Clemson's Swinney Makes It Clear: The Standard Doesn't Change

Despite their youth, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney made it clear to his second and third team offensive players that they must be ready when their name is called, and prepared to do their job.

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney was complimentary of his first-team offense following the Tigers 49-0 win over The Citadel Saturday at Memorial Stadium.

"Offensively, just unbelievable, in the first half, 49 points, that's most amount of points we've scored since I've been the coach, in a half," Swinney said.

Like last week against Wake Forest, Clemson's starters built a big lead, only to have the second and third-team offensive players struggle to keep the momentum.

Against the Demon Deacons, quarterback Trevor Lawrence led a drive that ended with a field goal with just over three minutes left in the third quarter to give the Tigers a 37-3 lead. Over the last quarter, Clemson's offense managed just three punts and an interception.

Saturday, Clemson was held scoreless the entire second half as Swinney continued to get some work for the younger players on the team. 

"We had some really good drives, we just didn't finish them," Swinney said. "Whether it was execution, bad snaps, penalties or drops. This will be a good tape for these guys to study from, and get better moving forward."

Swinney said last week he is looking to develop depth, especially along the offensive line. That development has come with some growing pains as the offense stalled for much of the second half.

Of Clemson's six second-half possessions, three ended in punts, two ended with fumbles and one was a turnover on downs.

"The standard doesn't change," Swinney said. You have to be ready to go in and do your job. They are all in the same meeting rooms, they are all on the same practice field. We got a lot of younger guys, especially on that offensive line, that the only way they are going to get better is to go play."

Swinney said he and the other coaches can use what they see on the tape to better equip the young players for game day.

"It's gonna make us better, but we got a bunch of young talent that are going to continue to improve."

Swinney said making the wholesale changes to the offense is giving him a chance to see what exactly needs to be fixed.

"When you slip guys in and out, and they have a bunch of veterans around them, those (vets) can cover for them a little bit," Swinney said. "But when you wholesale sub, all of sudden you have two or three guys that aren't on the same page, you can stall out."