Clemson vs. Boston College Post-Game Quotes

Sept. 19, 2009

Clemson Head Coach Dabo Swinney

Thoughts on the Game: “This day goes down in my book. I think this is one of the longest games in Clemson history. It’s a Clemson commandment that we play hard for 60 minutes; however long the 60 minutes takes. It was a sloppy day, combined with sloppy weather, but we came out and showed resilience to get this win. Great play by the defense and special teams. The offense had its ups and downs, but they got the job done when they needed to.”

On the Defense: “Hats off to the defense. They gave up a total of 55 yards, which is the fewest ever to an ACC team. I am definitely proud of the defensive coaches for preparing these men for today. We’ve played three different styles of defense this season, and it has proven to be a great combination. Again, the defense played excellent the entire game.”

On Special Teams play: “There are a lot of ways to win games, and great special teams play is one of them. They helped us to get this win today. Richard Jackson had six field goals today, tying Jad Dean’s record. He showed maturity and toughness throughout the game. He is a great example of why it’s never to late to improve and grow as a player.”

Boston College Head Coach Frank Spaziani

On the play of his team: “I saw some things on defense that were positive. We caused some turnovers. I still see some issues over there, but they were productive on some things. It is an ongoing project. We saw some things that we are going to have to evaluate where we are going.”

On the weather delays: “I have never seen anything like that. It was like four halftimes. We weren’t doing a lot of speeches in there, just talking. What it did show was leadership that came out, which is positive.”

On the game: “I have to give them their due. They have good people over there. They man-handled us, and I would like to think we are better than that. We have to get it corrected and do better. Once again, Clemson, they are what they are and did a great job but we have to do better than that.”

On dealing with adversity: “I thought there were some positives with dealing with the adversity. We came out and got a turnover, and got some momentum going. How we deal with ourselves after losing is the adversity that this group is going to have to deal with.”

On dealing with C.J. Spiller: “We didn’t execute. What we were doing later on was what we were supposed to be doing the whole game. We didn’t execute the kick for whatever reason. You have to execute, and we have to correct it, but a lot of times when you correct it on the field it is too late.”

On still having a chance to win: “That’s the way we felt when we came out of the rain delay. Then they hit a pass on third and that was a big pass. If had could have stopped that and gotten in down to 19-14 I would have felt pretty good.”

Clemson Player Quotes

Richard Jackson “Eight months ago, if you would have told me I was here, I would have told you that you were lying and laughed in your face. It’s come a long way, and I can’t take credit for that. I can’t be any more honored with what happened today. It was a sloppy day today. There was wind, there was rain, everything was wet. Michael, Matt, and the offensive line were perfect. When they do that, it’s easy for me to kick.”

C.J. Spiller “The guys up front did a great job blocking for me. We saw how they were going to punt all week, so once they made their blocks and I saw it open, I just tried to put a foot down and use my speed. It felt great to get that punt return–I’ve been waiting about four years to get it.”

Thomas Austin “On offense as a whole, we just weren’t playing well. We’ll see what the film is doing. I thought we were well-prepared, and we came in and made adjustments. A little bit of a silver lining is the way we put that drive together in the fourth quarter and chewed up the clock.”

DeAndre McDaniel “This is our basic defense. We’ve been wanting to play this since Week One. We didn’t get to play this Week One or Week Two because of the offenses we faced, but we were ready to play it today. We knew what we had to come out here and do.”

Jarvis Jenkins “They had four out of five returning offensive linemen, they had an All-American center, and that was motivation for me and Brandon Thompson to go and prove what we can do. They were really good, but I think our offensive line is better up front. We practice against them, and there’s nobody better in the country to go against practice-wise.”