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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 3, 2018

Dabo Swinney

Greensboro, North Carolina

COACH SWINNEY: Well, we're coming off a great win versus a very good Syracuse team and hard-fought game by both teams. Really proud of our guys for finding a way and just a lot of adversity within your game and it was awesome to see our guys rise up to the occasion. Back on the road this week another division game, heading up to Wake Forest, one of the best-coached teams in this league. Just have a ton of respect for Coach Clawson and his staff and the job that they do. They have an identity. They know who they are. They have a smart football team and they know how to take advantage of your weaknesses and so we've got a big challenge. Quarterback's playing really well for them. They've got four guys back that started last year on the offensive line. They've got probably maybe the best playmaker in the league right now in Dortch.

I think they're going to get Washington back as well this week. So big, big challenge for us especially on the offense and then defensively a little bit of unknown there. They made a change, but they do have about seven guys back that started for them last year.

And so big challenge looking forward to it and excited about making the trip up there on Friday.

Q. With the success of Syracuse Boston College and Duke, what sort of parity do you see in the league this year?
COACH SWINNEY: Really the same parity I've seen the last few years, to be honest with you. We've had the past two years alone we had 21 bowl teams. So I mean that's pretty amazing. 11 one year. Ten last year. So that's a lot of teams that are winning. And earning bowl games. And so that means to me that anybody can beat anybody on any given day in this league.

I really believe that. So it's been a league that has been deep. And it's been a lot of parity and there's been a lot of competitiveness for a while now.

And so it's really no different.

Q. With Matt Colburn, their running back, I think he was Mr. Football in South Carolina a few years ago, have you followed his career at all from where he kind of had the mix-up with Louisville coming in and now he's at Wake Forest and become a really good player for them?
COACH SWINNEY: Yeah, I remember that whole situation and then him ending up at Wake. He's done a heck of a job. Obviously we've seen him every year. And he and Carney, the other guy, both those guys are having great success. They're second in the league in total offense. And they run the ball. That's what they do. They average 244 yards rushing in a game.

Colburn is a huge part of that and has had a really nice career at Wake.

Q. What's your assessment of the state of your secondary as you get ready for the Wake Forest passing game?
COACH SWINNEY: I think after five games we've really come a long way. It's been kind of an unusual process for us because three of our five games were triple option teams and then we play Texas A&M which threw the ball and we didn't really -- we played well for most of the game but then we had some really critical mistakes and busts on the back end and then we came back and we really, we played so much better against Syracuse on the back end.

We gave up a big play. But we were where we were supposed to be. Their guy just made a play, as opposed to just busts and not being there and so forth. So I'm really proud of our guys because it's been a little bit of a challenge with just the different styles of play week in, week out. We haven't had a lot of consistency for the back-end guys.

So I know that they're excited to be able to be a little more involved from a passing-game standpoint and the opportunity to defend the pass a little bit more. And I thought we grew up a lot. Because if you look at last week, we didn't have Mark Fields with us, who is a senior, a good player. Trayvon Mullen goes out of the game. He's a starter, an all-conference talent, an All-American talent, I think. He's out.

And so now you're sitting there and you've got A.J. Terrell who is a very talented player. He's a sophomore. You've got Kyler McMichael out there, a true freshman. I think Muse and K'Von have been very, very, they're much better than they were this time last year and the improvement of Nolan Turner and Denzel Johnson, the depth we've been able to develop at safety, I think, really sets us up well to go have a good second half of our season.

So I think some it's just happened naturally and some it's just happened because we had no other choice as far as just some guys getting some experience and kind of getting thrown in the fire, if you will, like last week with Kyler. Mario Goodrich has gotten a little bit of experience. LeAnthony Williams has gotten experience in these first five games. I think that's been a big plus for us after these first five games. Certainly got a lot of improvement to do, but I think we're in a better place now than when we started the season.

Q. Talk about Wake Forest's run game. I know last week they rushed over 200 yards against Notre Dame. What do you have to do to stop that running attack?
COACH SWINNEY: They're a challenge because I mean that's just kind of how their whole offense is built around the run game and the play action game, the RPOs. They do a really good job, man.

As I said earlier, I think they're second in the league in rushing, 240 something yards a game. But they're a challenge because you've got -- they're not Georgia Tech but they're Georgia Techish if you will because of the discipline you have to play with your gaps. And the way they run their action game with the quarterback in the back are really -- it's a very slow developing run. They're really trying to just be slow with the play action and force you to come up and then they try to create these passing windows with the RPOs. So it's a real challenge. You can't get -- because the tendency is to kind of be a cluer or peaker and then the next thing you know you're out of your gap and they find it.

So they've got a really good scheme. We've got a big challenge. We're going to have to do a great job in that defensive line. Our linebackers are going to have to play very well. And we've got to tackle. Gotta tackle well.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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