiver Beaux Collins had a team-high 54 receiving yards on three receptions.
Collins scored his fourth career receiving touchdown on a six-yard pass from Uiagalalei in the second quarter.
Uiagalelei scored his ninth career rushing touchdown on a nine-yard run in the third quarter. It was his first since his fourth-quarter rushing touchdown in a comeback win at Louisville last season.
Linebacker Barrett Carter recorded his first career forced fumble in the first quarter.
Defensive end K.J. Henry recorded a third-quarter sack in which he forced his second career forced fumble. He has now forced a fumble in each of Clemson’s last two regular season games, including a forced fumble at South Carolina to close the 2021 regular season.
Henry has now recorded at least a half-sack in five straight games, dating to last season, for the first time in his career.
Defensive tackle Bryan Bresee and linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Jr. split a fourth-quarter sack.
Kicker B.T. Potter recorded his first field goal of the season on a 29-yard kick in the third quarter. The field goal was the culmination of a 12-play, 63-yard drive, Clemson’s longest drive of the evening in terms of plays.
Potter later added another field goal in the fourth quarter to extend Clemson’s lead to 17.
With the two field goals, Potter passed Greg Huegel (54 from 2015-18) and tied Aaron Hunt (55 from 2000-03) for fifth on Clemson's leaderboard for career field goals made.
Dating to last season, Potter has now kicked multiple field goals in six consecutive games for the first time in his career. Potter went 3-of-3 against Louisville, UConn and South Carolina, 2-for-2 against Wake Forest and 2-for-3 against Iowa State down the stretch last season prior to his performance against Georgia Tech on Monday.
On a PAT following Uiagalelei’s touchdown run, Potter scored his 350th career point to join Travis Etienne (468 from 2017-20), Chandler Catanzaro (404 from 2010-13) and Greg Huegel (379 from 2015-18) as the only players in school history to reach 350 career points.
Potter (351) became the 15th player in ACC history to record 350 career kicking points.
True freshman wide receiver Antonio Williams recorded four receptions for 37 yards in his collegiate debut. Williams’ four catches in a season opener were the most by a Clemson true freshman in a season opener since Ray-Ray McCloud in 2015 (eight vs. Wofford).
Quarterback Cade Klubnik made his collegiate debut and engineered a 10–play, 66-yard touchdown drive that culminated with his first career touchdown pass, a three-yard completion to wide receiver Will Taylor.
The receiving touchdown was Taylor’s first of his career. Taylor, a dual-sport athlete at Clemson, became the first Clemson Baseball player to score a touchdown for Clemson since Kyle Parker’s three-yard touchdown run against Wake Forest in 2009.
Klubnik completed 4-of-6 passes for 49 yards with the touchdown.
After missing the entire 2021 season, wide receiver Brannon Spector saw his first game action since the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1, 2021, a span of 612 days. Spector finished with two catches for 11 yards.
Offensive tackle Blake Miller started at right tackle and became only the third true freshman to start a season opener at offensive tackle for Clemson since 1944, joining Mitch Hyatt (2015) and Phil Prince (1944).
Punter Aidan Swanson made his first career start and recorded a career-long 51-yarder on his first punt. He finished the game with a 44.0-yard average on six punts with three downed inside the 20-yard line.
Clemson faced Georgia Tech away from one of the teams' campuses for the first time since the 2009 ACC Championship Game in Tampa, Fla. It was the first regular season game away from one of the teams' campuses since 1899, when Clemson defeated Georgia Tech, 41-5, in Greenville, S.C. on Thanksgiving Day.
Clemson played its 19th game in an NFL stadium since 2015. The win gave Clemson victories in 16 of its last 22 games in NFL stadiums and improved the Tigers to 19-10 all-time in NFL stadiums under Head Coach Dabo Swinney. Swinney moved to 3-0 in Atlanta, including a 2-0 record in games played at the old Georgia Dome.
Clemson played its 26th Monday game all-time but only its 10th regular season Monday game in school history. It was Clemson’s first Monday night game since a 24-18 Labor Day win vs. Florida State in the 2007 season opener.
Clemson opened the season on the road for the third time since 2016, including No. 2 Clemson’s 19-13 win at Auburn in 2016 and No. 1 Clemson’s 37-13 win at Wake Forest in 2020.
Clemson opened conference play on the road for the ninth time in the last 11 years. Clemson has now won each of its last eight conference openers since 2015, the longest conference-opener winning streak in school history. This season marked the fifth time in the last seven years that Georgia Tech will be Clemson’s first ACC opponent of the season (2016, 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022).
Clemson opened a season against an ACC opponent for only the 15th time since the conference’s founding in 1953. Clemson is now 12-2-1 against ACC opponents in Week 1 contests all-time.
Captains for the contest were tight end Davis Allen, defensive end Justin Mascoll, wide receiver Joseph Ngata and safety Jalyn Phillips.

WITH THE WIN...

Clemson improved to 95-24-8 all-time in season openers and gave the Tigers victories in 12 of their last 14 season debuts.
Clemson improved to 15-11 all-time in Monday games, including a 7-3 record in Monday regular season games.
Clemson earned its 35th all-time victory against Georgia Tech. Georgia Tech is one of 11 schools against whom Clemson has earned at least 30 all-time victories (South Carolina, Wake Forest, North Carolina State, Furman, Virginia, North Carolina, Duke, Maryland, Presbyterian and The Citadel).
Clemson won its eighth consecutive game against Georgia Tech, dating to a 43-24 home win in 2015. It extended Clemson’s longest winning streak in the all-time series and doubled its second-longest winning streaks in series history (four-game winning streaks across the 1898-1903 seasons and the 1993-96 campaigns).
Clemson won a fourth straight road game against Georgia Tech for the first time in series history. The win was Clemson’s 16th all-time road win against Georgia Tech.
Clemson improved to 12-2 against Georgia Tech in ACC openers since the ACC’s first season in 1953.
Clemson improved to 44-25-1 in conference openers since joining the ACC.
Clemson's 2022 senior class became the ninth senior class in Clemson history to win all four of its ACC openers, joining 4-0 records posted by the 1983, 1984, 1989, 2005, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021 senior classes in ACC debuts.
Clemson improved to 59-5 against ACC opponents (including postseason play) since the start of the 2015 season.
Clemson improved to 77-6 in regular season play since the start of the 2015 season.
Clemson improved to 35-9 against opponents historically from the ACC Coastal Division, including postseason play, under Head Coach Dabo Swinney. That figure includes games against traditional Coastal opponents in a divisionless season in 2020. Clemson has now won 21 of its last 23 games against the Coastal Division since 2015.
Clemson improved to 118-13 against AP-unranked teams under Dabo Swinney. Clemson is now 95-3 against unranked teams since the start of the 2012 season.
Clemson improved to 22-4 in night games since the start of the 2018 season. The win moved Clemson to 41-7 at night since 2015.
Clemson improved to 31-4 in true road games since 2015.
Clemson improved to 26-2 in September games since 2015.
Clemson is now 67-4 when scoring first since 2015.
Clemson has now won 97 of its last 99 games, including each of its last 60, when leading at halftime.
Clemson improved to 119-2 since 2011 when leading after three quarters.
Head Coach Dabo Swinney improved to 11-5 all-time against Georgia Tech, including postseason play. Georgia Tech was already one of four schools against which Swinney has recorded double-digit victories (Boston College, 13; Wake Forest, 13; NC State, 10).

DABO SWINNEY: Well, first of all, appreciate the opportunity to be here tonight. Thankful for that. Appreciate Chick-fil-a and just the awesome job that they do with everything. Gary Stokan, man, just a class act and everything about the whole organization.

It was a fun night. I literally did forget there was a trophy. That didn't even enter my equation, but thankful that we got it.

Last time we were in this game, we were able to, I think, beat Auburn in '12. And then we came back later on in December, and we won. If we can win again in December, good things are probably happening for the Tigers.

Fun night. Proud of our guys. Knew that it was going to be a little bit of a feeling-out process with them. They had a lot of new people. A lot of new personnel. A lot of new coaches.

Defense really set the tone for us and allowed us to settle in. Honestly, it was probably kind of best case scenario. We had a couple of patches where we struggled a little bit.

The first drive is really good. We need a foot, and I think Putnam was just amped up. First game in that environment, and he throws a little high and a heater, and we were lucky that we got our hand on it, and we were able to at least punt the ball away.

Then the second drive is a great drive. We get down. It was close. They told me wrong. I thought they called him down. So when they said "stands," we thought we had the ball. We had some miscommunication there.

They called him a fumble, so as it stands, they got the ball. That was a costly turnover. We were almost in the Red Zone there.

Then we had a couple of bad field positions, and then all of a sudden, man, I just love how we responded. I think you saw DJ do things tonight that we needed to see and that he didn't do last year.

Man, he made a lot of plays with his legs. He showed great leadership, great moxie. Like I said, probably best case scenario that it didn't just all go perfect because it's good to see him. There's nobody in America that had more eyes on him tonight than our quarterback. I love how he responded.

He led. He made some huge plays for us. We left a little out there. We dropped a huge slant-and-go. It was right on the money. Probably missed one other throw that needed to be just a little more outside to the back shoulder to E.J., and that probably was a touchdown.

He made good decisions. We had some communication things we have to clean up. I was really disappointed on the third down and three. We were all jacked up. The line went one way, and our skill went the other way, and bad stuff happens. That was a TFL for us.

We were 7 of 15 on third down and 60% completion and made some big plays. Again, just proud of what I saw offensively there in the second half in particular. I thought we settled in.

When it was 14-10 and you could kind of feel a little tension, 12-play drive, 9-play drive. I think we scored four out of the next five possessions I think we scored. I'm just really proud of how we respond and how the guys competed and played.

We got the tempo going. I thought we warmed down in the fourth quarter. It was really good to see. A lot of guys making plays. Bryn, he had a huge third down. It was a targeting as well. I thought that was a big momentum play.

Davis Allen, a couple of huge plays. Beaux Collins. Antonio Williams had some huge plays and some runs after the catch that I thought were crucial for us. All the backs.

We had some short fields because of the blocked punts and stop on downs. There's probably more yardage out there that we could have, but I'll take short yardage -- short fields any game. I'll give up 515 yards for 378 or 379 every single game if we can get short field position like that any game.

Again, offensively, putting Cade in. We weren't trying to run the score up, but we just needed him to play. I needed him to go out there and hand the ball off. I needed him to have to play.

Man, our backup receivers did a great job. He did an awesome job and sparked us. It was a lot of fun to see Will Taylor. Drew made a couple of big plays. Will Taylor gets the touchdown. Domonique Thomas got in there. Our whole second offensive line, and we go right down the field.

It was good to see. It's really good for those guys. It's good experience that we can build on, and then defensively, man, again, they set the tone. Only ten points. Name of the game is points.

We need to be a better pass defense this year. We need to be a better pass offense and passion defense, and I saw both of those things tonight.

First play of the game, great position by Fred and Mukuba to set the tone for that. 2 of 16 on third down. That's just outstanding.

I thought we were active up front. We played a ton of people. We had a couple of sacks, stop on downs. I thought the quarterback did some good things. They only had one big play. It was 21 yards.

I'm just really proud of our D and how they stood up. We got some things. Same thing, communication. We've got a fourth and six, we're playing cover zero, and we line up outside. You can't get beat inside. That's the easiest throw in the book.

You've got to take away the leverage, so some things like that. I thought we did a very average job at times on some of the perimeter tackling that we can clean up where they got some yards after contact, made some guys miss.

Again, first game. You've had two scrimmages, and that's it. Those are controlled and limited. A lot of things that we can build on defensively. Just really proud of how they responded and then how the offense came alongside them, and we played really great complimentary football in the second half.

Carson Donnelly, has been here five years. What a grinder. What a huge play. It's the first time since '07 that we blocked two punts, and I was at the game. I had two wideouts. My two wideouts at South Carolina, Nelson Faerber and Donte Harris, blocked two punts in that game. I'll never forget it, and set the tone. I'm really happy for Carson Donnelly, and I'm glad we were able to punch that in to get the points.

Then Wade Woodaz, true freshman. He comes out there and gets another one. B.T., it's great to know you got a weapon like B.T.

But to me the story for me special teams-wise was Aidan Swanson. You media that were at that first practice, I know y'all were probably pretty shocked. Y'all probably thought I was blowing smoke, but he really only had one bad day. Unfortunately, y'all were there. Maybe I should move the punt until the end of practice when y'all are gone.

It was awful for sure. After that first day, Aidan has been great. And to be able to see him come out there tonight and have a game like he did, that's going to be a great confidence-builder for him.

Really, really proud of the special teams and what we were able to do. Again, it's just a good start. The goal was to win the opener and create some momentum. Something we didn't do last year. Every championship team I've had we won the opener, so it's a big game. And, again, a lot we can build on and correct.

Good teams keep getting better, and I think that's what we'll do. We have a quick turnaround on a short week. It's Sunday for us tomorrow, but it's Tuesday in the rest of the world, and we play again on Saturday. We have a good plan, and I'm glad we were able to play a lot of guys there in the fourth quarter.

Really appreciate our fans. I thought it was a good environment, and, again, a lot of fun and a good start for us.

With that I'll take your questions.

Q. Coach, two questions: First, talk a little bit about the flow with two new coordinators, and then also, you're mentioning your son. Just the dad in you being able to see him out there, realize his dream. Just talk a little bit about that as well as being a dad as well as a coach.

DABO SWINNEY: Drew is a good little player, man. He really is. You ask anybody on the team, they'll tell you that. He has worked really hard.

He has had some injuries. He broke his collarbone. He has a plate and nine screws in his collarbone. He missed a little time. He probably had as good a spring as anybody. He is a kid we trust. He is gritty. He has played some special teams.

Really happy for him, proud of him. It was fun. Cade put the ball on the money and finished the plays and then great execution on the little bunch route with he and Will Taylor for the touchdown.

What was the other question?

Q. Coordinators.

DABO SWINNEY: Yeah, well, thankful that we had kind of a trial run, if you will, in the Cheez-It Bowl. Probably shouldn't say Cheez-It Bowl. We're in Chick-fil-a here. Chick-fil-a and Cheez-Its, they all go good together (laughing).

We had a little trial run, and I think that was helpful for all of us, but those guys have done a great job. We've got an awesome staff. It's a lot of fun.

Gave a game ball to Graham Neff in there. He is off to a better start than me because my first-ever game I lost to Georgia Tech. Tyler Grisham threw a pick-6 in that game, and Thomas Austin got a real bad holding call in that game, and now they're on my staff.

Graham is a Georgia Tech grad, so I know this was a big night for him. His first game as the A.D. Then gave one to Nick Eason as well. First game back in 20 years for Nick Eason. Proud of him.

We have a lot of new guys, a lot of new people on the staff, so it's fun to get off to a good start. The coordinators, I thought they did a great job.

Again, it's frustrating at times when you know you've got a really good play-call, but maybe you don't quite execute as well or you have something a little off or communication or whatever, but I thought Street hung in there and really, again, got the rhythm going, got the tempo going, and we wore them down late.

Q. Miles Williams of the three-point conversion. Now, I heard you talking about being active on the line. Was it something that you saw in Georgia Tech maybe in the past or on film that you felt on defense, specifically moving on the line because it seemed like they kept getting false starts after false starts with the movement. Was that strategic?

DABO SWINNEY: We do a lot of stemming defensively. We always have. We're in and out of even fronts and odd fronts and bear fronts and Okie fronts. We don't line up a lot and just sit there. We try to move around and create some disruption, but, I don't know, I can't speak to that.

We've been there too (laughing). We've jumped offsides a lot in critical times as well. I thought for the most part we were pretty clean tonight. I don't know what the penalties were, but --

Q. I think it was three.

DABO SWINNEY: Three? We did a pretty good job for the most part. Just some of the stuff that you see on -- I saw a lot of stuff. Man, I don't know that I have ever watched more football since last Thursday.

It's been crazy because, you know, you're so far ahead. You're ready to play. We got to watch a lot of ball. It was, like, Coaching 101 the last five days. Just so many situations and just special teams stuff and sloppy play here or there and just some issues.

I thought for the most part our team, outside of a few spots here and there, we played a pretty clean game for an opener. You know? Midseason I would be a little disappointed in some areas, but for an opener we were pretty clean.

Q. DJ was just asked about Cade's final drive and kind of lit up talking about it. How have you seen the relationship between those two guys grow over the course of the offseason?

DABO SWINNEY: Well, they're, first of all, great kids. They're both just incredible young men. They're both very humble. They're both great leaders. They're both really, really talented they support each other.

It's been awesome, and, again, kind of best case scenario tonight that, again, DJ had to kind of fight through some adversity and just really show the grit and moxie, and he made some big plays, man, with his feet, extended plays, made some beautiful throws.

I thought our guys made some plays. I would have liked to see Davis make that play down on the goal line. We have to make that play.

E.J. had one that we ended up having to punt right there. Scott punted at the end because we had a drop right on the money there.

We missed a few, but we made some big plays that we didn't make last year to support him. I'm just proud of him.

Again, and then for Cade to be able to get in there and really the moment not be too big, just poised, accurate, and made some great plays.

Very good decisionmaker. He showed his aptitude, how he can process things. I was hoping we would get one more shot, and I could get Hunter in there, but it's a good situation for us for sure. That's the most important position in football. We've got guys that can go win.

Q. That spin move by DJ where he broke the tackles and the lateral to Shipley, that seemed to maybe change everything at that point in time, and you guys went on from there. What does that say to you about him and just the way you talked about him being able to keep plays alive and make things happen, but is that the kind of things you believe about him?

DABO SWINNEY: That's a play we didn't make last year. We didn't make that play. I think about the NC State game. Clemson fans remember that. You remember that? He kind of ran and flipped that thing to Shipley, and Shipley dropped it. He probably would have gone 60 yards.

We didn't make some of those plays. Then, again, just I think just his strength, his grit, and just where he is physically. Just finding a way, man. He has some creativity to him. That was a big play. I thought that was a huge, huge play. Downhill run by Shipley to go get it.

Those are the plays you got to make. That's football. I mean, that's the type of ball plays that you have to make to be a good offense. It's not always going to go according to the script. You've got to make plays. Sometimes when maybe it's not as clean or it's not there. I loved how we were able to do that down the stretch.

Q. Outside of QB run, would you have liked to have seen more production from the run game tonight?

DABO SWINNEY: Again, we had short fields. We had several. That's one thing I'm not worried about. We need to be to be a better pass offense.

Y'all wrote all about how terrible we were at pass offense, and rightfully so. We were God-awful. We need to get better, and I thought we got better. We're 60% completion. We're 7 of 15 on third down. Made some big plays, and we left some stuff out there.

Again, we had some very short fields, but we did some good things in the run game. But yeah, you would like to have more rushing yards, and I think I don't think we're going to have every game where we have some starting field position the way we did. I'll take it, and y'all can ask me that question every week: Where is the running game? I don't know. We scored 41 points. It's definitely an area we can improve.

The third and one. We're going to get that, but you get a snap right there. You get that, and then that leads to another possession. Here you go.

Just a lot of things we can clean up. It's never perfect, but we've got good players, and I thought they all did some good things.

Q. You talked a little bit about some of the plays that got made that you wouldn't have made last year, didn't make last year. I'm curious for DJ if particular, what did you see from him in this game that maybe you didn't see consistently last year in terms of growth or things that he was able to do out there?

DABO SWINNEY: He didn't make a bad play worse. Took care of the ball outside the one play and put the ball on the money, and I thought he pushed through the adversity.

Q. You mentioned the pass game. What's it like to have a guy like Antonio Williams show up on campus in July and perform like he has to get where he is? As well, with Brandon coming back and Will coming back from injury, having the true slot guys there this year.

DABO SWINNEY: He is a great player, and he will play the slot, and he will play the outside spot too. He will play a couple of spots for us as we go through the year.

He is a really good player, and we've seen that all camp. Will is coming. As I've said, Will -- they're very similar in their ability, to be honest with you.

Antonio just is a more polished true receiver. That's all he has played, whereas Will Taylor is a quarterback. We never really got to transition him because he spent all year rehabbing an ACL and didn't get the fall, and he didn't get any work in the spring. He is literally like a true freshman and a new position. He just took the brace off.

So they're very similar, but Antonio is just a more polished, savvy route runner and all that because he just has played, but Will is coming.

It's good to have those guys for sure. Speck is a baller. We've got a good group. E.J. can play in and out. Beaux. We've got a lot of guys there that are all having opportunities to make plays for us. I thought Decari drawing the PI was a big play for us on third down. Big body. It was a good throw by DJ to give him a chance to make a play, and we got the PI there.

Just, again, a lot of guys had opportunities to play and touch it, and we just trust those guys. Listen, y'all wait until you see Adam Randall. Don't forget about him. He is pretty good. Honestly, he could have played tonight. Just kind of holding him back.

He had a full week and a half of practice all scout team, and he is going to do scout team this week. We're going to get him back real soon, and that's going to be a nice -- that's a nice guy to add to the equation for sure.

That little Antonio is off to a great start tonight.

Q. Coach, I know DJ is your starter, but do you want to get Cade more involved in games these next couple of weeks, and what do you foresee for Cade these next --

DABO SWINNEY: Just like we said, no different than when DJ came in here and Trevor was the starter. We wanted to get DJ as much opportunity as we can. We definitely want to get Cade as much opportunity assist we can within the flow of the game and within the flow of the season.

Really proud of him and how he started, and that's going to be huge for his confidence. I'm really glad it worked out that he was able to get in because as opposed to waiting another week to get your first snap because now he has a taste of it. Not only that, but on the road.

Definitely want to get him as much opportunity as we can just to develop some confidence and get him some experience. Because as we saw with DJ, right, a couple of years ago, boom, next thing you know, you've got to be able to go in. DJ was, I think, was MVP of the Boston College game, and then goes up to Notre Dame and throws for almost 500 yards. We didn't win the game in double overtime there, but you just never know. As much experience as we can get, we definitely would love to do that.

Q. How would you describe the overall play of the offense tonight?

DABO SWINNEY: Not midseason form. Again, we had some communication things that got to be cleaned up. Critical third and three. Total miscommunication. We had the one snap. We had the fumble not quite in the Red Zone.

We were 7 for 7 in the Red Zone scoring. That's really good. We were 7 for 7, and that's an area we need to be great. We'll watch the tape, and I'm sure there's some other things.

We missed a couple of plays. We had a couple of drops. One big one by Beaux, but he made some big plays. And then we had one missed throw I thought would have been a touchdown to E.J. if we just put the ball a little bit more outside.

Good. They showed some poise, some resiliency. They, again, scored 4 out of the last 5 I think drives and did a good job on third down. 7 of 15, third down, 60% completion. 7 of 7 in the Red Zone. A lot of good things.

The good news is there will be a bunch we've got to correct to keep getting better, but it's a good start, and we can build on it. Good teams get better. If we're going to be a great team, that's what we'll have to do.

Q. You've talked a lot about needing to be better around DJ this year. Wide receiver and offensive line in particular, did you see what you were hoping to today?

DABO SWINNEY: Absolutely. Blake Miller, he had a couple of miscues. He got beat inside one time. Just footwork. Some things, but man, true freshman out there getting his first snaps in college.

I saw what I needed to see. Again, Brynny, critical play. Big plays by 84. We're a lot better around him for sure, and that makes him better. Then if he'll continue to improve on the things that he needs to improve on from last year, then we'll be better overall.

Q. You already spoke about the offense and the defense and the fact that you all had three penalties for 10 yards, but also special teams. The two blocked punts. Can you say this is maybe not a complete game, but the closest you can get to a complete game as far as the overall team?

DABO SWINNEY: Well, we can improve. Again, we'll watch this tape, and I'm sure there's things in all three phases, but we played a lot of complimentary football, and that's what you want to see.

I mean, the defense set the tone and kind of carried us for a little bit, and then when the defense kind of got on their heels a little bit, the offense responded and really picked that defense up, put some wind back in their sails. Then, bam, bam.

I thought you saw a really good complimentary football down the stretch. Field goals, punting, blocked punts, you name it. Offense, defense, it was just kind of overwhelming there in the fourth quarter, and when you compliment each other like that and you are talented like we are, then you can get it rolling.

MORE CLEMSON FOOTBALL COVERAGE HERE

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