Saturday 09/28/2013
Clemson Head Coach Dabo Swinney
On his team starting quickly:“What a great team win. We played a complete game for all four quarters. There were no lulls in our play. We played a ton of guys and they played to our standard of excellence. Our team is growing and improving. We played outstanding in all three aspects of the game. I’m really pleased with the growth, and it was just a great day for our football team.”
On the play of D.J. Howard:“He had a great run, and that cut (on the touchdown pass) made a few guys miss. He’s one of the fastest guys we have, so when he gets into open space there aren’t a lot of guys who can catch him.”
On the maturation of the defense:“Our defense has improved greatly, starting with the second half of last season and it has carried over to now. They are playing sound, fundamental football. Our defense is giving our offense the ball. They’re doing a tremendous job, hats off to them. They’re playing with that next guy up mentality, which is what you need when you play a lot of guys like we did today. We talked about forcing turnovers and they responded with two today. I have a lot of confidence in those guys.”
On the play of Bashaud Breeland:“Breeland is playing at another level right now. He’s back to the confidence that he showed during his freshman year. He is our most consistent guy in the secondary, and has shown great leadership.”
On what else his team can take away from Saturday’s win:“We’re 4-0 and we know how to win. I also appreciate the fans. They create an incredible atmosphere. I can’t thank them enough.”
Wake Forest Head Coach Jim Grobe
“Clemson just made good plays. The pace of the game was very fast and they made a lot of big plays. We tried our best to minimize the big plays, but unfortunately they made a lot of them. They have got really good players, and my biggest disappointment of today was that we did not play good fundamental football. If you aren’t fundamentally sound against a team like Clemson it can come back to bite you, and the score shows that. The thing is…you can play fundamentally sound football and still give up a lot of points against a team like Clemson. The only blessing that I could see today is that we got the chance to play a bunch of young guys and get them some experience.”
On Clemson quarterback Tajh Boyd:“The most impressive thing about him is how much he has progressed since he has been at Clemson. He protects the football and does a great job throwing the ball and scrambling when he needs to.”
On Tanner Price remaining starting quarterback:“He is definitely still our starting quarterback. There are times that we would love to have back with Tanner when he made some mistakes, but he will learn from them and come back better. There were a lot of times he didn’t have any help. I thought our offensive line was poor today which affected Tanner’s performance.”
On next game versus NC State:“It is a huge game, and it is a must win like every other game. If we play like we did today against Clemson, we will not win another game on our schedule. In order to be successful and come out with a win next week we have to play disciplined and fundamentally sound football. We have always been a team that has played really hard, and I thought we played hard today, but we have to play better next week.”
Clemson Player Quotes
Quarterback Tajh Boyd
On today’s performance:“I have put a lot of unnecessary pressure on myself. You start to go out there and try to prove things to other people, but I just need to go out and enjoy it. I have pretty much accomplished everything you can in a college career minus a couple of things – three things. I just need to enjoy this last go-round while I have it.”
Wide Receiver Sammy Watkins
On Clemson’s first three drives:“We did a great job watching film and practicing during the week and we knew their cornerbacks like to bite on certain things.”
On his touchdown catch:“At first I didn’t think I was going to catch up to the ball, but you have to fight through those kinds of things that’s just what great players do and Tajh was able to get me the ball.”
On this performance vs. the NC State game:“We just came out there ready to play today. Coaches pushed us hard this week in practice and we thought that Wake Forest defense was pretty and we just approached the game like we were the best offense on the field.”
On Boyd’s performance Saturday following the NC State game:“I wasn’t worried about Tajh’s performance NC State game. This offense is a game of routine and you have to get in rhythm and I think this game put us in a rhythm to get this offense flowing. We came out and attacked them and took a lot of deep ball shots and that’s what kept our offense going today.”
Cornerback Bashaud Breeland
On defensive performance past few games:“This is a year that we wanted to get better. We really learned the system now. We are accustomed to it. We just want to go out there and play fast.”
On nameless, faceless opponent mentality:“We just go out there and play as a team. We’re just happy to go out there and play.”
On his sack:“We were in a cover 2 and I just played back. Everyone was coming out, quarterback, running back, I was just patient and when he tried to run out I just held on.”
Linebacker Spencer Shuey
On making a statement Saturday:“I definitely think it was a big statement for us as a defense and as a team. Defensively, we have been able to prove that we can be consistent and have performed every week. Offense played great today and put up a lot of points and so did special teams so it was definitely a great team win.”
On the significance of putting Wake Forest away early:“It’s just playing to our standard and not playing to an opponent. Wake Forest is a great team, but we have what we need here at Clemson to be great and be one of the top contenders in the nation.”
On momentum shift after the fumble:“They were able to drive the ball down the field a couple of times on us and we were able to respond to adversity with our next play mentality. We were able to go out there the next couple of drives and make some stops. It was definitely great to be able to respond like that.”
December 8, 2024
