Wednesday Practice Insider: Working Man Wednesday

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Wed Oct 19 19:07:04 GMT-04:00 2022

CLEMSON – Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney met briefly with the media following Wednesday’s practice, and said the defense has taken ownership of what happened last week at Florida State.

No. 5 Clemson hosts No. 14 Syracuse Saturday at noon in Death Valley (ABC), and the Tigers had Working Man Wednesday in preparation for that game. In looking back at last week, when the defense gave up 169 yards in the 4th quarter to Florida State, Swinney said the defense has risen to the occasion this week.

“They're competitors. These guys take pride in their performance and really the biggest thing was just our tackling,” Swinney said. “That's fundamental and just wrapping up and being where you're supposed to be when you're supposed to be there. But absolutely, these guys are a very competitive bunch and again, they take a lot of pride in the performance and anytime we don't do something as well as we'd like, there's always a lot of effort to get better.”

On the secondary

“I thought Nate (Wiggins) especially did a great job. I thought Sheridan (Jones) had a nice game. I know we had the tough call on the one, but the corners were a bright spot for us in that game for sure, and we got it. 19 (Syracuse receiver Oronde Gadsden) is a new challenge and a great player. They move him all over the place from the backfield to the slot to the boundary of the field. He's a little bit everywhere. And they got other got two or three other good players that can hurt you as well.”

How Jones being back affects Toriano Pride

“He'll continue to get opportunities to play and just keep getting better. It's just nice to have a guy that's got 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. You'll continue to see him play and stay ready.”

On not looking ahead to the open date

“I don't know how many games we've lost before an open date. Not many over 14 years, but this week's no different. I mean, today's a working man Wednesday, and all the focus should be on what's in front of you. Just no different than if you had another game next week. You're not sitting here on Wednesday thinking about that game. You just continue to do what we do and we don't even talk about the open date. We just focus on the opponent that's in front of us and just having a good day today. So that's really it. We went up there (Cuse) in ‘17. Obviously, that was a Friday night and out quarterback got hurt, we didn't play as well as we needed to and got beat. So I don’t think the open date had anything to do with it. I think they were just better than us and we didn't do what we need to do to win the game.”

On Dino Babers and Syracuse having patience with him

“Yeah, Dino’s got a great track record. And obviously, I think COVID was a real issue for them as well as it was for everybody. But they were hit pretty hard and just, I think, it affected them greatly. But he's an excellent coach and they've had a lot of injuries. They've had a lot of things that they've had to battle through. But, you know, he's one of the more steady people out there. I think they've made a great decision, obviously, and continuing to believe in the coach. He's really good and one of the toughest teams that we compete against every single year. So really happy for him that he's had a great year and pull for them all but this one.”