Clemson Must be More Efficient on Offense in Rematch with Notre Dame

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney says the Tigers have to be better at doing the little things, including being more efficient on offense, if they want to come out with a victory over Notre Dame in the ACC Championship Game.

Over the past several years, the Clemson football program has played on some of the biggest stages the sport has to offer. 

With the biggest game in the history of the ACC Championship coming up on Saturday, it's that kind of experience that can give the Tigers an edge in their rematch with Notre Dame. 

However, they will have to be better than the last time the two teams met in South Bend when the Irish knocked off the Tigers 47-40 in double overtime. It was a game in which the Tigers struggled mightily to run the ball and Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney says if they are to expect a different result this time around it all starts with efficiency on offense.

"I just think we need to be more efficient," Swinney said. "I don't know about balanced. Efficient is probably a better word. You know we rush for one yard (per carry) to their 5.1, so we've got to do a better job. We need to be more efficient than that. And if we can be more efficient, we'll be better on third down. We were really poor on third down. We were 4-15 and they were 10-19." 

However, don't expect wholesale changes. Swinney says what cost the Tigers as much as anything in the last game were their own mistakes, and that is another area his team must be better at in Charlotte.

"As far as balance and those type of things, you do what you do best and what gives you the best chance to win," Swinney said. "You know, defenses dictate all that type of stuff but we got to take care of the football, that's first and foremost. We lost the margin, three turnovers to their one. And they got ten points off turnovers and we got zero, so that's that's where it starts."

Swinney says the fact that his team still had a chance to win the game after having executed so poorly in some areas is a testament to how good the Tigers can be and that it is imperative that they do not shoot themselves in the foot this time around. 

"It's amazing that we even had chance to win the game to be honest with you," Swinney said. "With the turnovers, how poor we were on third down and how inefficient we were. Our guys fought hard but those are the things that we're gonna have to clean up. So, there's just a lot of things that we got to do better to have a chance to beat a great team like Notre Dame."