This comes in tonight from TI correspondent Gavin Oliver:
-- Mike Williams did see a physician today. As of this evening Dabo hadn't yet talked with Danny Poole.
-- Austin Bryant will be held this Saturday. They're hoping he will be able to go next week. It's "not a long-term thing." Will be evaluated again on Monday.
-- Dabo did not anticipate Chris Register being able to play this weekend initially but Register is now back in practice. They're ramping him up to see how he responds.
-- Dane Rogers is good to go Saturday.
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Full notes sent from Gavin:
Coach Swinney said his team hasn’t had trouble re-focusing after the big win, and has respect for a good football team in Georgia Tech, which won last year and is confident it can do so again. Said Clemson has proven it can find different ways to win but must play well and can’t go through the motions.
“We do what we do. We’re very consistent in how we prepare, regardless of the previous week. If best is the standard, it’s a one-game season mentality, windshield mentality, then it really doesn’t matter about the previous game, whether it was a win or loss or whatever.”
-- Said the defense has to be really locked in with their eyes against the option. Said the fullback has to be tackled every play regardless of what else is happening, and the safties’ keys are different than they would be playing against a spread offense, for example -- instead of looking at receivers, they’re looking at wings, releases, etc. Said the corners probably have the least variation from their typical assignments.
-- Said in order for the offense to avoid a repeat of last year’s doldrums, it simply has to take care of the ball, especially because possessions are at a premium in this game due to the nature of Georgia Tech’s offense.
“We were blazing out of the gates, going up and down the field, off to a great start, and next thing you know we have two pick-sixes. It’s a great lesson because Cole wasn’t ready to play, mentally or emotionally or whatever when he came in, and he really had a bad game, and that’s a great lesson for everybody. You have to always be ready -- you never know when you’re going to get called into the game.
“It was just one of those weird games that got away quick, and we weren’t able to get it back, and give them credit for that.”
-- Said what sticks out about Georgia Tech’s defense is it has a lot of veteran experience, understands the scheme and is good up front. Said Georgia Tech only blitzes about 30 percent of the time, but is effective when bringing pressure. Added the secondary is really good and aggressive, mixes coverages, plays good technique and does well to move receivers off their routes and will get hands on ball if receivers aren’t fundamentally sound.
-- On defensive lineman Adam Gotsis: “He's a good player. He’s a big, strong guy inside there. Another one of those crafty veteran guys that’s been around the block and does a good job at the point of attack. They do a lot of movement inside, they don’t sit still a whole lot, and that’s a challenge. We have to do a great job to catch that stuff and pass it off. He’s a good football player. I have a lot of respect for him.”
-- After saying last week that he didn’t trust Ammon Lakip to be the last line of defense on kickoffs, as opposed to Spencer Benton, Dabo, smiling, had this to say about Lakip following his forced fumble:
“Whatever it takes to motivate him. Whatever it takes. Yeah, we tell those guys, hey, listen, you’re a part of the fit. We need 11, not 10. But that was just a tremendous play by him. So, I think invoking Spencer Benton’s name might have made him mad. He was out to prove he could do it, so it was awesome to see. Obviously a huge play in the game.”
-- Mike Williams did see a physician today. As of this evening Dabo hadn't yet talked with Danny Poole.
-- Austin Bryant will be held this Saturday. They're hoping he will be able to go next week. It's "not a long-term thing." Will be evaluated again on Monday.
-- Dabo did not anticipate Chris Register being able to play this weekend initially but Register is now back in practice. They're ramping him up to see how he responds.
-- Dane Rogers is good to go Saturday.
*******************************************************
Full notes sent from Gavin:
Coach Swinney said his team hasn’t had trouble re-focusing after the big win, and has respect for a good football team in Georgia Tech, which won last year and is confident it can do so again. Said Clemson has proven it can find different ways to win but must play well and can’t go through the motions.
“We do what we do. We’re very consistent in how we prepare, regardless of the previous week. If best is the standard, it’s a one-game season mentality, windshield mentality, then it really doesn’t matter about the previous game, whether it was a win or loss or whatever.”
-- Said the defense has to be really locked in with their eyes against the option. Said the fullback has to be tackled every play regardless of what else is happening, and the safties’ keys are different than they would be playing against a spread offense, for example -- instead of looking at receivers, they’re looking at wings, releases, etc. Said the corners probably have the least variation from their typical assignments.
-- Said in order for the offense to avoid a repeat of last year’s doldrums, it simply has to take care of the ball, especially because possessions are at a premium in this game due to the nature of Georgia Tech’s offense.
“We were blazing out of the gates, going up and down the field, off to a great start, and next thing you know we have two pick-sixes. It’s a great lesson because Cole wasn’t ready to play, mentally or emotionally or whatever when he came in, and he really had a bad game, and that’s a great lesson for everybody. You have to always be ready -- you never know when you’re going to get called into the game.
“It was just one of those weird games that got away quick, and we weren’t able to get it back, and give them credit for that.”
-- Said what sticks out about Georgia Tech’s defense is it has a lot of veteran experience, understands the scheme and is good up front. Said Georgia Tech only blitzes about 30 percent of the time, but is effective when bringing pressure. Added the secondary is really good and aggressive, mixes coverages, plays good technique and does well to move receivers off their routes and will get hands on ball if receivers aren’t fundamentally sound.
-- On defensive lineman Adam Gotsis: “He's a good player. He’s a big, strong guy inside there. Another one of those crafty veteran guys that’s been around the block and does a good job at the point of attack. They do a lot of movement inside, they don’t sit still a whole lot, and that’s a challenge. We have to do a great job to catch that stuff and pass it off. He’s a good football player. I have a lot of respect for him.”
-- After saying last week that he didn’t trust Ammon Lakip to be the last line of defense on kickoffs, as opposed to Spencer Benton, Dabo, smiling, had this to say about Lakip following his forced fumble:
“Whatever it takes to motivate him. Whatever it takes. Yeah, we tell those guys, hey, listen, you’re a part of the fit. We need 11, not 10. But that was just a tremendous play by him. So, I think invoking Spencer Benton’s name might have made him mad. He was out to prove he could do it, so it was awesome to see. Obviously a huge play in the game.”
