Dabo Swinney gave a ton of respect to No. 4 Miami in his presser this week. With a 7:30 p.m. Saturday kickoff at Memorial Stadium against a 4-0 Hurricanes team that reached last season's national championship game, the Clemson coach knows the moment.
"Not often you get a top five team coming in. They may be the best team in the country."Dabo Swinney
He said the week will get "a lot of hype and talk" because it is a night game in Death Valley, because both teams are undefeated in ACC play, and because Miami "doesn't have any weakness."
Swinney comments on Miami's roster
"It's like looking at a video game. It's unreal. They're very balanced. They have multiple Heisman candidates on the same side of the ball. It's a well put-together team. They're physical up front. They want to run the ball. They just equip their quarterback through the run game. They have a million RPOs."Dabo Swinney
The Hurricanes are averaging 51.8 points and 588.8 yards per game. Darian Mensah has thrown for 1,211 yards, 14 touchdowns, zero interceptions, and his 88.7% completion rate is the best four-game start by an FBS quarterback since 2004.
"Their quarterback could be the first pick in the draft. He is an elite player. He's smart, unbelievably accurate. He's very poised. He doesn't get rattled. He knows where everyone on the field is. He has great recognition of what you're trying to do on defense. He's elite."Dabo Swinney
Swinney respects Miami's offense
"All of these receivers they're elite. Their tight end is a very good player. This Malachi Toney is a dude of dudes. I have a lot of respect just watching him. It's the first time I've really studied him. He is impressive. He can do it all. You just know he's going to get his touches."Dabo Swinney
Swinney is impressed by Miami's defense
"Flip over to the other side and it doesn't get much better. They're No. 1 in rush defense and No. 2 in total defense. They're a pressure defense. You have to really communicate well. They are all NFL guys up front. Tough matchup."Dabo Swinney
Miami is allowing 39.5 rushing yards per game, which is first in the country, and 9.0 points per game.
What he's seen from Mensah since last year
Last season, then at Duke, Mensah beat Clemson 46-45 in Death Valley, completing 27 of 41 passes for 361 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions and finishing with the game-winning two-point conversion.
"Very accurate, places the ball really well. If you make a mistake, he's gonna make you pay. We had two massive busts for touchdowns last year. One, we're bringing a corner cat, and he sees it and he fakes away to let the cat come. The problem is we brought a safety blitz too. That's no bueno. You can't blitz your safety and your corner at the same time. And so he knew it was coming. He saw it."Dabo Swinney
He blamed the coaches for the score just before halftime and the defense for not affecting Mensah on the last drive.
"Obviously right before the half he scored in like 20 seconds. Really poor job of us defensively as coaches in that situation. I think they went 90 yards, that last drive, and he made every critical play. So we just didn't affect him. We just didn't affect him enough. He's a good football player. Really good player. He's special."Dabo Swinney
How Swinney is game-planning it
He predicted a four-quarter game that is "down to the last play," and said Clemson's "dudes have to be dudes."
"There's been a bunch of teams where we might not have been the better team on paper, but if you go back and you look at the things I'm talking about, field position, turnover margin, some big plays, penalties, those things make big differences in games like this where you don't have a big margin."Dabo Swinney
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