Sunday Night notes: Swinney said Clemson O-line had to produce or else

Phil Mafah had some holes opened up for him in his career day. (Photo by Merrell Mann).

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Sun Nov 05 20:05:03 GMT-04:00 2023

Clemson’s offensive line was a patchwork affair Saturday but still held its own in a 31-23 victory over Notre Dame, and head coach Dabo Swinney told the media Sunday that he was planning on running players out there until he found a combination that worked.

Running back Phil Mafah carried the ball a Clemson record-tying 36 times for a career-high 186 yards in the win over the Irish, and Swinney met with the media Sunday evening to discuss that win and this Saturday’s contest against Georgia Tech.

"Just wrapping up our staff meeting here. Just really proud of everyone. We were tough and physical. We weren't perfect but did a lot of good things,” Swinney said. “We had a really good first half, getting control of the game 24-9. A lot of great things in the game. We were better fundamentally in several areas. A lot of good things in special teams. Field position was huge for us. Our punt team was awesome. Aidan Swanson was outstanding. Field position was critical for us.

"Defensively we were ready and against a team that kicked our teeth in last year. They competed their tails off. 3-of-14 in third down. We won all the situations in red zone. We scored on defense. We had three takeaways. Just proud of them. The pick-six was huge. Jeremiah Trotter was awesome. The goal line stand. We scored touchdowns and held them to field goals, and that was the difference in the game.

"Offensively, we averaged 5.2 yards a carry. It was good to see us get the run game going. Just really proud of Trent Howard and Harris Sewell who played every snap. Ryan Linthicum went in there, too on a critical drive. We had no penalties and protected our quarterback. We were physical, and probably the best part was after the horrendous pick-return, we went on a 12-play drive and had a touchdown. So we responded. That's a sign of a team that's maturing.

"Still, we had some negative yards that we need to eliminate. We had a couple of bad snaps, and we aren't quite as good as we needed to be on third down. All in all a good team win for us. I'm excited about it and excited to be back in the Valley again this week. We're putting our attention now on a Georgia Tech team that's playing with a lot of confidence."

I asked Swinney if the blocking schemes were simplified.

"We ran some counter, but not as much. It was more of our guard-tight end counter. We went with the zone and some duo stuff. We tried to cover them up and give Phil a chance to get to the second level,” he said. “We had several plays that were almost like a clinic in terms of how we were hatting it up. We ran mostly zone stuff and some outside zone as well. We make decisions on those things from game to game. We just felt like it was the best way to go this week. Phil just did an awesome job.

"Some of those big runs that popped ... you don't get those unless guys are doing what they need to do downfield. I can't say enough about Harris and Trent. They competed their tails off ... Tristan Leigh, Blake Miller, Will Putnam, they all did a great job. We communicated well. I hate that we had a few negative plays, but we were still pretty efficient."

Swinney said he challenged Howard and Sewell to go out and give it their best and told the entire offensive line that they needed to produce to stay on the field.

“Yeah and that's why we recruited them. That's what they're here to do. I told Harris, 'I don't have time for you to be a junior. I need you to go play now.' Trent, same thing. He's athletic, and he can cover people up,” Swinney said. “He's smart and understands things. His first couple of years, he missed a lot of time with injuries, and lately he's been waiting. When he has played, he has had some good moments. We needed him to be the guy yesterday. I told him yesterday, 'Now's the time. We signed you because we know you can play, and we need you to play.'

"I just challenged them to compete their tails off. I told them to just fight every single play. If we struggled at all, anyone and everyone we had was going to get an opportunity. We kept a close eye on them. I just can't say enough about the job those guys did. Putnam did a great job with his leadership. Blake, Tristan, they flat got after it. We weren't perfect, but we gave ourselves a chance. When you can do that with the type of backs we have, good things can happen."

Injuries

Collin Sadler: "Hopefully he'll be able to go this week. He was close. He just wasn't able to practice last week. Trent had gotten all the work. Sadler did do field goals for us, so he got in the game. We just felt confident in the matchup, and their confidence grew as the game went on. Hopefully Sadler will be in a better spot tomorrow."

Swinney added that safety Tyler Venables is mentally ready to play, but they are still waiting on the doctors to give the all clear.