Swinney details the simple thing it will take to beat NC State

Swinney speaks to the media Tuesday.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Tue Oct 24 12:50:44 GMT-04:00 2023

CLEMSON – The answer to winning Saturday at NC State is simple to Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney. Don’t turn the ball over and turn red zone opportunities into touchdowns.

Clemson (4-3 overall, 2-3 ACC) travels to Raleigh to take on the Wolfpack (4-3, 1-2) at 2 pm on the CW Saturday. Clemson is coming off a 28-20 double-overtime heartbreaker in Miami.

“I’m thankful we have another opportunity this week. This is another good football team. They're tough, physical, aggressive and well-coached. They know their scheme well,” Swinney said during his Tuesday press conference. "Defensively, they're an odd front, double cloud. You have to have pressure answers. They have big, strong guys up front. They have aggressive linebackers. Payton (Wilson) ... he's fun to watch. He is a game-wrecker. He is a great player. He may be the fastest guy on the field. He can fly. I have seen him a bunch. He'll have a great future after N.C. State. They do a great job in the secondary, too. They can get to a lot of things. You have to be ready for double cloud and cover-zero. They're physical, and they are where they are supposed to be.

"On the other side, they have a new coordinator. They're probably more 10-personnel than they have been in a long time. Everything starts in the run game for them. There is a lot of stretch. They try to split you with mid-line, swap zone and the boots that come off of that. They have big offensive linemen who can move their feet. They have three backs, and all have made plays. It's a challenging scheme that challenges our discipline. They have had an open date, so I am sure there will be a few things there that we haven't seen. Receiver-wise, they are playing a bunch of guys. No. 10 has been the guy who has emerged for them. They have a bunch of guys, though. The biggest thing is to not let them possess the ball. We have to get back on track on third down. We've been good there all year outside of last week.

"This is a typical N.C. State team, well-coached and aggressive."

Swinney said the Tigers didn’t deserve to win last Saturday, and he was asked what it would take to beat the Pack.

"It's a simple answer. Let's win the turnover margin. We're dead last in the nation, and we have a really good team,” he said. “And we have other issues, but the reason we are where we are is turnovers. We're last in the country in turnovers. We're last in the red zone ... dead last. That's your problem. It all goes back to turnovers. If you hold the ball a millisecond longer, you're having a different conversation. We've had two losses in overtime. Sometimes you're not good enough, or you don't match up well or whatever. That's not our problem. We're good enough to line up and play with anybody, but it's hard to win when you have catastrophic turnovers. There is no greater equalizer than turnovers.

"We're better than we were last year, for sure. But last year we took care of the ball better. It's really frustrating, and it's a simple answer, but it's not a simple problem. If we can squeeze it a little longer, and fundamentally protect it, we'll be fine. It's not like we've thrown a bunch of interceptions. It's some weird stuff that has gone against us. If we can get that turned around, we'll win some football games."

What can the Tigers do to protect the ball better than they’ve shown this season?

"That's the main thing ... you keep coaching and pointing it out," Swinney said. "You can't work it any more than we do. Becky from Gaffney (during his call-in show) told me I needed to give them all a ball to carry it to class and sleep with it, too. We do everything. We have a million ball security drills. This is a tough game. It hurts to lose any time, but when you know you are in a position to win, and you're not finishing, it's really frustrating. Give the other teams credit, too. We've had 12 really good seasons in a row, and we've had a lot of breaks along the way. Sometimes the breaks don't go your way. That's why we're 4-3. And it's our best players. But we've won a lot with these guys, too. This is a contact, collision, sport. We have to find a way to minimize it."

He then detailed the red-zone issues.

"We've had ball-handling issues, the snap, penalties, and most of it has been on the one-yard line. Maybe we jump offsides next time we're on the one,” Swinney said, laughing. “Just keeping our poise down there, and that's where you have to be at your best, and we have not been. Guys start pressing a little bit, and then you lose some confidence after the miscues that we've had. It's one of those things that can become a little bit mental. We work it every week. We have to carry what we do on the practice field into game day."