Dabo Swinney opens up on challenge of facing Drake Maye

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney has faced his fair share of elite quarterbacks during his long tenure with the Tigers, and this weekend he’ll face yet another one, as Clemson hosts No. 20 North Carolina on Saturday led by quarterback Drake Maye.

Maye quickly established himself as one of the very best quarterbacks in college football last season and has built on that reputation this year. And ahead of the game this weekend, Swinney was asked how Maye stacks up against other great signal callers he’s faced throughout his career.

“Well obviously there’s all types of quarterbacks and we’ve seen a bunch of great ones over the years,” Swinney said. “Whether they’re a guy like Russell Wilson who’s I don’t know, is he 5’11? Six-foot? Not a very big guy and he’s obviously had an amazing career and played a long time to guys like Drake who are obviously taller, big-time player. He’s his own guy, I don’t really compare him to anybody.”

Maye currently ranks fourth in the nation in passing yards this season with 3,145 yards and 21 touchdowns to go along with them. But Swinney also detailed how effective he can be with his legs, where he’s done damage to defenses with 276 yards on the ground, eight rushing scores, and showed a lethal ability to extend plays in the passing game.

“I mean we’ve seen, like I said, quarterbacks come in all shapes and sizes. Football players are different, and he’s just a guy that can play the game at a high level. So he’s a problem because he’s a very accurate thrower, he can make all the throws, but he’s a really good runner and he looks to run,” Swinney explained. “Like he’s not a guy that avoids it, he looks to run and creates a lot of explosives both with his legs and running and with his legs buying time and then finding guys in the scramble drill.”

Clemson’s defense had great success against Maye last season when they squared off with him in the ACC Championship game, sacking him four times and forcing two interceptions on a night where he failed to reach the end zone through the air posting just one rushing score. But Swinney still knows that he stacks up favorably to the best quarterbacks he’s faced and coached in his career.

“And then he just understands the game, I mean he really is a hard guy to fool. So one of the great players we’ve seen come through here over the last 21 years I’ve been here at Clemson, I’ve seen a lot of great ones all over the place both here on our practice field and others and he’s is every bit of as advertised,” Swinney said. “He’s a no doubt first round pick, can’t imagine he would be less than first, second, or third [overall pick], I don’t know what all is out there but he’s a really really poised and special talent.”

Maye will be seeking redemption over the Tigers, while Clemson will be looking to replicate their strong defensive showing from their last game, as the two will square off this Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET in a game airing on ESPN.