Dabo Swinney says bring on the hate.
The Clemson Tigers coach expects — and welcomes — criticism following his team's season-opening 17-10 loss to LSU last week, which included a disappointing performance from first-team preseason All-American quarterback Cade Klubnik. The loss dropped the Tigers from No. 4 to No. 8 in the AP Top 25, while LSU jumped from ninth to third.
“Everybody can just start throwing mud now. Just bring it on,” Swinney said during an animated news conference earlier this week.
“Tell everybody we suck. Coaches suck. Cade stinks. Start writing that again.”
Swinney and the Tigers have a chance to get right on Saturday when they host Troy at Memorial Stadium. Clemson is a 33 1/2-point favorite, according to BetMGM Sportsbook.
The Trojans are coming off a 38-20 win over Nicholls last week.
Klubnik entered the season as a Heisman Trophy candidate but finished the game just 19 of 38 for 230 yards with no touchdowns and one interception. Even Swinney admitted Klubnik missed seeing wide open receivers, including Tyler Brown for a long walk-in touchdown.
Swinney said Klubnik had a "bad day," but he is confident he'll bounce back.
“Watch the tape and you just have to make the plays that are there,” Swinney said. “That's just easy stuff. Nothing is complicated. We just have to do the routine stuff. The biggest issue in that game is that our best player didn't play well. And if that is the biggest issue from the game, sign me up because (Klubnik) will respond, I promise you that.”
Swinney wasn't impressed after watching film from the LSU game, saying that “neither team played great” and went as far as to give LSU a grade of 65, while handing out a 58 to his own squad.
That didn't appear to sit so well with LSU coach Brian Kelly.
After hearing about Swinney's comments, Kelly said at his own news conference: "Well, I thought we dominated them in the second half, so he’s either a really good grader for giving himself a 58, or he’s a really hard grader on us. Or he didn’t see the second half, which that might be the case. He might not have wanted to see the second half.”
Clemson's offense was clearly impacted in Week 1 by the loss of second-team preseason All-American wide receiver Antonio Williams early in the first quarter. Williams, who was targeted twice on the opening drive, left with a hamstring injury and did not return.
His status for Saturday is unclear, but it would seem unlikely that Swinney would push him back for this game. Swinney said Brown will start in his place if Williams can't go.
Swinney boasted about his team's depth at wide receiver before the season, and now that will be tested. He seemed to challenge them this week.
“A lot of narratives in the offseason, the only one held up was (defensive coordinator) Tom Allen and that D-line and them linebackers,” Swinney said. “The rest of them? Nah, none of them held up. All these great wideouts we got? Hey, great wideouts make them contested plays to win the game. If you’re a Heisman quarterback and all that and first pick in the draft and all that crap, you don’t show up and play like that.”
Clemson managed just 31 yards rushing against LSU, and you can bet that Tigers offensive coordinator Garrett Riley will look to do a better job of establishing the run against Troy.
Meanwhile, Troy coach Gerad Parker said he wants to see his defensive line stop thinking as much following its lackluster win against Nicholls.
“We were looking at things instead of playing hard at the line of scrimmage and just playing through stuff,” Parker said. "In order for us to have success this week we better come off the football and think less and play faster. Those things happen through instincts."
Clemson is 3-0 against Troy and the games have not been particularly close. ... The Tigers are attempting to improve to 38-10 in games following a loss under Swinney, including season openers following a loss in the previous season finale. ... Clemson is 70-6 at Death Valley in the College Football Playoff era, the second-best mark in the country during that span. ... - Klubnik needs 90 yards passing to become the fifth quarterback in Clemson history to reach 7,500 career yards, joining Tajh Boyd, Deshaun Watson, Trevor Lawrence and Charlie Whitehurst.
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