This comes in tonight from TI correspondent Gavin Oliver:
-- Dabo’s evaluation of D.J. Reader after three days of practice:
“He looks good. He got a little bit more in the mix today, and I think he’s getting used to those knee braces again and all that stuff, playing football, but when you’re off for a while, that’s just part of kind of getting back in the rhythm of it. But he’s looked good. He did a nice job of maintaining himself and getting himself into shape. I think he had his mind made up, and he’s been preparing to try to get back when he felt like it was the right time, so we’re glad to have him back, and he’ll be with us this week.”
-- With Ryan Carter’s return, said “it’s all hands on deck” against Miami quarterback Brad Kaaya, who leads the ACC in passing yards (1,795) and attempts (219) with only one interception.
-- Said ball security has been good this week in practice, but wants to climb into plus territory in turnover margin after being minus-one through the first six games (eight interceptions and four fumbles lost to seven interceptions and four fumbles lost by opponents). Noted Miami is plus-13 in turnover margin and has lost two games, so the margin doesn’t always mean wins or losses, but thinks Clemson needs to come out on top in that facet of the game on Saturday because of the field position and momentum that typically accompany takeaways, and because it increases the odds of winning.
“We didn’t get any last week, and so, as a result, we played on a very long field the entire game, but we were able to overcome it — 85-, 80-, 75-, 98-yard touchdown drives, but that’s tough sledding. I don’t think you can count on doing that consistently. Proud of our guys, so getting turnovers and then us not putting them on a short field is critical, and we did that last week. We gave them a couple short fields, and they got 10 points out of it.”
-- Said Miami defensive linemen Al-Quadin Muhammad and Chad Thomas are “freaky looking.”
“They’re just sophomores, and I’ll be really surprised if we don’t look up in another year or so and those guys, by the time they leave Miami, aren’t going to be great players.”
-- There are plenty of players on Clemson’s roster from the state of Florida — most notably Mackensie Alexander, Adrian Baker, Travis Blanks, Deon Cain, Jake Fruhmorgen, Jayron Kearse, Jordan Leggett, Ray-Ray McCloud, Artavis Scott, Garrett Williams and Richard Yeargin — but Dabo hopes those guys are beyond trying to do too much in a more personal game.
-- Dabo was aksed about Chad Morris as a possible candidate for South Carolina, and replied, "I think he's got a great job, and you'd have to ask Chad that. I'm not here to answer questions for Chad Morris. I think he's a great coach, obviously, and I think he's focused on doing a great job where he's at. If there's another job out there he's interested in, that's up to him. You'd have to talk to him about that, not me."
-- Dabo’s evaluation of D.J. Reader after three days of practice:
“He looks good. He got a little bit more in the mix today, and I think he’s getting used to those knee braces again and all that stuff, playing football, but when you’re off for a while, that’s just part of kind of getting back in the rhythm of it. But he’s looked good. He did a nice job of maintaining himself and getting himself into shape. I think he had his mind made up, and he’s been preparing to try to get back when he felt like it was the right time, so we’re glad to have him back, and he’ll be with us this week.”
-- With Ryan Carter’s return, said “it’s all hands on deck” against Miami quarterback Brad Kaaya, who leads the ACC in passing yards (1,795) and attempts (219) with only one interception.
-- Said ball security has been good this week in practice, but wants to climb into plus territory in turnover margin after being minus-one through the first six games (eight interceptions and four fumbles lost to seven interceptions and four fumbles lost by opponents). Noted Miami is plus-13 in turnover margin and has lost two games, so the margin doesn’t always mean wins or losses, but thinks Clemson needs to come out on top in that facet of the game on Saturday because of the field position and momentum that typically accompany takeaways, and because it increases the odds of winning.
“We didn’t get any last week, and so, as a result, we played on a very long field the entire game, but we were able to overcome it — 85-, 80-, 75-, 98-yard touchdown drives, but that’s tough sledding. I don’t think you can count on doing that consistently. Proud of our guys, so getting turnovers and then us not putting them on a short field is critical, and we did that last week. We gave them a couple short fields, and they got 10 points out of it.”
-- Said Miami defensive linemen Al-Quadin Muhammad and Chad Thomas are “freaky looking.”
“They’re just sophomores, and I’ll be really surprised if we don’t look up in another year or so and those guys, by the time they leave Miami, aren’t going to be great players.”
-- There are plenty of players on Clemson’s roster from the state of Florida — most notably Mackensie Alexander, Adrian Baker, Travis Blanks, Deon Cain, Jake Fruhmorgen, Jayron Kearse, Jordan Leggett, Ray-Ray McCloud, Artavis Scott, Garrett Williams and Richard Yeargin — but Dabo hopes those guys are beyond trying to do too much in a more personal game.
-- Dabo was aksed about Chad Morris as a possible candidate for South Carolina, and replied, "I think he's got a great job, and you'd have to ask Chad that. I'm not here to answer questions for Chad Morris. I think he's a great coach, obviously, and I think he's focused on doing a great job where he's at. If there's another job out there he's interested in, that's up to him. You'd have to talk to him about that, not me."
