Dabo Swinney calls cornerback Toriano Pride a 'great young talent'

No. 5 Clemson is unbeaten and looking to take a stranglehold of the ACC Atlantic this weekend when it hosts No. 14 Syracuse, and the Tigers have gotten contributions from a number of young players this season. Freshman cornerback Toriano Pride earned some praise from head coach Dabo Swinney for being one of those guys.

Swinney spoke highly of Pride, a former four-star prospect who was rated as the No. 67 overall player in the country in the 2022 recruiting class.

“He’ll continue to get opportunity to play and just keep getting better,” Swinney said. “It’s just nice to have a guy that has a lot of experience. Toriano is a great young talent but he still doesn’t have the same type of experience as a guy like Sheridan (Jones).”

Jones has started all four games he has played in this season for the Tigers, while Pride has made one start.

But the freshman cornerback has played in all seven of the team’s games so far this season. He has logged 15 tackles, an interception and three pass breakups.

That’s a pretty healthy contribution for a true freshman, even if he’s not starting right now.

“You’ll continue to see him play and stay ready,” Swinney said.

Cornerback Toriano Pride, Clemson defense challenged with slowing strong Syracuse offense

While Syracuse still has five league games to play, Clemson is down to just three ACC games remaining. A win Saturday would officially put the Tigers just one more win away from locking up the ACC Atlantic and a spot in Charlotte for the ACC title game.

The Orange can make things difficult, though.

Syracuse gave Clemson problems last year, pushing the Tigers in a 17-14 loss. Swinney is particularly concerned about quarterback Garrett Shrader and running back Sean Tucker.

Cornerback Torriano Pride and the rest of the Clemson defense will have to be ready.

“Well the perils are, that quarterback — we had six TFLs that we missed last year,” Swinney said. “Three sacks that we missed. That we had him. We got him. But we couldn’t tackle him. We couldn’t get him on the ground. He’s a problem. He’s not — he’s a big, strong man. So, you can load the box and play a lot of tight coverage, but, if 34 [Tucker] breaks through there, it’s a huge play. And the same thing with the quarterback. He’s an aggressive runner. He sees coverage well. You gotta mix it up.”

Clemson and Syracuse will kick off at noon ET Saturday with a broadcast on ABC.