Wednesday Practice Report: Clemson Focused Squarely On Louisville

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney met with the media one final time ahead of the No. 10 Tigers' weekend matchup with Louisville.

Jason Priester All Clemson

Clemson will return home this weekend as the No. 10 Tigers host Louisville, looking to rebound from a devasting 35-14 road loss at No. 20 Notre Dame that saw Dabo Swinney's team drop six spots in the College Football Playoff rankings.

The Cardinals (5-3, 3-3) come in playing its best football of the season, having won five of the past six games, while Clemson (8-1, 6-0) will be looking to extend a nation's best 38-game home winning streak.

Swinney met with the media one final time ahead of this weekend's matchup and covered a variety of topics in Wednesday's notebook:

On E.J. Williams and Brannon Spector Having More Opportunites With Beaux Collins Out

"Big opportunity. And, you know, E.J. is really technically just a sophomore. He's got a couple of years left. Missed most of last year. He was having a great camp and got hurt. He's kind of come back. But this is this is a great opportunity for both of those guys to step up and take advantage of it."

On If There Were Any Thoughts On Giving Hunter Johnson a Shot vs Notre Dame

"No. The pick was not on DJ just so you know. That was on the receiver."

On Uiagalelei's Pick 6 vs Notre Dame

"(Joseph Ngata) just didn't find the ball. It's a back shoulder (throw). It was a great throw. And he just didn't locate the ball. But the DB did. It was the right throw. He just didn't see it. He was trying to get his head around, but his head didn't get fully around. If he sees the ball, then he stops before the DB it's a great play. We do it all the time, but it didn't work out. But that was the right throw and a really good throw by DJ right there and that's why we stayed with him.

"The quarterback was right on time. You can't throw it up any better than that. I know he gets all the blame, but Joe's wide open. It was just a bad play and a good play by them."

On How His Team Has Responded First Three Days of Practice and His Confidence Level In the Team Currently

"I'm always confident. Ain't ever not been confident. So why would I not be confident? These guys have always come out and played for Clemson for years and years now. One bad game hasn't changed that for me."

"This is a group that works their butt off every single week. They've responded like we'd want them to respond. Taking ownership, no finger-pointing. Everybody knows what we got to do better, everybody knows what we did really poorly. And again, as I said other day, we focus with the right perspective and go back to work. That's what they've done. So if you're still worried about this stuff on Wednesday, it's probably not gonna be good for you on Saturday. It's all about Louisville."

On Eliminating Turnovers Against Aggressive Louisville Defense

"It's not as much a concern about them as it is us. We didn't play them the last two games. Six turnovers, you're lucky to be 1-1 in those two games. The other seven games, three turnovers and that makes a huge difference between winning and losing. That's one of those things you have to do to win.

"You don't have to be perfect but you need to win the margin and we've done a pretty good job of that. But these last two games, it's not been good. We've been really sloppy with the ball. And if we do that this week, we will get beat again. Because this bunch is very opportunistic."

On How Much Louisville Pressures the QB

"They got a lot of pressure, take a lot of chances. They're almost a 50% pressure team and a lot of man coverage. A lot of movement up front. So you got to be able to really communicate and catch a lot of movement. They got good, really good players. This is a really good group, really good defense. Stout, quick, long upfront, backers. Really, good group across the board."

On Differences Between Louisville Offense From Last Year to This Year

"They're pretty similar. I mean, there are some nuances here and there but they're a stretch team. They're a big stretch team, and they're an influence zone-read team. That's what they do. And it's really good for them. They've got a very experienced OL. Again, a nuance here or there but they're pretty much very similar to what they've been. A lot of shots. A lot of shots off the play-action game. And the quarterback is heavily involved."

On Defending QB Malik Cunningham

"He will do some things that they're probably over there going no, no, no, yes, yes. yes, yes, yes. Because he's an aggressive guy.  I mean, he will make you play them honest because he will take some chances, for sure. They do a good job of really mixing it up. But he's a different guy. He is not your typical guy. So you got to be very intentional with how you play."

Assessing DJ Uagalelei's Decision-Making in Zone Read Game

"He's had a good year. He's missed a couple. I thought he missed one the other night that I'd like to have seen him take but he's been a huge factor for us with the run game for seven games. And even in the few moments here in the Syracuse game, but, you know, this past week, you know, one or two. But decision-wise, he's done a nice job. That's an area that we've worked hard on. Something that we need from him. You know, to be a threat. We don't need him to be Malik but we need him to really get back to kind of the rhythm that he had for a good little seven-game stretch."

On Freshman CB Jeadyn Lukus Who Saw Time vs Notre Dame

"He's next man up and he's really been practicing. He got banged up. He's gonna have to have a little surgery when the season is over, but he's healthy enough to go play. And he's really again practicing well and has kind of moved up into that second spot. So just hopefully see more and more of him as we go down to the finish here."

On Using Being In the Top 10 as Motivation

"I don't have to use any of that stuff. None of it matters. Just like last week. I didn't say hey, we're No. 4, let's go play. None of that matters. You gotta go win the game that you're playing, that's the only thing that matters. And the rest of that stuff. You don't have any control over that. Just go play."

On If the Orange Britches Will Be Broken Out On Military Appreciation Day

"I don't think so. I mean, who knows what happens. I think we're Military Appreciation. You'll see a bunch of purple. That's what you'll see. Should be a great day."

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