What went wrong in Clemson’s loss to Florida State? Dabo Swinney reacts
News, notes and first comments from Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney after the Tigers’ 31-24 overtime loss Saturday to No. 4 Florida State.
Overall thoughts
“We never trailed, just had some critical errors … We’re honestly 2-2 because we’ve given up 36 points off turnovers. … We gave up 38 last year in 14 games.”
“Our defense gave us a chance to win the game in the second half … Super proud of them … we stopped the run, out-rushed them, never trailed until overtime. … Obviously the offensive fumble for the touchdown was a critical play in the game. All the momentum turned right there.”
“On the 3rd-and-1 (in overtime), that’s situational. We’ve gotta be better there as coaches. That’s on us. It’s a young player (Cade Klubnik) that’s growing situationally.”
“Just a couple of critical plays that didn’t go our way … Give FSU credit. Today was their day.
“We’ve got our back against the wall. … We’re back in here (Sunday) as staff and Monday as a team … Long season ahead, lotta opportunity ahead. Heart breaks for our team because this is a great team and great group of young men. … It’s a tough one to lose but we did.”
On QB Cade Klubnik
“I thought Cade was amazing.”
“This was Cade’s best game. I felt like he didn’t get rewarded for it.”
On if Clemson thought about a Hail Mary at the end of the game
“We did for a second but didn’t have it organized to get it done”
On Walker Parks injury
“It’s a new injury. He’ll probably be out for the year ... Tough loss for us.”
On kicker Jonathan Weitz, who missed a 29-yard FG in the fourth quarter
“Weitz did some good thing for us. We expected him to make it … Nobody was perfect.”
“Weitz will be our guy (moving forward as starting kicker) ... He gave us a chance.”
On his coordinators
“No problem with how Garrett Riley called the game. Thought he gave us a chance to win.”
“I don’t know if it was frustration (on the sidelines as captured by TV broadcast). ... I thought Wes (Goodwin) and our defensive coaches did a hell of a job. ... Not many teams are going to stop that quarterback (Jordan Travis) like they did in the second half.”
On season outlook
“In games like this it’s one or two plays. ... We’ve won a bunch of these, lost some of these. … Two really, really evenly matched teams. We never trailed in the game. … 36 points off turnovers, process that. All of last year, it was 38. That’s why we’re 2-2. … You learn a lot through adversity. … I wish we never lost a game ever. Wish we won every time. … You hate it when it doesn’t go your way.”
“This is just one day. It’s hard to beat somebody eight times in a row. … We’re not entitled to win the ACC every year … We didn’t win it in ‘21 and a lot of y’all said we were done ... Credit to FSU. They might win the whole thing this year.”
This story was originally published September 23, 2023 at 5:27 PM with the headline "What went wrong in Clemson’s loss to Florida State? Dabo Swinney reacts."
