What Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said after Notre Dame upset his Tigers

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney put it bluntly. He didn’t hide from or sugarcoat what Notre Dame did to his previously unbeaten No. 4 Tigers in a 35-14 romp in South Bend Saturday night.

“This is an ass-kicking. Period,” Swinney said. “That’s what it is. Flat-out got our tails handed to us. In 14 years, it doesn’t happen a lot. But it’s happened a few times along the way. We’ve handed out a bunch of them, too. Tonight, we were the bug. We got the bad end of that deal, and we deserved every second of it.”

Here’s everything else Swinney said about Notre Dame in his postgame press conference.

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Opening statement

“First off, congrats to Notre Dame. They were outstanding. Just absolutely dominated us in every facet of football. Starting with coaching. Blocking, tackling, you name it. Dominated us. It is what it is. Congratulations to coach [Marcus] Freeman and his staff.

“It was a great environment tonight. I always tell our team, ‘You get what you earn.’ We earned this tonight for sure. Momentum is tough in a game like this. It’s critical. We lost momentum right out of the gate with the blocked punt touchdown. It was just very simple. We just flat out didn’t do our job. That was huge momentum early. We never got it back.

“Block punt for a score, pick six, and another interception to give them the ball inside the 5 or 10 or whatever it was for another touchdown. Those were huge, huge momentum plays. Defensively, couldn’t stop the run. Period. And when we did stop the run, it was a ton of time of possession where we pinned them deep on the five. We stopped them, but then we were on the 5. Field position was a real battle all night.

“At the end of the day, they were the more physical team. They were the more disciplined team. We had better penalties. So at the end of the day, they were the better coached team. Period. There isn’t anything else I can say. Fourteen years as a head coach, we’ve had bad days. But this is a very disappointing day. We gave up a score on offense, special teams and defense. That’s the first time that’s happened since I’ve been a head coach. We just got outcoached in every facet of the game. That’s on me. That’s my responsibility.

“I wish I could have seen it coming. We had a great week of practice and preparation. But football is a crazy game. The ball can bounce funny from time to time if you do this long enough and play in this arena. Sometimes it can be like this. I’m just glad it’s few and far between. This is a really bad day, a disappointing day. But we’ll have better days ahead. It’s my job to make sure that happens. Tonight wasn’t the night.

“You got to give Notre Dame all the credit, all the credit, for tonight. Their coaches, their players, they were outstanding. Their fans, it was a great environment. And a really, really disappointing night for Clemson.”

On Notre Dame controlling the line of scrimmage

“Super surprised. Nobody’s fault but mine. Did not play anywhere like we have played and can play. Tonight, that’s what you saw. They were clearly the more physical team. Executed better. It’s going to be painful tape to watch for everyone. We are who we think we are. We’ll respond. It hurts. We’ll bounce back.

“I was proud of the offense at least. Thought they competed down to the end. It’s good to see them keep competing and battling. That was about the only positive. They didn’t quit. They hung in there. I wish there was something that I saw. Sometimes you have a night where it all goes against ya, and all you can do is give Notre Dame the credit for that.”

On the Notre Dame rushing offense

“They just physically kicked our butt. Period. The end.”

On the Notre Dame blocked punt

“Just didn’t block the guy right up the middle. Just right up the middle. Mind-boggling.”

On Notre Dame in 2022

“For Marcus and his team, look at them, they had two really disappointing losses to start their season. Very disappointing at a place like Notre Dame. But they responded. They responded. That’s what it’s all about. Their kids learned a lot of lessons as well. They came in here punched us in the mouth and beat a good football game tonight.”

On Fighting Irish coach Marcus Freeman

“He’s a very smart coach and has done a good job. And I saw that, coming into this winning five of their last six and really responding to a lot of disappointment. That’s what we got to do. We got to respond to the disappointment. Very well-coached team out there tonight.”