Swinney forgets trophy, but sees plenty of good and plenty to build on

Dabo Swinney forgot that the leather helmet was on the line, but he was happy to wear it postgame.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Tue Sep 06 09:04:11 GMT-04:00 2022

ATLANTA, GA – Dabo Swinney was having so much fun he forgot a trophy goes to the winner of the game.

No. 4 Clemson defeated Georgia Tech 41-10 Monday night in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The Tigers scored 27 points in the second half to pull away with the win. Freshman quarterback Cade Klubnik led a late scoring drive that featured a couple of catches by wide receiver Drew Swinney, and the dad and head coach forget about the leather helmet given to the winner.

“It was a fun night. I literally did forget there was a trophy. That didn't even enter my equation, but thankful that we got it.” Swinney said. “Last time we were in this game, we were able to, I think, beat Auburn in '12. And then we came back later on in December, and we won. If we can win again in December, good things are probably happening for the Tigers.”

Swinney said he was pleased with the way the offense recovered after a rough start.

“I just love how we responded. I think you saw DJ (Uiagalelei) do things tonight that we needed to see and that he didn't do last year,” Swinney said. “He made a lot of plays with his legs. He showed great leadership, great moxie. Like I said, probably best case scenario that it didn't just all go perfect because it's good to see him. There's nobody in America that had more eyes on him tonight than our quarterback. I love how he responded. He led. He made some huge plays for us. We left a little out there. We dropped a huge slant-and-go. It was right on the money. Probably missed one other throw that needed to be just a little more outside to the back shoulder to E.J., and that probably was a touchdown.

“He made good decisions. We had some communication things we have to clean up. I was really disappointed on the third down and three. We were all jacked up. The line went one way, and our skill went the other way, and bad stuff happens. That was a TFL for us. We were 7 of 15 on third down and 60% completion and made some big plays. Again, just proud of what I saw offensively there in the second half in particular. I thought we settled in.”

Georgia Tech used a third-quarter scoring drive to trim Clemson’s lead to 14-10, but the Tigers scored the next 27 points to walk away with the win.

“When it was 14-10 and you could kind of feel a little tension, 12-play drive, 9-play drive. I think we scored four out of the next five possessions I think we scored. I'm just really proud of how we respond and how the guys competed and played,” Swinney said. “We got the tempo going. I thought we warmed down in the fourth quarter. It was really good to see. A lot of guys making plays.”

He then said he was happy to get backup quarterback Cade Klubnik a drive.

“Again, offensively, putting Cade in, we weren't trying to run the score up, but we just needed him to play,” Swinney said. “I needed him to go out there and hand the ball off. I needed him to have to play.

“Man, our backup receivers did a great job. He did an awesome job and sparked us. It was a lot of fun to see Will Taylor. Drew (Swinney) made a couple of big plays. Will Taylor gets the touchdown. Domonique Thomas got in there. Our whole second offensive line, and we go right down the field. It was good to see. It's really good for those guys. It's good experience that we can build on.”