Saturday 10/18/2008
Oct. 18, 2008
Recap | Final Stats | Notes | GALLERY (courtesy of Zach Hanby and Mark Crammer) | Photo Gallery
Clemson Interim Head Coach Dabo Swinney “I am not disappointed in these men today. I’m proud. These guys are not losers. What they did in the past three and a half days was great. They played with passion and fight today, and this is just the start of a unified Clemson team.”
“I wish we could have come out on top today, but they had fewer penalties and fumbles compared to us. But I can not be mad at what these boys did today. They have grown as young men, and they are learning to have passion for the paw on their helmets.”
“Cullen played with a lot of heart today. He has a fractured shoulder, and came out and made some great plays.”
“We made adjustments from the first half. We executed better in the second half. This is just the start of a seven-week plan to lay the foundation and rebuild this program that allows the guys to have passion for the game and the team they play for.”
Georgia Tech Head Coach Paul Johnson “I thought our defense played well. (Dominique Reese) had a lot of big plays today. Our defense has played well all year. I think we were running out of gas at the end a little bit, but they made some nice plays. We played a lot of young guys when Jahi (Word-Daniels) got hurt. Young kids came in and played. I couldn’t be happier for the football team. They played hard.”
“Josh (Nesbitt) missed a couple of reads early in the game. But, they played one front and we blocked the wrong guys about four or five times. We have a lot of things that we can work on. We can play a lot better than we played.”
“The kids have shown some toughness and character on the road. It makes you proud as a coach. They fight back and never hang their heads. They keep playing.”
“I thought Clemson came out and played hard. The kids had fun playing. I figured we would get their best shot and we did. I also thought we would see their other quarterback (Cullen Harper) and we did see him.”
Quarterback Cullen Harper “It’s disappointing, because we came in here and fought. We wanted it so bad, but penalties and mistakes cost us once again. We’re 100 percent behind Coach Swinney and we’re going to keep fighting. He’s brought us together; we’re a big family.”
Cornerback Chris Chancellor “The team really came together this week behind Coach Swinney. We’ve got to keep our heads up; if we came together in three days, imagine what we can do the rest of this season. Now we’ve just got to get ready for Boston College.”
Defensive Tackle Jock McKissic “Coach Swinney said he was proud of us, just like he has all week; he said not to pay attention to the scoreboard, just go all-in and lay it all on the line. It’s been a crazy week and a lot of times, when there’s a coaching change, the fans back out. But the fans today showed why Clemson is a special place.”
Center Thomas Austin “The first half was a little frustrating, but the third quarter showed a glimpse of the potential we have. The emotion lasts until the first snap; when you get on the field, you have to go play football. This week was a little surreal, and you don’t really know it until you step out there on the field. The coaches put us in position to succeed, we just didn’t execute.”
Wide Receiver Aaron Kelly “We made too many mistakes to come out on top and win this game. Today was electric; it started with the Tiger Walk. It was good to see how the fans supported us. This week, there was more togetherness, guys playing for each other, and it felt really good. We made some mistakes, but I’d rather go down swinging than just go down.”
December 8, 2024
