This comes in from TI correspondent Gavin Oliver:
TONY ELLIOT
What do you think of Deshaun’s performance? A bit of a slow start, but he got it going and played well.
“It just goes to show the type of competitor that he is. He knew that he was off a little bit, but he wasn’t afraid to keep throwing it. Obviously, you have to make the calls to put him in position, but he kept throwing it. It’s kind of like if you’re in baseball, if you’re in a slump, you have to keep swinging it, you have to keep trying to get base hits. He was going to find it. You know him — he’s his biggest critic, so he’s going to assess what’s going on, and he’s going to find it, and then his guys made some plays for him to be able to help his confidence get to where it needed to be, and it was good have some success throwing the ball.”
Leggett’s had a few touchdowns in the red zone the lately. Has he sort of become that replacement for Mike Williams there, that big target?
“Of course, and he creates matchup problems, so when you looked at us a couple years ago when we were No. 1 in the country in red zone, we had two elements — we had Tajh that could run the ball, and then you had Nuk, and you had those guys on the outside that could go up and play the high-point. Obviously, losing Mike, we lost a little bit of that, but you’re seeing some of the other guys starting to emerge. The more that we can stick to it and continue to throw the ball down the field, it builds confidence, but Leggett is a matchup problem for anybody. If you put a linebacker on him, he can run by a linebacker, and if you put a safety or a corner on him, he’s a big body and he’s got great ball skills, so we have to find more ways to get him the ball. But just excited for him and the opportunity to break a record (the first Clemson tight end to score a touchdown in four consecutive games since K.D. Dunn in 1983) — I know that’s something special to him, and he’s worked hard, he’s one of the leaders of our offense, so it’s good to see him get in the end zone.”
How about Deon Cain’s continued progression?
“He keeps getting better week after week, and it’s good to see him go out there and make plays and build his confidence. So now, as you do that, then we’re able to expand his package and his role in this offense.
“It’s good to see him, and Trevion’s making plays. It’s good to see Charone make some plays down the field, Artavis making plays down the field, so that just builds confidence, and for us, what it does is it makes defenses pick — what are you going to try and stop, the run, you going to play us bump-and-run, you going to sit there in the Cover 2? And I think throughout the course of the game, we were able to get Boston College to switch to a Cover 2, but they were still so stout inside stopping the run, we didn’t quite have the success we wanted.”
Zac got a lot of work tonight. Was it his ability to catch the ball out of the backfield and give you that other option, considering how well BC plays against the run?
“That, and the times that he’s touched it, it seems like he’s found a way to break it for a long run, so he’s worked his way into a bigger role. Now that he’s healthy, he’s showing to be durable, and we knew that the backs were going to have to make some plays coming out of the backfield. Wayne has gotten a lot better, but that’s probably not his strongest point right now, but you did see that he did make some catches. But Zac is a very good receiver, he’s running the ball at a high level, so it’s good to see him have some success.”
JEFF SCOTT
“No secrets. We knew they were going to challenge us, they were going to bring a lot of pressure and make us hit those one-on-one matchups. The first half, the timing was off just a little bit, and that’s really what their defense is based on, is based on them being able to get there and being able to (make you) make the perfect pass. But ultimately, I really felt good about the way the guys responded at halftime. Through this season, we really haven’t had much adversity, and this was the first time coming in at halftime against a good football team that we were going to find out what we were made of in the second half, and I knew Deshaun really wanted to hit a lot of those throws, and to see him come out in the second half and for us to connect, I think that really says a lot about this group by the progress because we’re going to be in the same position as we go as the competition continues to get better. We’ve got to be able to respond the right way and play four quarters, and I thought we did that tonight.”
You took a lot of deep shots tonight. Was that based on the looks the defense gave the offense?
“Yeah, a lot of that was predicated by how they were playing us. We knew. Florida State’s got great skill guys, they played them man coverage the entire game, so we knew. It wasn’t a hard game plan for the guys on the perimeter because you’re getting either Cover 2 or man coverage. It was really a difficult game for the guys inside — offensive linemen, running backs, tight ends, quarterbacks — trying to figure out all the different blitzes and everything coming, but ultimately, it comes down to once they do their job, of us connecting downfield. The guys have to beat press coverage, and I felt like we did that a good bit tonight, and Deshaun really got in his groove there in the second half, and we were able to make a lot of those big plays stick.”
How did BC’s defense stack up against Louisville’s and Notre Dame’s?
“They were everything we expected. We knew they were going to be difficult to block up front, we knew they were going to challenge you. You have to give them a
lot of credit. The last two years, they’ve played us really well also. I think it was a four-point game last year, a 10-point game the year before, so this is not a surprise for us. They do a really good job with their scheme and their personnel, and they make you have to really be perfect to be able to hit those shots to be able to win it, and I think early in the year, some of the other teams were not able to do that. We really challenged our guys to do that.”
How does it feel putting up 532 yards and 34 points?
“I think each week, the challenge has gotten bigger, and obviously we had a lot of respect for Louisville, we knew Notre Dame was going to be a challenge, and we came in this week, and it wasn’t hard to get these guys focused. We always put up the stats of the other team — obviously, BC’s No. 1 in total defense, No. 1 rushing defense, No. 1 passing defense — so we knew we were going to be in for a challenge, we knew this was going to be a four-quarter fight, and that’s what we told them at halftime. We knew we were going to be in this situation, we just have to keep swinging, play four quarters, trust the guy next to you and go make plays.”
Anybody who stood out to you tonight, or anybody you need to step up?
“I think there’s a lot of guys. There’s nine different guys that caught balls between the wide receivers, running backs and tight ends. The play I was probably most pleased with was late in the game — Deshaun actually checked the play that he hit Deon Cain on the long throw and catch. We actually had another play called. Deshaun saw the defense, he checked it, and for a true freshman to be able to see the check immediately and to be able to run the right route — for them to be able to execute — that was my favorite play of the night because that showed the quarterbacks’s seeing it and making the change, and the true freshman being on the same page for the big hook-up in the game.”
What are some things you want to look at on film and coach off of moving forward?
“I think there’s a lot to learn. Ultimately, the big picture, what you learn is the resilience being able to stick together when things aren’t quite going your way. Early in the year, we’ve had a lot of success early on. This is the first time that we really got challenged in the first half, and we had to dig deep, so overall, I think we learned that our guys will continue to fight, stay together, be able to get it done, and there’ll be a lot of stuff to coach off of. That’s what we do every week. You’re going to learn after every win and every loss. So, we’ll enjoy this tonight, regroup, and get ready for a tough game at Miami next week.”
TONY ELLIOT
What do you think of Deshaun’s performance? A bit of a slow start, but he got it going and played well.
“It just goes to show the type of competitor that he is. He knew that he was off a little bit, but he wasn’t afraid to keep throwing it. Obviously, you have to make the calls to put him in position, but he kept throwing it. It’s kind of like if you’re in baseball, if you’re in a slump, you have to keep swinging it, you have to keep trying to get base hits. He was going to find it. You know him — he’s his biggest critic, so he’s going to assess what’s going on, and he’s going to find it, and then his guys made some plays for him to be able to help his confidence get to where it needed to be, and it was good have some success throwing the ball.”
Leggett’s had a few touchdowns in the red zone the lately. Has he sort of become that replacement for Mike Williams there, that big target?
“Of course, and he creates matchup problems, so when you looked at us a couple years ago when we were No. 1 in the country in red zone, we had two elements — we had Tajh that could run the ball, and then you had Nuk, and you had those guys on the outside that could go up and play the high-point. Obviously, losing Mike, we lost a little bit of that, but you’re seeing some of the other guys starting to emerge. The more that we can stick to it and continue to throw the ball down the field, it builds confidence, but Leggett is a matchup problem for anybody. If you put a linebacker on him, he can run by a linebacker, and if you put a safety or a corner on him, he’s a big body and he’s got great ball skills, so we have to find more ways to get him the ball. But just excited for him and the opportunity to break a record (the first Clemson tight end to score a touchdown in four consecutive games since K.D. Dunn in 1983) — I know that’s something special to him, and he’s worked hard, he’s one of the leaders of our offense, so it’s good to see him get in the end zone.”
How about Deon Cain’s continued progression?
“He keeps getting better week after week, and it’s good to see him go out there and make plays and build his confidence. So now, as you do that, then we’re able to expand his package and his role in this offense.
“It’s good to see him, and Trevion’s making plays. It’s good to see Charone make some plays down the field, Artavis making plays down the field, so that just builds confidence, and for us, what it does is it makes defenses pick — what are you going to try and stop, the run, you going to play us bump-and-run, you going to sit there in the Cover 2? And I think throughout the course of the game, we were able to get Boston College to switch to a Cover 2, but they were still so stout inside stopping the run, we didn’t quite have the success we wanted.”
Zac got a lot of work tonight. Was it his ability to catch the ball out of the backfield and give you that other option, considering how well BC plays against the run?
“That, and the times that he’s touched it, it seems like he’s found a way to break it for a long run, so he’s worked his way into a bigger role. Now that he’s healthy, he’s showing to be durable, and we knew that the backs were going to have to make some plays coming out of the backfield. Wayne has gotten a lot better, but that’s probably not his strongest point right now, but you did see that he did make some catches. But Zac is a very good receiver, he’s running the ball at a high level, so it’s good to see him have some success.”
JEFF SCOTT
“No secrets. We knew they were going to challenge us, they were going to bring a lot of pressure and make us hit those one-on-one matchups. The first half, the timing was off just a little bit, and that’s really what their defense is based on, is based on them being able to get there and being able to (make you) make the perfect pass. But ultimately, I really felt good about the way the guys responded at halftime. Through this season, we really haven’t had much adversity, and this was the first time coming in at halftime against a good football team that we were going to find out what we were made of in the second half, and I knew Deshaun really wanted to hit a lot of those throws, and to see him come out in the second half and for us to connect, I think that really says a lot about this group by the progress because we’re going to be in the same position as we go as the competition continues to get better. We’ve got to be able to respond the right way and play four quarters, and I thought we did that tonight.”
You took a lot of deep shots tonight. Was that based on the looks the defense gave the offense?
“Yeah, a lot of that was predicated by how they were playing us. We knew. Florida State’s got great skill guys, they played them man coverage the entire game, so we knew. It wasn’t a hard game plan for the guys on the perimeter because you’re getting either Cover 2 or man coverage. It was really a difficult game for the guys inside — offensive linemen, running backs, tight ends, quarterbacks — trying to figure out all the different blitzes and everything coming, but ultimately, it comes down to once they do their job, of us connecting downfield. The guys have to beat press coverage, and I felt like we did that a good bit tonight, and Deshaun really got in his groove there in the second half, and we were able to make a lot of those big plays stick.”
How did BC’s defense stack up against Louisville’s and Notre Dame’s?
“They were everything we expected. We knew they were going to be difficult to block up front, we knew they were going to challenge you. You have to give them a
lot of credit. The last two years, they’ve played us really well also. I think it was a four-point game last year, a 10-point game the year before, so this is not a surprise for us. They do a really good job with their scheme and their personnel, and they make you have to really be perfect to be able to hit those shots to be able to win it, and I think early in the year, some of the other teams were not able to do that. We really challenged our guys to do that.”
How does it feel putting up 532 yards and 34 points?
“I think each week, the challenge has gotten bigger, and obviously we had a lot of respect for Louisville, we knew Notre Dame was going to be a challenge, and we came in this week, and it wasn’t hard to get these guys focused. We always put up the stats of the other team — obviously, BC’s No. 1 in total defense, No. 1 rushing defense, No. 1 passing defense — so we knew we were going to be in for a challenge, we knew this was going to be a four-quarter fight, and that’s what we told them at halftime. We knew we were going to be in this situation, we just have to keep swinging, play four quarters, trust the guy next to you and go make plays.”
Anybody who stood out to you tonight, or anybody you need to step up?
“I think there’s a lot of guys. There’s nine different guys that caught balls between the wide receivers, running backs and tight ends. The play I was probably most pleased with was late in the game — Deshaun actually checked the play that he hit Deon Cain on the long throw and catch. We actually had another play called. Deshaun saw the defense, he checked it, and for a true freshman to be able to see the check immediately and to be able to run the right route — for them to be able to execute — that was my favorite play of the night because that showed the quarterbacks’s seeing it and making the change, and the true freshman being on the same page for the big hook-up in the game.”
What are some things you want to look at on film and coach off of moving forward?
“I think there’s a lot to learn. Ultimately, the big picture, what you learn is the resilience being able to stick together when things aren’t quite going your way. Early in the year, we’ve had a lot of success early on. This is the first time that we really got challenged in the first half, and we had to dig deep, so overall, I think we learned that our guys will continue to fight, stay together, be able to get it done, and there’ll be a lot of stuff to coach off of. That’s what we do every week. You’re going to learn after every win and every loss. So, we’ll enjoy this tonight, regroup, and get ready for a tough game at Miami next week.”
