What Dabo Swinney said about the Gamecocks

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney gave plenty of thoughts on the South Carolina Gamecocks as both teams prepare for Saturday’s rivalry matchup in Columbia.

Below is an edited transcript of Swinney’s comments about Shane Beamer’s program.

OPENING STATEMENT: It’s here. Finally here. This is a week we all look forward to. Rivalry week all across the country. If you’re a college football fan, this is always a special week, truly, the whole week. It’s always something fun to be a part of and something I certainly appreciate and don’t take for granted and been a part of a lot of these..

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And always tough to head down to Columbia. That’s a great environment. Their fans do an awesome job in creating a really tough venue to go play. But man, we look forward to the challenge. We gotta have a great week of preparation.

Obviously, they’ve got some dudes that can really hurt you, starting with their quarterback. I think he has really played good football for them. And heck, he played great against us last year. And he’s a guy that plays a lot of confidence. He can do a lot of things with his legs and his arms. So, just another great quarterback, man, that presents a huge challenge for us. And he’s got good receivers. You know, the 24’s really settled in and become a really hard-nosed, tough-to-tackle back for them.

They’ve gotten some continuity up front. They’re a little bit like us in that regard. They’ve had some kind of musical chairs a little bit, with guys being in and out of the lineup, or hurt, whatever. So, they’ve kind of created a little bit of continuity there.

Tight end’s a good player. They’ve got that number eight (Harbor) going. He’s kind of an interesting guy. He’s a big, young athlete that I think’s got a bright future. He’s kind of been getting in the mix as well.

17 (Legette), I mean, he’s a superstar. And again, it seems like every week I look up and there’s some freak outside that we’re seeing. So, great quarterbacks. I mean, we’ve seen a bunch of them. So, they certainly present a lot of challenges there. And then defensively, you know, this is a tough group, man. We’ve seen a bunch of these guys.

They’ve got a couple guys that have had all-conference, all-American status at safety. I think the nickel kid is 24. They’re a nickel guy. He’s a good football player. Young guy, but a really good player. Got good experience in the linebacker core.

And some of these guys that have been there forever up front, they’ve played a bunch of snaps, you know, throughout their career. So, definitely a group that will be excited to play the Tigers.

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And again, rivalry games. I mean, this is, doesn’t really matter what you’ve done last year, last 10 years, last week. Doesn’t really matter. It just comes down to playing well in these four quarters. But, looking forward to it. Off to a good start with our preparation.

Q: Gamecocks deprived you of a (playoff) last season with that one point comeback win. You have a chance to deprive them of a bowl. Does that add any juice to it, or is it already juiced up this much?

SWINNEY: Oh, man, it’s always juiced up, regardless of what the ramifications are. I mean, you know, it’s always a big deal every single year. I mean, it really is. I mean, you want to win this game, whether you’re 0-12, 0-11, or 11-0. You want to win the game. So, yeah, I mean, that hurt us last year for sure, and we got what we earned.

Q: (Question about Rattler)

SWINNEY: Yeah, they do a good job of, you know, he doesn’t just sit in the pocket very often. I mean, it’s swap boots, setting edges. They got tight ends in there all the time, creating edges for him to get outside the pocket to extend time, and then he’s an explosive player.

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I mean, if you give him time, he’s incredibly accurate. He can make all the throws, but when he gets out of the pocket, he doesn’t get enough credit for his running ability. He can really run. He’s crafty when he runs. He’s a smart runner. He does a good job protecting himself, but he can go, but the thing is, they’re smart. They don’t just leave him in the pocket. I mean, they’ll max protect and give him time to let some of these cross.

They run a lot of deep shot, cross country, you know. post backside, deep crossers. They run a lot of those type of plays and those take those things take time so they will max protect or they will boot him and get him outside the pocket to allow those type of things to develop. Then, he can throw it on the run or he can pull up and and let it go. So I think he’s a very good player. I think I think he’s played really well. He’s he’s made good decisions. And he does create a problem for you, you know with his legs and his arm, similar to to Drake (Maye) who we just played and he can extend.

He’s developed incredibly well. I think he’s gonna be a big-time pro and that’s a great reminder to everybody that this is a developmental game. (Xavier) Leggett is a perfect example of that. I mean, he’s just put the work in. He’s gotten better. He’s been well coached I mean, he’s just you know, he’s put the weight in the in the film room the weight room. I mean, he’s a big strong presence and then his confidence grows and next thing, you look up and here’s this the senior that’s a monster.

(Oh Ahmarean Brown)

(Number) ten’s a good little player. Eight (Nyckoles Harbor) is a guy that’s been emerging for them. I don’t know him, I certainly haven’t coached him, but he’s a physical ppresence that guy can run. He’s a freshman. So I think they’ve they’ve brought him along.

Their tight ends, they’ve really gotten those guys involved one. They brought the backup quarterback in there this past week as well in a couple situations.

Q: How much of getting pressure on Rattler starts with winning first down, stopping the run, creating the situations where you can rush?

SWINNEY: We say all the time, you got to earn the right to rush the passer by stopping the run. And, you know, they’re not going to give up on the run. They’re going to try to get something going in the run game for sure. Create some play actions. Again, all their boots and swap boots that come, that create big plays for them. So it starts there. I mean, and containing him in the pocket, trying to not let him extend the plays.

So we’ve got to win. We’ve got to be able to affect him. If he’s a comfortable guy back there, you’re in for a long day. He’s a good player.

Q: Coach, speaking of the run game and developmental game, how about that running back, Anderson from Newberry? He’s quite a story, isn’t he?

SWINNEY: He is. Tough, tough, tough, hard-nosed kid, man. And he’s just kind of risen, you know, risen up. And he’s gotten better and better as the season has gone. And he’s kind of established himself. But he’s a hard guy to tackle. And you better have your big boy pads on when you do come to tackle I mean, downhill runner. I’ve been very impressed with him. And certainly a great story.

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