Clemson vs. N.C. State Postgame Coaches’ Quotes

Nov. 6, 2010

Clemson Head Coach Dabo Swinney

Overall Thoughts: “This was a great win for the team. All the credit goes to the players for their hard work and effort. They didn’t quit and kept playing throughout the game. We had a lot of perseverance today.”

“As a team we have played a lot better in the past and had disappointing losses, but not because of our players’ effort and heart. Today was a rough game, we had a lot of missed opportunities and turnovers, but we pulled through a great win.”

“Our team is on one accord, one heartbeat, and doesn’t point fingers or lay blame on one another. We have the right ingredients here that are paving this foundation. This will help the boys win a lot more games down the road.”

On the play of the defense: “They got off to a bad start, but they never quit or backed down. I gave them the game balls for their play. For them to hold NC State to 275 yards speaks volumes for our defense. They had a great performance today and it was only fitting that they got to finish the game ending NC State’s last chance to score.”

On the play of Dawson Zimmerman: “What a great save he had with that one-handed catch of the snap. That was the play of the game. I gave him a game ball also for that catch.”

On the final scoring drive: “Kyle came back in that series strong. He pulled himself together and showed a lot of heart. He made big plays to (Jamie) Harper and (DeAndre) Hopkins. I’m real proud of him for persevering during the game.”

NC State Head Coach Tom O’Brien

Overall thoughts on the game: “Certainly it was a tough day for us. We had our chances, but you have to give their defense credit. That’s as solid a defense as we’ve played all year. We had our opportunities to make plays and we couldn’t make them on offense. We kept them in the game. I think our defense played really well. We lost our destiny, but we’re still in it. Somebody has to help us now.”

On Clemson’s defense: “They’re so powerful up front. Our guys were run over more than one time. But we had some opportunities. We had some chances. When you play a defense like that, when you’re overmatched, then you have to make the plays. If you make the plays, then it’s a totally different story.”

On the decision to punt the ball late in the game: “I punted on fourth-and-one because I didn’t think we’d punt the ball four yards. If you punt the ball down inside the ten-yard-line like you’re supposed to, you use your timeouts, which we did, and you get the ball back with over three minutes. That’s plenty of time to go win a football game. We didn’t make it on third-and-one, so I didn’t have a lot of faith we were going to make it on fourth-and-one.”

On the play of his defense: “Obviously, we played the run. I don’t think we gave up any big runs. They got a couple of screen passes and a couple of balls over the middle against our two-deep, which we have to be able to handle. We brought some pressure to bear on (Kyle) Parker, but not enough continually.”

Post-Game Clemson Player Quotes

Defensive End Da’Quan Bowers “I’m really proud of my guys. We came in with a chip on our shoulder that we need to step up defensively. I’m proud of the effort my guys gave throughout the game.”

“I think we should play with that intensity every game. There shouldn’t be ups and downs in different games. If our defense would play like that every game, we would always keep the offense in it. We just need to keep going, keep getting better and come in ready to go on Monday.”

“Coach Swinney says it all the time: We’ve played a whole lot better and lost. It doesn’t matter what it takes, as long as we get the W. That’s all that matters.”

“This is going to create a lot of momentum for us. We have to keep up the intensity on the defensive side of the ball and the offense is going to get it together. We’re going to take it down to Tallahassee and try to get the victory.”

Defensive End Andre Branch “We always have confidence, we just never stay satisfied. Coach Steele just told us when they have the ball, don’t let them score. That’s what we went out there and did.”

“Coach Steele is our leader. When we saw him down, we wanted to pick him up by playing like we did.”

Cornerback Marcus Gilchrist “Whenever everybody’s out there doing their job, games like this turn out to be successful. There are still some things we (the defense) can go out there and correct, we gave them a couple yards here and there, but overall, the team came together and we put all three phases together and were able to come out and win.”

“This is the most important game because this is the game right now. That’s all we wanted to focus on. Of course, we don’t like what happened in the past, but we tried to move forward and that’s what we did today.”

“That kickoff return was just great blocking. I just want to commend those blockers in front. We work so hard throughout the week and I was just able to get a seam and go a long distance.”

“As a team, we try to put all three phases together. The offense was moving the ball very well. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to get a couple scores, but they were moving the ball well enough to get us in good position to give them the ball back. We all three try to work together (offense, defense, special teams) and today the outcome was what we wanted.”

Wide Receiver DeAndre Hopkins “Last week we didn’t do a good job on scrambling plays, but Kyle worked on that this week. They were playing cover-two and there are always holes in cover two. I found those holes and Kyle hit me a few times.”

“I haven’t been in the end zone since the Presbyterian game, but it was a great feeling to get in the end zone in front of the home fans.”

“It doesn’t matter how we get it, we just needed momentum. We need guys stepping up and making plays. It wasn’t the prettiest thing, but we got the job done.”