Dabo Swinney and the Clemson Tigers are excited to play a quality Pittsburgh team on Saturday with Clemson’s ACC championship hopes still alive following Miami’s upset loss on Saturday.
Swinney saw a resilient Tigers squad shake off a rough first half in Blacksburg as Clemson roared to a 24-14 win and the Clemson head coach hopes his team can carry that momentum into the Steele City this week. It is the first meeting between Clemson and Pittsburgh since 2021, a 27-17 Panthers win. The last Clemson win over Pitt was a 52-17 drubbing in 2020.
Pittsburgh Panthers vs. Clemson Tigers | 2020 College Football Highlights
In his opening comments, Dabo Swinney praised Pittsburgh for their toughness and gave a nod to Panthers coach and friend Steve Narduzzi.
“Another really tough challenge again this week with a gritty, well-coached, Pitt team who has had a great year. They’re coming off a close loss against Virginia where they had a couple of their key players hurt. They have one of the top offenses in the country. They’re throwing the ball all over the park. A lot of tempo. They have some electric players, receivers and tight ends involved. They have an absolute rocket in the backfield who can do it all. He’s fifth in the country in all-purpose yardage. This is a really, really good team that will challenge you.”
Dabo Swinney
Clemson comes into this week’s game nursing some injuries, particularly along the offensive line. It was learned over the weekend that Collin Sadler will miss the rest of the season, and Marcus Tate and Tristan Leigh are working their way through injuries as well. Swinney addressed those concerns.
“They’re truly day to day,” said Swinney of Tate and Leigh. “We thought Tate was going to play until breakfast last week. Leigh, structurally, everything is OK. He’s just day to day.”
Dabo Swinney
On the defensive side, defensive lineman Demonte Capehart has also missed time and Dabo Swinney added that Capehart will miss this week’s game as well.
“Yes, he’s out,” he added. “He’s out this week for sure.”
But Swinney did provide a positive update on wide receiver Tyler Brown who has been sidelined since the Appalachian State game. It seems Brown’s return is imminent if all goes well.
“(Brown) could probably be ready by the South Carolina game,” commented Swinney. “We may try to get his year back if we can hold him. We have 18 days left in the season, so we’ll see how it all plays out. It would be great for him if we could hold the year. He’ll certainly be available for postseason.”
Dabo Swinney
Clemson was much better defensively against Virginia Tech, especially against the run. The Tigers’ defense looked like a completely different unit. Freshman linebacker Sammy Brown played his highest number of snaps this season and was a disrupting force against the Hokies’ rushing attack. Swinney was asked if Brown may continue to see increased playing time going forward.
“It’ll be based on what Pitt is doing,” he responded. “They’re an 11-personnel team. He certainly has to have an opportunity to play, and he deserves that. Kobe was really our third guy coming into the season. Now, where we are, we feel good about it. Dee Crayton is really improved. Jamal has improved. You haven’t seen it quite as much on the field. Sammy, as the game has slowed down, has just taken off. He’s in a really good place. We feel good about this group especially when we’ll have Kobe back.”
Following Saturday’s win, Swinney surprisingly said he thought it was quarterback Cade Klubnik’s worst game of the season despite the junior signal caller making several sensational plays. Dabo Swinney took a moment to clarify that thought, too.
“It was as good a game as (Cade) has ever had from a leadership standpoint,” elaborated Swinney. “He’s never been better. It was freaking awesome. A++. He’s really grown as a leader. He has an awesome will to win. As far as just quarterback play, I thought it was his worst game as far as the things that he needs to do. He took four sacks and every one of them were on him and none of them should have happened. He just tried to do too much. Just a couple of plays where he didn’t pull the trigger.”
Dabo Swinney
Swinney continued, “The best part was that we didn’t have to tell him. I asked him how he thought he played. He said he thought it was his worst game. The other stuff? We don’t win that game without that. His running ability has changed everything for us this year.”
As Saturday approaches, Swinney also knows that Clemson can ill-afford to have another slow start on offense this week against an explosive Pitt team. Swinney wants to see more downfield chunk plays and vertical shots this week to help keep the offense ahead of the sticks.
“Very important to do that,” explained Swinney. “You don’t win the game unless you have some explosives. There will be some hold-your-breath moments. It’s body on body. You have to be accurate and finish competitive plays. If you can get the ball in space, you have a chance to break some tackles. It’ll be a physical game with our skill people vs. their skill people. The ball has to be accurate. Cade has to be a huge factor. They’ll take some chances. It’s hard to be perfect against these guys with how they bring people. Cade will have to make some plays with his legs. You have an opportunity there with some off-schedule plays.”
Dabo Swinney
Dabo Swinney and the Clemson Tigers will kick off Saturday’s game at 12 noon on ESPN at Acrisure Stadium.
