	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 31, 2018

Dave Clawson

Greensboro, North Carolina

DAVE CLAWSON: We're coming off a good win Louisville and keep some of our goals alive for this season.

Now we're excited to return home and play a very good Syracuse team. In my five years here, this is the best Syracuse team that we've played. They are very explosive on offense. They are led by a fifth-year senior quarterback, Eric Dungey, who I have great respect for. They are doing a great job with turnover margin. Very improved on defense, and some of the very best special teams in all of the ACC. This will be a really tough challenge for our football team, but we're excited to be home and it's going to take a great effort this week for us.

Q. The rushing attack that you have with Colburn and Carney, and the inside stable of running backs you have this year, Syracuse has struggled with stopping the run in recent games and throughout this season. Is that one of the places you key in on in film and what can you say about the running backs you have that are obviously prepared for the weekend?
DAVE CLAWSON: I mean, we're going to run our offense, and part of our offense is to run the football and it's part of our RPO system. When we get the look to run it, we hand it off and our offensive line played really well last week. I thought Matt and Cade both ran the ball well.

You know, so that's something we try to do every week. Some weeks we do it better than others.

Q. You spoke a little by on Syracuse being the best that you've seen since they have come in and played up against you. Just what you can say about Eric Dungey and Tommy DeVito, the fact that they have two different quarterbacks that are both prepared and play and have won games this year. What's that done in your preparation and what have you seen from both of them on film?
DAVE CLAWSON: They are both very good players. Obviously we have seen a lot more of Eric on film. I've watched Eric for four years and I think he's just a great competitor. He just looks leak one of those guys that I'm sure they love coaching him. I mean, he'll throw his body out there and do everything he can to make a play, and he played really well last week against NC State. Made a lot of plays with his arm. A lot of plays with his feet.

He's just a great competitor. You know, we a year ago didn't play against him, and the year before when we played him at home, it was a big storm, and you know, that certainly had a the love impact on the game.

So this is the most healthy he's been. He's playing at a very high level and they obviously have confidence in DeVito. You know, they have put him in pretty cool games at critical situations and he's played well, also.

So they have got two good quarterbacks which you know, I don't think the offense changes that much with either one. They kind of run and they do what they do and they have got a great system and they stick with it.

Q. It seems like in the league this year, Clemson is as strong as usual, but after that, does it seem like there's a lot of balance and no one stands out to you; everyone is capable of winning?
DAVE CLAWSON: Well, the way you approach it as a coach is every week's a one-week season. So I don't ever look at the league holistically and say -- there's a lot of good teams in our league, and I think anybody is capable of beating anybody on any Saturday, maybe with the exception of Clemson right now. They are just playing at a completely different level than anybody else and we experienced that firsthand in not a good way.

You know, they are right now the class of the league. They have been that way the last three years. I think the rest of us are all trying to play catch-up with them, and right now, none of us are doing it successfully.

But I do think that, you know, a lot of teams are improving. BC is having a great year. Syracuse is having a really good year. NC State is really putting together some good seasons.

I believe our program's improved from where it was three and four years ago. You know, so I think there's a lot of teams in this league that have gotten better, but like any conference, when everyone beats everyone else, you know, maybe you don't have a lot of teams with ten wins at the end of the year, other than Clemson.

But I just think as a coach, you worry about the next team and the next game, and you see all the things they do well and what they are capable of, and we're focused right now on how good Syracuse is and how much they have improved.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297