Q&A: Clemson coach Swinney talks U of L

Clemson coach Dabo Swinney chatted with the local South Carolina-based media on Tuesday and previewed Clemson's 3:30 p.m. Saturday game against Louisville.

Here's the full transcript of his weekly press conference. (I tried my best to catch any typos or errors in the transcript, but I probably missed a few. These press conferences are transcribed by professional companies or by the schools and sometimes have a few mistakes in them.)

Opening statement: This is our breast cancer game. We promote breast cancer education and awareness the whole month of October but this is the game we designate it for. This (golf shirt) is actually from the product line that they were talking about last week during the press conference.

This is a very good team we have coming in here. Louisville is a very good football team. It is going to be a big challenge. There is no doubt about that. They are 5-1 and well coached. They are confident. They play with a lot of confidence when you watch this team. They have had a lot of success over the last few years . They have had a lot of big wins. They have a lot of veteran guys even though they have a new coaching staff. You can see the confidence when you watch them play.

Offensively, they want to run the football. They have about four backs that are big and strong and are going to force the issue. We have to do a great job at the point of attack. You have to tackle well because they will force the issue from a physical standpoint. When we play a team that is as disciplined as they are, we have to be very committed from a play-action standpoint.

They are a heavy play-action team. They do an excellent job with their concepts on the back end as far as having guys open . They do cross country type routes. They are a big challenge for us. Their offensive line is as good as we have seen. They have a bunch of veterans with four starters back. They are a little different then what I have seen. Their offensive line flips their guys. Although, we kind of look like we flip our guys right now also.

For example, left tackle and left guard will go to right tackle and right guard. They do an excellent job at positioning their guys. They have been big, strong physical guys and again, they have a lot of guys who have played a long time for them. Their tight end is a very athletic guy. He can run and has good size. Their receivers are very talented and quick.

They have speed in the slot. The big question is whether or not DeVante Parker will be back. He has had 28 touchdowns in his career. Twelve of them were from last year, the same number Sammy Watkins had. We expect him back. It sounds like he is going to play and he is definitely a big-time weapon. At quarterback, we have seen both guys on tape. The freshman (Bonnafon) played in Syracuse last week and is a young talent. We expect to probably see both of their quarterbacks in this ballgame.

Defensively, the biggest word to describe them is aggressive. They are very aggressive. They were number one last year and this year defensively. They are top 10 in about every category you can come up with and they have played six games. Stats can be a little bit misleading after one or two games, but this group has played six games. They are starting to create a little big of an identity. They are very salty, athletic, fast and long guys and do a good job with pressure packages. Keith Kelsey is an outstanding defender and Lorenzo Mauldin is one of the top players in the nation in career sacks along with Vic Beasley.

They do a lot with Mauldin. He will come up the edge and up the middle and move him around. They do an excellent
job in trying to create some confusion in where their pressure is coming from. They do an excellent job on the
backend. This is the most aggressive secondary that we have played. They will attack you downhill. Their safeties really want to be involved. They are very physical.

Again, they are number one in the nation defensively for a reason. It shows up on tape when you watch them. They are a big challenge for us.

On special teams, it is the same thing. They have excellent return people.

This is going to be another great day in the Valley. It has been a lot of fun the last couple weeks here. The crowds have been great. This is another 3:30 kickoff. That is kind of the chamber of commerce kickoff time around here. I know everyone is excited to have our third game in a row here before we go back on the road next week. It is surprising that we have 200 tickets left so we need to get those sold.

I thought our guys had great energy at practice last night and getting back to work. I am very impressed with them last week. We need to continue to improve and prepare the right way so that we have the type of performance on game day that we are looking for.

On Clemson's offensive line: The neat part of our offensive line situation is that it has kind of forced us out of a comfort zone as a coaching staff. Usually, you have guys that don't move around a lot in the offensive line, especially in the course of a game. You
might change next week. For example, my right tackle might play left tackle or whatever. You usually do not have as much actually going on during the game as we have. This is the most versatility that we have had in the offensive line. Kalon Davis is going to make some money at the next level. He is playing well and he is playing everything.. The only thing he has not done is snap a football.

That part of it, I think the guys have taken ownership and understand. Where it has been a challenge is at practice. Reid Webster has played everywhere and he has got to be the second center, but we cannot give him all the second reps at center at practice. We have to be creative at how we split our reps and prepare these guys. We are where we were last week as far as a starting point goes.

Obviously, Jay Guillermo was out. Reid will be the second center. We are working Tyrone Crowder and Spencer Region at center. Region has done a little bit of snapping. We are working those two guys. Zach Riggs is another guy that we have trained up, as a center and he will help us in time as he transitions from tight end to center. He is a redshirt freshman that understands what we are doing. He is not quite where he needs to be physically yet.

We are trying to be creative in practice and that is a challenge for us and what we are working on each and everyday. At left tackle, Isaiah Battle, Reid, and Eric Mac Lain. Mac has played a little bit of everything as well. That part of it has been good. It has allowed us to prepare for what we are doing right now. The good news is, we are going to get Joe Gore back soon and we are going to get Guillermo back eventually.

Does Louisville's aggressive defense concern you with the O-line problems? You are always concerned when you are playing a really good defense. This is statistically the best defense in the country. They are very active and they just line up. They do a lot of movement. We have to do a great job in identifying and setting up protection and making sure everybody is on the same page.

The positive of it is that these guys have played five games and we have guys that have good experience up front. They are really working well together. I see us starting to jell as a group. I think the chemistry will pay off for us. If we had a bunch of freshman, it would be a little different.

On the Clemson defense: They have played with a lot of confidence. They are doing a great job at the line of scrimmage. Our coverage has greatly improved. This is the most complete defense we have had around here in a very long time. Guys are taking pride in attention to detail and knowing what to do. We did not want nine guys doing a great job and two guys doing a bust by trying to do somebody else's job first instead of doing their own. We are becoming more disciplined. The guys have a good understanding of what we are doing. I think they are preparing the right way and excited to play.

The leadership is tremendous on that side of the ball. That is the strength of our team. After five games, we have made great progress and been very consistent. We are hard to run the ball on. If we continue to be that way, it will lead us to some good results.

On Louisville's differences from 2013: Yes I have. They are not a lot different. They have a lot of guys back. They are physical, fast and aggressive. They are pretty much the same guys. They are an attack defense and that is what they were last year too. They are in your face and play with confidence on the back end. You got to win the one on ones with these guys because they are
going to challenge you.

On Petrino's Carrier Dome comparison to Clemson's Death Valley: It was loud up there for a little while (Clemson led 21-0 at end of first quarter). It was very loud. We kind of hit some good plays early, but it was definitely a loud place. We think we have a great environment here. Those guys have played in a lot of big environments. They beat Florida and have some great wins. I hope we sell those 200 tickets. I know it will be a great environment here on Saturday for college football.

On the first time he saw QB Deshaun Watson: The first time that I saw him on person was when he came to our camp. I knew immediately that he was special and then meeting him and seeing the type of individual he was how he handled himself clarified that. He was the best guy at camp as a ninth grader and then February of his 10th grade year, he called me and committed to Clemson. He was very focused and never got caught up in recruiting. This guy had the weight of the world on him during recruitment. For two or plus years, he had to withstand all the reasons why not to come to Clemson because we were obviously the target. He had everybody in the world trying to recruit him.

He is a special guy. He is a lot like Sammy Watkins as far as the recruitment process. It is fun to watch him. We talk about what he was doing three and four years ago and to see him now and see where he is and blossom in front of our eyes is very fun to watch.

On Watson's quick release vs. Louisville: I think we want him to stay within the system. Our system is set up to where they take what they are given. Obviously, we don't want him holding the ball but he has done a phenomenal job at that. He really has. He took a sack last week. We had two sacks. One was one the offensive line and one was on Deshaun. For the most part, he has had a good instinct as far as when to run and when to create and extend a play. He has not done a whole lot of just holding the ball. He has a very good feel for his progressions.

He had a check down last week. We have two check downs that were just tremendous. He knew right away that it was not there. He has a good presence of where everybody is. He has done a nice job with that. The biggest thing is to just know where they are coming from and understanding where his protection is. He did a great job last week.

We were motioning a guy on the backfield and really hurting him. Deshaun hits a side adjustment. That is a frustrating thing as a coach. He hits a big play to Mike Williams. Those are the things that he has demonstrated. If he continues to prepare in the right way, we will be all right.