As always, we had had Dabo's press conference this morning, followed by player interviews. Dabo started off by talking about how good Louisville's players look on tape and called them the best 2-6 team he's ever seen. Of course, they really should have beaten FSU at home but blew it in the last 2 minutes, throwing an interception on 1st and 10 that led to a game-winning TD for the Noles.
I asked Dabo about the Tigers running down The Hill for the 400th time on Saturday and how special that is for the players to be a part of. Dabo talked in depth about the progress Trevor Lawrence has made and the fact that he is getting better at decision making and knowing when to take off and run as opposed to sit in the pocket too long and take a bad sack. As I pointed out the other day, Trevor avoided a sack by getting rid of the football just in time, whereas he waited too long in both the Wake and NC State games. The Tigers remarkably did not allow a single sack against that talented FSU defensive front. DE Brian Burns was leading the nation in sacks coming into the game. Daob said Trevor is not a freshman anymore after playing 8 games.
Dabo said Falcinelli was in green yesterday but is in good shape and should be ready to go on Saturday. He talked about Justyn Ross tweaking his hamstring last week at practice and not being 100% on Saturday.
I asked Dabo about his decision to move Cervenka to the offensive side of the ball paying off and how beneficial it is to have examples like him and Chase Brice stepping up when their opportunity comes, keeping all of the backups fully engaged. Ordinarily, it would be a huge concern losing your starting center going into a place like Doak against that defense, and Cervenka was Co-Offensive MVP along with Amari Rodgers.
Finally, Dabo gave a humorous account of the team's weekly meditative exercise on Thursdays. Apparently, and not surprisingly, Brent Venables does not embrace the meditation experience. It's definitely worth a listen at about the 10:30 mark!
We had interviews with Adam Choice and Trayvon Mullen today. It was a special win on Saturday for both of those guys. Choice grew up near Tallahassee and had a lot of family and friends in the stands to see him score a touchdown. Mullen is from South Florida and talked about how special it was for him to be a part of such a historic win over his home state team.
I'll have more in a bit. In the meantime, quotes from Dabo are below, and you can watch the full press conference and interviews below. And don't forget that the CFP Selection Committee will release its first rankings tonight at 7:00 ET on ESPN! I fully expect the committee to be gutless and rank Alabama #1 based on bias and rhetoric from the entire season, but the data says the Tigers should be #1, and there's really no disputing it. The Tigers' strength of record is better than Bama's, the Tigers have for weeks been the only team in the nation ranked in the top 10 for both total defense and total offense and their differential between yard per game allowed and yards per game gained is #1 in the nation, ahead of Alabama. There is really no excuse for Alabama to be #1 other than "they're Alabama," which is not what the committee is charged with using as a criteria. But again, I will be surprised if the committee has the guts to upset the apple cart--especially with some new faces and a new Chairman, Rob Mullens.
By the way, I will be on the media conference call with Chairman Rob Mullens at about 7:45 tonight, just after the release. I'll have that teleconference posted for you to hear tonight!
DABO:
We’re excited to be back at home. We have three more opportunities to play here at Clemson, and this is something we look forward to all year…these seven opportunities. Hopefully we’ll have a great crowd this week. I know we have Fall Break next week, but hopefully our students will hang around and cut out after the game on Saturday, because this is a special time. We have an unbelievable group of seniors that cherish every single moment that they get to play here at home, so they’re excited about another opportunity, and we’re looking forward to another great day in the Valley.
Louisville is 2-6, but they’re the best 2-6 team I’ve seen. I don’t know how else to say it. Their record is not indicative of the players that they have. Sometimes, you turn on a tape and look at a team, and it doesn’t take long [to react negatively], but these guys are physical, and they have as well-coordinated of an offensive scheme as we’ve gone against. They’ve done a great job schematically. They have a big, huge offensive line…probably the biggest offensive line we’ve played. They are massive up front…and they have probably as good of a group of receivers as we’ve played. I’d say the same thing about the receivers…big, huge, 6’4”. One of them is 6’6”, I think. These are big, big guys. They have a very effective tight end in [Micky] Crum. They have two good running backs…the freshman, [Hassan Hal], is impressive on tape. He’s come on as of late, and he’s a fast, explosive kid.
The biggest thing is that they’re 127th in the country in turnover margin. So, if you want to say, ‘what’s happened’…well, there’s 130 teams, and they’re 127th in turnover margin. They’ve had some very tough breaks, and I’m sure that their coaches are frustrated with a lot of missed opportunities, because they’re very capable of playing with anybody. From a physicality standpoint, a schematic standpoint, and a skill standpoint…they have those things on this team. But when you turn the ball over at the rate that they’ve turned it over, you’re going to end up coming out on the short end of the deal, a lot. And that’s what’s happened for them. They had a 24-20 game into the fourth quarter with Boston College. They really, truly should have won the Florida State game. I’ve seen that one a few times over the last couple of weeks, and they just missed some opportunities against those guys. They’ve had some tough breaks, but again, this offensive line…the quarterback is a young guy. That’s the other thing…he’s a young guy that they’re committed to, and they’re bringing him along. He runs very well, and he’s big. He probably hasn’t been as consistent as they’ve wanted him to be, but then you put a little cut-up together, and bang…there’s eight big plays against Alabama. He’s a very streaky, capable guy. We expect a challenge and a big-time battle from a physical standpoint. We’re going to have to really play well defensively and have the right mindset to take on the type of scheme that they present…all the boots, crossers, down-and-arounds and g-schemes…they come right at you, and all the stuff that comes off of it is well-coordinated. [They take] a bunch of shots down the field…we have to win matchups, because with those big receivers, they’re going to put the ball up one-on-one.
On the flipside of it, it’s the same thing. You look at their defensive line…they have a bunch of guys. Same thing…they have a good scheme on that side of the ball. They’re aggressive, and they’ve had some short fields that they’ve had to deal with along the way, but this is not a 2-6 football team. That’s what their record is, but that’s not indicative of the type of talent that they have on this team. For us, it’s about being locked in. They’re one of the better punt returners.
Again, it’s just about being locked in and continuing to build momentum and confidence in what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to play our best game each and every week…kind of competing against ourselves to see if we can be consistent and put our best four quarters [together]…‘hey, last week was great, but can we be consistent? Can we clean up some of the mistakes from last week? Can we continue to win the turnover margin? Can we continue to make a difference in special teams? Can we finish the big plays when they present themselves? Can we cut out the couple of busts that we had last week?’ There are just so many things that we have to focus on, and we’re excited to have the opportunity to go out and play. We’re looking forward to practice today…getting back out there for a good, tough Tuesday practice. Today will be a tough practice, because again, with their style of play, you better have your mind right. If not, they can embarrass you pretty quick with their style.
As far as our team goes, I like where we are. I think that we have a healthy team. We have a confident team. We have a team that has good momentum right now. But more importantly, we have great leadership, and we have a team that is very, very focused. That will serve us well as we enter into what we call our ‘Championship Phase’ of our journey for this year. We work all year. We started last January, and now here we are rolling into November, and we’re right where we want to be. We have a lot of opportunity [left]…we’ve only achieved one goal…we won the opener. This phase of our season presents a lot of opportunity for us, but you have to put your best foot forward every single week, every single play. High sense of urgency, attention to details, continuing to prepare with purpose every day…I’ve seen all of that in our guys. We’re excited about getting back to work today, and we’re looking forward to a great day in the Valley on Saturday.
On the 400th all-time Hill run being Saturday:
That’s pretty cool. I saw that, last night, on the radio show…they had that in the notes. But that’s pretty amazing…it really is. You sit down and you think about that tradition and all of the players who have come through here and [have or will] tell their kids and their grandkids about that opportunity…to know that we get the chance to be a part of that 400th one is pretty cool. It’s pretty cool.
On the status of the redshirts:
The only one right now that we’ve used all four games with is K.J. [Henry]. I think he’s the only one that I know we’re trying to hold, and that’s what he wants to do. And we’re in a position to do that right now, unless something changes. If we get down the road and have a change or two, then we might have to revisit that, but right now, he’s the only one that we’ve burned all four games [with]. Everyone else is still in a good spot, and I think we’ve gotten most all of them in at least one game. I know [Justin] Mascoll got in that last [home] game, and Jake [Venables] and Mike [Jones Jr.]. Of course, K.J. has gotten there, and [James] Skalski has played. [Jordan] McFadden has played…most of those guys have gotten in there a little bit, and we’ll se how it goes down the stretch and if we have more opportunity, but with four games left, I think we’re in a good place with all of those guys.
On the play of Amari Rodgers against Florida State:
He’s been consistent really all around, all year. He just hadn’t had that big, explosive play. Against Texas A&M, he had a big touchdown on a hitch-and-go, but [Florida State] was a huge game for him…he led our team in yards after the catch. He had two great plays. It was definitely one of those games that can give you a big boost as we’re going into game nine here. I was really happy for him…he had a great all-purpose day. He’s a good football player, man. He’s a well-rounded player that can do a lot of things for us.
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