Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney met with the media for his weekly Tuesday press conference to preview this Saturday’s game at Syracuse. Here is his opening statement to start the press conference.
“I’m really proud of our men’s and women’s soccer teams. They have done a great job. They really have. I’m proud of both of them.
“Again, I’m really proud of our team for how they competed last weekend in a really hard fought battle. To be 9-0 for only the third time in the history of our school is really a great accomplishment for these guys.
“For us, it is back on the road. We are headed up to Syracuse. This is a trip I think our guys look forward to. Anytime you get a chance to go to New York, we have a lot of guys … and that is one of the neat things about college football is a lot of these guys get to travel around and see parts of the country they have not seen. We look forward to going up there. It is really a great place to play a game. I had never been there until two years ago and it really is a good experience as far as just to play a game.
“We know we are going to have to play well. They are 3-2 as a team at home. They are a very tough team at home. They are tough team and a tough crowd. They had a close loss to LSU. It was a 10-point game and then a three-point game to Pitt at home.
“They have not played as well on the road, but they have been tough at home. Again, we just have to continue to do what we do. Put in a great plan and get ourselves physically and mentally ready to go play the best game of the season up there.
“There are some question marks because they have had some injuries. We are not sure which quarterback is going to play right now. For us we are trying to focus on ourselves and try to continue to get better. We have not played our best football, yet. We are still a team that is improving.
“It is a huge opportunity for our seniors if we can find a way to win the game they will have the most ACC wins of any senior group. They are going for their 27th ACC win, and for their 10th win for the fifth year in a row.
“There is so much on the line for us each and every week. It is a season of its own. It is a story of its own. For us it is staying dialed in, keeping our lives simple and the way we do that is to keep the structure in place. Just keep preparing and doing the things we have been doing that have allowed us to be successful.
“Injury wise, there is really nothing new to update there other than (Tyrone) Crowder and Ray Ray (McCloud) will be out this week. Both of those guys should recover just fine.”