Riley loves the energy of his offense during bowl prep

Garrett Riley is seeing the right kind of focus from his group ahead of Friday's bowl finale.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Tue Dec 26 07:00:05 GMT-04:00 2023

Clemson’s offense will have its hands full with Kentucky’s defense Friday (noon/ESPN), but offensive coordinator Garrett Riley likes what he’s seen out of his group during bowl practice.

The Tigers practiced Christmas Day inside the Jacksonville Jaguars’ indoor practice facility after inclement weather forced them indoors. In his first year at the helm of the Tiger offense, Riley said he is pleased with how his group has dealt with all of the distractions of bowl prep and a holiday.

“It's just fun to get back out on the grass, man. That's the biggest thing. But we've had really good energy throughout all of bowl prep,” Riley said. “Then two days in here at the bowl site, I've been very pleased with (how they’ve handled) just all the distractions that come around with this and travel and Christmas and all those things. I've been really pleased with our guys and their energy so far. We've had good execution. It's been a good start for us here in Jacksonville.”

Kentucky’s defense finished 44th nationally in total defense, giving up just 352.4 yards per contest.

“They're a physical group,” Riley said of the Wildcats. “These guys, they play physical, really at all levels of their defense. The defensive line is certainly, we feel like, the strength of their defense. But listen, those guys at linebacker and secondary made a lot of plays throughout the year as well. We're going to have our hands full. They present a lot of challenges for us upfront, but then certainly in some of their coverage scheme as well. They've done a good job and created some turnovers this year.”

On the 2024 signing class

“I feel like we've hit a home run with a lot of these guys and really addressed some needs that we're going to need for this upcoming season. The big thing is a lot of these guys are coming in in January, and to really be able to hit the ground running and insert them into our team and see what that's going to look like in spring football is going to be a huge addition for us.”

On younger guys getting a chance to shine in bowl practice

“You just get this new energy. You go through the grind of a season where you may not get a ton of reps as a young player. Now all of a sudden, you're getting a lot of reps and just these additional practices that we’re granted. That's how you should be rewarded getting to a bowl game. We've gotten those guys a lot of work and this new energy with those guys.”