Clemson Head Coach Dabo Swinney will again attempt to pass College Football Hall of Famer Frank Howard for sole possession of Clemson's all-time head coaching wins record on Saturday, Oct. 28, when his Tigers face the NC State Wolfpack. Kickoff at CarterFinley Stadium in Raleigh, N.C., is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET. Saturday's contest will feature two head coaches each attempting to rewrite his respective school's record book.
While Swinney will attempt to earn his 166th career victory as head coach of the Tigers to pass Howard for sole possession of the most career head coaching wins at Clemson, conversely, NC State Head Coach Dave Doeren (76) enters the game one victory shy of tying Earle Edwards (77) as the winningest coach in Wolfpack history.
Here is what Swinney had to say:
- NC State has a very good defense, big and strong up front, aggressive linebackers, lot of respect for Payton Wilson, they do a good job in the secondary. "When you watch tape you kind of just have to tip your hat. Got a lot of respect for his game. He's gonna have a good future after NC State as well."
- NC State linebacker Payton Wilson: "He’s a game-wrecker. He’s fun to watch. I hate we have to play against him, but when you watch him on tape, maybe the fastest guy on the field. Got a lot of respect for his game."
- Justin Mascoll: "day to day."
- Hopes to have WR Antonio Williams (toe) back "near the end of the season," perhaps for the last "couple of games."
- Safety RJ Mickens just had appendicitis and had his appendix taken out on Monday. "You gotta heal up from having that taken out ... that's a tough break for us, for sure."
- On run fits and schematics NC State presents: "Big time, these guys they challenge you as much as anybody schematically... they run all kinds of counters... they do a lot of stuff, but everything comes off the stretch... fits and tackling is always at a premium"
- "Some of our guys got frustrated and tried to do a little too much and you're not where you need to be and instead of one yard, it’s four yards."
- Swinney on what team needs to do to ‘deserve to win’: You guys aren’t gonna like this answer but we have to win the turnover margin … the reason we are where we are is turnovers.” “It’s hard to win when you have the catastrophic turnovers we’ve had.”
- "We're better than we were (overall) last year, no question ... We just haven't taken care of the ball."
- Swinney on what needs to happen to beat NC State:
- "We have to win the turnover margin... we are last, dead last and we got a really good team, the reason we are where we are is turnovers... we are last in the country in fumbles lost... we are last in country in red zone, dead last"
- "It’s not that we’re not good enough, we’re good enough to win every single game, we’re a better team than last year"
- Swinney on 4th and 1 decision from Cade and conversation that took place after: "What were you thinking, what happened and you just go through that process... he is one of the most compliant guys we have had here, but sometime ballplayers just try to make plays... just being discipline and staying within the system, young player that is learning and he will learn"
- On this team having the right pieces to be a championship contender: "Group of guys that have the right mindset, the right maturity... my heart hurts for the guys that aren't going to get another opportunity because they have worked so hard... we have got guys on this team that it is exciting, we got a good nucleus of guys that are going to be some of the best leaders to come through this program"
- Swinney on physical development of Cade Klubnik: "He needs to get stronger, that is one of the reasons last year we were trying to bring him along, physically he needed to develop a little bit... he needs another full year of development and getting a little stronger"
- Swinney on Jay Haynes: "We did a little young guy scrimmage last week and he got rolled up... wasn't really his ankle either, more of a plantar fascia thing, we are really excited about him"=
- NC State quarterback MJ Morris: "You can see why they really like him, they were having a lot of turnover issues for different reasons and he brings that spark... talented player, big strong player and he can run... you can tell he is a good leader"
- On OL depth: "It was really good coming into the year, it's been good we felt good about it, Mitchell is a guy that has played well for us but has now played well in a couple games... we have held up pretty good"
- On Jeremiah Trotter Jr. postgame speech: "I think sometimes you know those are the positives of getting in adverse situations, it was really good to see Trotter assert himself that way, it was awesome... he is a lead by example guy and it was pretty awesome... he is a grinder and a worker, that was probably out of his comfort zone, but one of the better plays in his career"
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