In your grits and Hurricanes everywhere: Swinney focused on football and Miami

Swinney says Miami will present the biggest challenge to date for the Tigers (ACC photo).

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Tue Oct 06 12:38:16 GMT-04:00 2020

Head coach Dabo Swinney is focused on the Miami Hurricanes and only the Miami Hurricanes and a defensive line that will get in your grits quick.

He didn’t want to talk about the weather forecast for the area this weekend, cut off a question about the opening with the Houston Texans, and said he didn’t care what outsiders think about the ACC. It was all about football and a tough Miami Hurricanes team that comes to town this weekend.

The Tigers and Hurricanes face off at 7:30 pm (ABC) Saturday night in Death Valley.

“We've got the biggest challenge that we've had all year for sure in Miami. This is a really, really complete football team and Manny (Diaz) has done a great job down there,” Swinney said. “They have dudes everywhere. It is pretty easy to see when you turn the film on. Offensively, they are playing with a lot of confidence and fast. The quarterback is a special player. The running backs are physical. They have speed and length outside. They have two tight ends that are probably first two rounds types of guys at the next level. A very experienced offensive line. They play incredibly fast with their tempo. We have our hands full for sure. And they are balanced in what they do.”

The Hurricane offense is fueled by quarterback D’Eriq King.

“In looking at their quarterback, he is a great quarterback. He can do it all,” Swinney said. “There is nothing he can't do. He can make all the throws and when he runs it he is like a running back and he has that mindset, too, when he takes off running. He is averaging 5.4 yards after contact and is averaging 15 yards per scramble. He is making huge plays in the passing game.

"Good players across the board. Like I said, very experienced up front with a bunch of starters back. Mix in this quarterback and all of a sudden you have a recipe for a lot of success.”

The Hurricanes are led defensively by Temple transfer Quincy Roche.

“Defensively, they have a lot of special talent and it starts up front. They have the defensive player of the year for Temple in the AAC,” Swinney said. “That No. 15 (Jaelan Phillips) is a tall, physical, violent athlete coming off the edge. The guys inside are great players. A bunch of guys that can run on the back end. This is a complete team in every facet of the game. We will have our hands full, but we are excited about it. We look forward to the challenge, that is for sure. It gets tougher as it goes, but that is the way it should be. We are excited about GameDay and a night game in the Valley.”

It all starts with Miami’s defensive line, and Swinney said if he was a fan, he would sit back and watch the matchup between the offensive line and defensive line Saturday because the game will be won in the trenches. He then said that the Canes are a group that will get “in your grits quick.”

“That is where it starts. They want those guys to be disruptive and they are. They are very disruptive. They are not sit and read guys, they are off the ball and in your grits quick guys,” Swinney said. “They are not sitting around and waiting on anything, they try and create havoc. They bring a fair amount of pressure as well, whether it be zone pressures or blitzing more than you can block. They mix it up. They definitely are going to bring pressure, and they have shown that, whether it is corner blitzes or bringing their backers or whatever it may be. But it starts with those guys up front being physical and fast at the line of scrimmage.”

As for the weather, Swinney said he hadn’t paid attention to the forecast (currently calling for rain), saying there is no reason to spend energy worrying about it, but said hurricanes will be a major factor this weekend.

“We've played in hurricanes before. We're playing the Hurricanes,” Swinney said. “My son (Clay, in Daniel vs Wren) plays the Hurricanes this week. There's hurricanes everywhere.”