Sunday 11/25/2012
Clemson Head Coach Dabo Swinney
Overall thoughts on the game:“We couldn’t get the ball in the third period. We just couldn’t stop them on third down. The third quarter was huge. We had too many penalties, too many turnovers and South Carolina did a great job of controlling the ball.”We got off to a good start scoring two touchdowns in the first quarter but they just started to control the ball after that. Give them credit, they did a great job. Their ability to put pressure on Tajh (Boyd) was a key. Give credit to South Carolina.””They disrupted our rhythm. We only got two plays in the third quarter and their 86 plays to our 59 was huge. You have to give them a lot of credit. Tonight was very disappointing. We played with great effort but that third quarter drive was critical.””The fun is in the winning and we just didn’t do what we needed to tonight. We dropped a lot of passes and interceptions and their third down conversions killed us. We just couldn’t get in an offensive rhythm.””I just want to apologize to our fan base, to our seniors, to everyone. I really appreciate the environment that these fans have created these past few seasons. This loss really hurts.”On South Carolina quarterback Dylan Thompson: “We couldn’t disrupt him. He threw the ball incredibly well. He was the difference in the game. We just couldn’t turn the momentum. Overall, you have to give them credit. They made just enough plays and ran the ball just enough to keep us off balance.”On the end of the game:“Penalties, the third and 19 play, it was just poor on our part. Their time of possession was unbelievable. We could never get in rhythm and it was just a bad team effort.”On Xavier Brewer:“Brewer dropped a couple interceptions, but he kept playing. After that interception in the end zone, we felt like we could reclaim the lead, but they made some big plays to keep us off balance and we just couldn’t turn the table.”
South Carolina Head Coach Steve Spurrier
On today’s game:“We were very fortunate again. It seems like when we play Clemson, they don’t play very well. We did what we needed to do, I guess, to make more plays than they did. There were a lot of penalties in this game. I’m really, really proud of our defense. That’s one of the best offenses in the country, and we held them down fairly well, to 17 points. Offensively, we did what we sort of needed to do as far as playing sort of ugly. We ran for nothing and nothing and nothing and nothing, but we kept that clock churning away. We hit a ball or two here or there, and we got a penalty here or there. We made a lot of mistakes in the game, but fortunately, our defense was good in that second half. When we hit Bruce back there, we were trying to hit the tight end and there were three guys on him. That was a key play in the game. As it turned out, our defense was really good. I feel fortunate. This team has some excellent leaders, guys that really went out and played. We’re obviously pretty happy to come out of here with a victory.”On the team’s quarterback situation:“(Dylan Thompson) played pretty well. He missed a few here and there, but he hit a few here and there. He was ready to play. He wanted to play. Connor has not been able to practice all week, and he really needed to rest that foot if he could. So, he should be ready for the bowl game, wherever we go. Connor should be the guy ready to go.”On Jadeveon Clowney:“Yeah, Jadeveon got a game ball. Of course, we gave one to all of the seniors who played here. Jadeveon, we stood him up, we moved him around a little bit, and hopefully got a one-on-one. We’ve got him for one more year, and we’re going to shake his hand and thank him for everything he’s done for South Carolina.”On his team’s ball control game plan in the second half:“We were hoping that it would be that kind of game. I don’t know how many plays they had in the second half. We didn’t have a lot of yards in our 86, but we had a lot of clock. That’s what we hoped would happen. I didn’t know it would happen, but we were fortunate.”On Thompson’s ability as a runner:“The quarterback draw just kept coming out, didn’t it? It came out twice. Dylan made a beautiful run on one that was called back for holding. The next one, he got down to about the five- or six-yard line. It took us three plays to get that one in. It just worked out. Clemson’s a really good team. We just made a bunch of third downs. It was probably a difference in the game.”
Clemson Player Quotes
Quarterback Tajh Boyd
On not scoring in the second quarter:“I don’t think it affected us. I just don’t think we got into as much of a groove as we wanted to. We just did not take advantage of some opportunities we had. Give credit to those guys. Those guys played outstanding on the other side of the ball but we just did not do what we need to do on the offensive side.” On the second half:“We only ran 19 plays in the second half; it just makes it that much more important, crucial, to take advantage of those opportunities that you do have. We will learn a lesson here, a life lesson as well. We just have to come back and get ready for this bowl.” Center Dalton Freeman
On the loss: “It is actually very disappointing. Not just losing this one, but losing four in a row to them. But you have to give them all the credit. They had us for the past four years. They have out played us.”On the play of South Carolina:“It’s not even really them, it’s us. We’re just not playing our style of football. It’s turning the ball over, not stopping them on third down. It’s us, it’s not them.” On South Carolina’s defense:“They have a great front. We weren’t able to get in a rhythm. I think they had the ball 90% of the second half. It was very hard to get into a rhythm and get things going. Then we got down, and they just pinned their ears back and rushed the quarterback, so it was tough. Our offense is built a lot on being able to get into a rhythm and we were not able to do that.” Cornerback Xavier Brewer
On sack and interception:“It just worked out perfectly. With the sack, I just came free and was able to make the play on the back side. And on the pick, we had a lot of great pressure so he was just trying to lob it up out of the back of the end zone. I was able to just go up and get it.” “I definitely thought it was the spark we needed, but we definitely some missed opportunities. I should have had two other interceptions that definitely could have changed the game. That I am looking back on and still disappointed.”
South Carolina Player QuotesQuarterback Dylan Thompson
On third and nineteen quarterback draw:“I was expecting a zone defensive look, but they were in man. So, since the receivers were blocking great downfield, I just took off. It was just a great play call by coach. I just tried to get the first down and get us a win.”On excitement of starting the game:“I wasn’t nervous at all. In the Florida game, I felt like I didn’t really get comfortable until the end of the game. Since I got most of the reps in practice this week, I wasn’t really nervous at all. The more reps you get in practice, the better you’re going to be. I knew I had my team behind me and it just helped me not be nervous. Everybody was so encouraging and you don’t get nervous when you have your whole team behind you.”On win against Clemson:“My sister graduated from Clemson so you have no idea how good it feels to get this win. It’s so crazy to see how God works things out.”On third down conversions:“You know, luck is always there, but usually it was great play calling by Coach. It was wide open every time we had a third down. It was just a great called game. It was huge to keep their dangerous offense off the field.Wide Receiver Ace Sanders
On play of Dylan Thompson:“He was a leader. He was a captain out there. He kept everybody calm and he was just a leader out there. We knew what he was capable of so we just followed him.”On keeping Clemson’s offense off the field:“Keeping their offense off the field was a big part of our game plan, but we wanted to stay on the field too. During the rest of the season, we were going three and out, but we wanted people to see that we could stay on the field. We wanted to show that we weren’t just dependent on our defense.”
December 8, 2024
