Clemson preserved Saturday’s matchup of ranked unbeatens by taking care of Florida State last week, though head coach Dabo Swinney as well as some of his assistants and players bemoaned how the Tigers got there.
Clemson led what many perceived to be one of its toughest remaining road tests by as many as 20 points midway through the third quarter before FSU mounted a furious rally. After totaling 291 yards through the first three quarters, the Seminoles went up and down the field on the Tigers’ defense in the fourth, accumulating 169 yards, eight first downs and a pair of touchdowns in a span of 7 minutes, 5 seconds of game time.
Those scores got FSU within six, forcing the Tigers to recover an onside kick in the final 2 minutes and change in order to hold on. Now fifth-ranked Clemson (7-0, 5-0 ACC) gets No. 14 Syracuse (6-0, 3-0) at Memorial Stadium on Saturday with first place in the ACC’s Atlantic Division on the line.
With three practices in the books in preparation for that, Swinney said Wednesday he’s been pleased with the way the defense has responded and taken ownership of its slow finish last week.
“They’re competitors,” Swinney said. “Those guys take pride in their performance.”
Swinney and defensive run-game coordinator Nick Eason brought up missed tackles as the unit’s primary issue against the Seminoles after yielding more than 200 rushing yards to FSU, the first time an opponent’s run game has produced at that high of a level against Clemson this season. Swinney said he charted 24 misses to be exact, but he noted that’s also a correctable flaw.
“Really the biggest thing is we’ve got to tackle well. That’s fundamental,” Swinney said. “Wrapping up and being where you’re supposed to be when you’re supposed to be there.”
Clemson figures to get another challenge from a Syracuse offense that’s among the top five in the ACC in total offense (431.7 per game) and rushing yards (188.5). The Tigers will need to be better at all points throughout Saturday’s game if they want to give themselves the best chance to stay in control of their conference destiny, but Swinney has no complaints about what he’s seen from the group so far this week.
“This is a very competitive bunch, and, again, they take a lot of pride in their performance,” Swinney said. “Any time we don’t do something as well as we’d like, there’s always a lot of effort to get better.”
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