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PLAYSTATION FIESTA BOWL: OHIO STATE VS CLEMSONDecember 31, 2016Dabo SwinneyClelin FerrellDeshaun WatsonGlendale, Arizona Clemson - 31, Ohio State - 0 THE MODERATOR: We'll start with opening comments from Coach Swinney. COACH SWINNEY: All right. What a night. What a night. What a journey. I just can't tell you how proud I am of our team, our staff. I mean, just incredible resolve, relentless pursuit to get back here and to try to find a way to win. Just awesome. Man, I'm just happy to get a win in Arizona. I got my butt kicked in 1990, and obviously we came up short last night. So it's nice to finally win one in Arizona. Just really, really proud of our team. I'm so proud and happy for our seniors. Those guys got their 48th win tonight. And, I mean, just an incredible group to work with every day. I'm so proud of them. I mean, back-to-back ACC titles and CFPs and now National Championship appearances. It's just a special moment, special time to be a Tiger. But these guys have earned it. They've been working for a long time to be ready for these type of moments and opportunities, and they dominated the moment tonight. That's what it's about. They exhausted and dominated the moment that was in front of them. And just really, really proud of them. Offensively, really, it was just a great team effort. We made a few mistakes in the first half but we really controlled the game from start to finish. I think that's the most yards they've given up all year. We had 470. Anytime we can have the balance that we had -- 200-plus run and pass -- we're a hard team to handle, especially when you've got the best player in the country in Deshaun Watson making decisions out there for you. Just an unbelievable game. Artavis Scott became the leading receiver in the history of Clemson tonight. Wayne Gallman, C.J. Fuller, Ray-Ray, Deon, Mike Williams, Renfrow -- they all made big plays in critical times. So just really hats off to those guys. Our special teams, outside of the one kick return, was tremendous. A big, big difference in the game tonight was creating field position. We kept them backed up for most of the night. Teasdall was awesome. That was the best game of his career. He had a 67-yard punt, which is the longest since 1940, Banks McFadden. Unbelievable. We've got buildings named after Banks McFadden. That's a long time. But he really set the tempo from coverage and field-position standpoint, especially with the type of defense we were playing. So really proud of our punt team and Andy. And then defensively, just, I mean, really indescribable. Only had seven first downs the entire game. That's the season low for them. They had 200-something yards. That's a credit to our staff and great preparation. Guys buying in. Extra film time. Guys just getting their tails prepared to go play and then winning the matchups. We were dominant up front. We had 11 tackles for loss. We had several sacks. Carlos Watkins, Clelin Ferrell, those guys were awesome. And outside of a couple of plays, we had a couple of really boneheaded plays on the back end, we really played a clean game. And the thing that I'm most proud of, and it was something we really talked about, was we knew that eventually they would get in the red zone, but let's play great red zone defense. And we played great red zone defense. We got a turnover. We had a couple of interceptions in the end zone. But we got stops on downs and just really, when we were in the red zone we were at our best, and that was awesome to see tonight. So just really proud of those guys. Tremendous job. Van Smith and Cordrea with the interceptions. Christian came up with the fumble. But just a dominant performance all the way around. And just really happy for them. Listen, that's a tough night for Ohio State. But you can't let one game define your season. Ohio State is an incredible team. They've got a lot of young players. Coach Meyer will be the first one to tell you. They're a great football team. But tonight was just our night. Our guys were prepared. They were ready. They seized the moment. They capitalized on the momentum. And they just didn't really have an answer. But Ohio State, you don't make it to the Final Four without being a great team. So it's a tough night for them. But I don't have any doubt they'll probably be right back here next year with the type of talent and coaching staff that they have. And also I just want to thank the Fiesta Bowl folks. What a great week. I'm glad we had a chance to experience some time out here. Last year when we came, we were in and out. Don't even really remember it. But this year was awesome. We got a chance to really be a part of the festivities. And for our young players to get a chance to go and experience what they got to experience and see this part of the country and stay at a place like the Plaza, it was just awesome. Great hospitality everywhere we went. And just a great experience. And I know a lot of work goes into that. There's a lot of logistics. So I'm just thankful to all those people for working their tails off to give us a good experience and allowing us to focus on what we need to focus on, because they really did a great job. Everything, from the police escorts to the administrative people that got us where we needed to be. So just a great experience. Happy New Year to everybody. We're going to ring in the new year tonight. And quick turnaround. We get an all-expenses-paid trip to Tampa to play Alabama. So that's going to be another tough week of preparation and get ready to play the best team in the country in Alabama. They've earned that. But you can best believe we're going to show up. And we're going to lay it all on the line and see if we can find a way to finish. THE MODERATOR: Questions? Q. Dabo, after seeing your team play its best game of the year, what's different about this team compared to last year as you prepare for the National Championship game? COACH SWINNEY: Well, the leadership, not that last year's was bad, but the leadership this year has just been unbelievable. I mean, literally from day one, from the first meeting I had with them when I got off the road in January and we had our first team meeting and a new group of seniors. These guys have been amazing. I've never had a team -- we do these accountability runs in the spring. And our first two or three accountability runs, nobody had to run. And so just literally from day one, the leadership has been unbelievable. But you're talking about Deshaun Watson and Ben Boulware and Carlos and Jadar and Cordrea and Leggett and Gallman -- incredibly committed young people. And then the other thing is we're a better team than we were this time last year because we have more competitive depth. We have more guys that can go play winning football. Last year we were very top heavy. We had a very good first group but we were a lot of freshmen behind them. And now we're just more experienced, more guys that can go play and play good, functional, winning football. That's the biggest difference. And I think they had the opportunity to draw on last year's experience. I think all those things have been factors. Q. Coach, you said last January that it would not be another 34 years before Clemson would get to another National Championship. You had almost your whole offense back but replacing a lot on defense. How confident were you even going back to that night that you'd be able to get back to the National Championship this quickly? And also was there part of you that was hoping for another shot at Alabama, or are you pretty much hoping for either team? COACH SWINNEY: I just wanted to have an opportunity to go, whoever gets there, gets there. I mean, that's the way it ought to be. Again, Alabama has been the standard. There's really no argument to that. So sooner or later if you're going to be the best, you've got to beat them. So we get an opportunity to do that and if we're good enough we'll get it done. But we know it's going to be a tough battle. But again just really, I knew it wouldn't be 34 years. I didn't know if we'd get back here this year. But with the type of foundation that we have in place with our program, the type of young men that we have, the commitment, we have a culture and a winning foundation that breeds consistency. So it's pretty special. 28 years since we have had back-to-back ACC titles. So it's pretty special. And we know what's in front of us, but we're going to do everything we can to try to finish this year. Q. On the podium outside, you kind of referenced the credentials of your program -- the bowl wins over Ohio State and Oklahoma, ACC championships. But despite it you said we're the elite program. Do you feel like at this stage your program gets the credit they deserve on a national scale? So much focus on the Ohio States, Alabamas, do you guys feel you get the credit that you deserve based on everything you've done? COACH SWINNEY: We've been ranked up there in the top five for a long time. So I definitely think that the narrative has changed with our program. But still seems like we're always the underdog when we get in these big-type games for whatever reason. But until you win one, there's really only one thing for us to do. We've done about everything that you can do multiple times. But we have not been able to win it all. But you gotta get yourself in position to do that. And so now we're starting to hopefully we can be a little more consistent with these opportunities and find a way to get it done. But I reference that because it's not just this team. I mean we've been on a journey since '09. You've gotta do something once. And it seems like once you kind of knock the lid off whatever barrier it is that you think is in place, then you can do it again. And I know in '09 we were just trying to win the division. Golly, if we could just win the division. And we did. Now we've got five division titles. And then it was, like, okay, can we just win 10 games. Boy, wouldn't that be great? Now we've got six 10-plus win seasons. Then it was can we win the conference? Then we got three conference titles. But it takes a group of young people to break through -- that '09 team broke through and won the division. And that '11 team broke through and won the conference in 10 games. And the '12 team beat LSU. The '13 team won BCS, beat Ohio State. Every team has its own thing and own responsibility. And that was kind of the message to these guys is their responsibility is a little bit bigger but it's all based on what's happened before them. Because C.J. Spiller can't come back and play. Boy, he would if he could. And I'd like that. But he can't. But it's a combination of all those guys that we're benefitting today in 2016 because of a group of young people and the commitment they made in '09 and '10 and '11 and '12 to help us build this foundation, because it's not like we were at the top of the world. We had a lot of work to do. And it's just -- it's just fun for me to share that with all of those guys that have come through our program and our coaches and everybody. Because it's been a special journey. And we're all benefitting from that foundation? Q. Dabo, you talked all week about Deshaun's poise and what a great example shaking off that first interception. Ohio State fans outnumber your fans and were getting on him. I guess you weren't surprised that he bounced back calmly and methodically after that. COACH SWINNEY: They were getting on him? I was getting on him, too. Mike fell down on a corner route. So it's probably at worst an incomplete pass on that first one. And the second one was, you know, just an unbelievable play. The ball was perfect. He put the ball, you couldn't have made a better play. But that guy just kind of outcompeted Renfrow for the ball right there, give him credit, made a very competitive play. And as wideouts, we have to battle and protect our quarterback in that regard. Yeah, it's how you respond. And that's who he is. It's his DNA. That's what he's always done. He just comes back and I think not long after that threw a laser to Mike Williams on the bang 8 not long after that interception. So that's why he's the best player in the country. He's a winner. He's 31-3. And he's hard to beat, hard to beat, because he just handles everything with such great poise. THE MODERATOR: Questions for the players. Q. Dabo, defensively how were you able to hold Ohio State in check? Did you expect to not even allow them to score at all? COACH SWINNEY: No, no, no. We didn't really have any illusions they wouldn't score a point. We just wanted to have one more than them. But great preparation. Great preparation. Coach V and our staff, nobody works harder at preparing, but then our guys and how they bought into it. I mean, listen, Ben Boulware and Kendall and those guys up front, the leadership of Carlos, Christian Wilkins, Jadar, Cordrea. I mean, these guys are great leaders, and they're fully committed to being the best they can be. And they were highly motivated and excited to go play the game. We knew we had a lot to prepare for and thankful that we had a little extra time but it all goes back to preparation and buy-in and commitment from those players. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach. Now we'll open it up for players. Q. Deshaun, Nick Saban said in the fall that you were the toughest quarterback he's encountered since Cam Newton. I was curious if you feel like that guy? And second, there's so much talk about the leadership that this senior group has demonstrated. I just wondered as somebody who is pretty central to that, what is that about to you? What do you see that as the nature of? DESHAUN WATSON: For the first question, appreciate Nick Saban for the compliment and the comment. I just try to play my best and win games. And my job is to make good decisions whenever adversity hits, make sure all my guys is poised and calm and make sure that I'm poised and calm, because they go the way I go. If I'm on the sideline frustrated or down, then they're going to be down. So I always keep a smile on my face and keep my poise and composure, and just go back out there and play football. You're bound to make mistakes. We're all human beings. And so sometimes bad luck just comes your way. And secondly, the leadership has just been awesome, coming from all the seniors, and guys that's been there, done that, and with a lot of experience, coaching up and teaching up the young guys, making sure they're doing the right things and doing it the Clemson way. And making sure that everyone is prepared for Saturdays to play their best game. Q. Deshaun, following up on what you just said, there was so much talk about the Ohio State secondary and the pick sixes. You say you tried to keep a smile on your face but does that make you gun shy at all when you get those two early picks with that kind of defense? DESHAUN WATSON: Not at all. I'm a quarterback. So if I throw a pick or make a mistake I'm not going to shy away and not just going to throw it. I'm going to take my chances, take my shots. I feel like the bigger the risk, the bigger the reward. I have guts and have that trust in my arm and my receivers I try to do that. Like Coach Swinney said, Mike slipped on that one. He made a good play. On the other one, we've been practicing that all week and No. 24 and Renfrow were both there, and 24, he wanted it more, and he grabbed it. So it could have went either way, but at the same time, I just go out there and play ball and don't worry about mistakes. The great ones make mistakes, too. Q. Deshaun, Coach just said a couple times you're the best player in the country. I'm not disputing that. But did you play tonight with kind of a chip on your shoulders with the Heisman voting? DESHAUN WATSON: All the Heisman stuff wasn't on my mind. Regardless if I would have won it or not I was still going to play hard and play Clemson football and try to be the best I could be. Lamar deserved the Heisman. That's who won it. That's who got it. So salute to him and best of luck to his career and future. But I just tried -- my main focus is getting a W here and moving on to the next one. And that's what we've got and now my main focus is on Alabama. Q. Deshaun, you're known for being even-keeled, but you had a celebration after every touchdown that you scored. You had the shush to the crowd, the bow and arrow, the opposite of raise the roof, could you explain, were those spontaneous or what was behind those? DESHAUN WATSON: Just having fun. That's why we play football, to have fun. It's hard to score touchdowns, especially against a great defense like that who don't really give up a lot of points, it's tough to score. So whenever you get in the end zone you try to do a little bit, not too much that the ref is going to penalize you. But the shush, just keeping it down, the fans were talking a lot. And the bow and arrow was a good pass. So I always did that. And the LeBron thing, that's the little LeBron thing, I'm a huge LeBron fan. I know he likes Ohio State. And I grew up watching LeBron and things like that. So I had to do it. Q. Clelin, can you just share your emotions and what were you feeling, what it means to you to be named defensive MVP and how hard it was to follow in the footsteps of Shaq Lawson and Kevin Dodd and having to go through the redshirt process and everything? CLELIN FERRELL: First off, I want to give thanks to God. I would say coming off of last year redshirting I really got in touch with my spiritual side. That's another hats off to Coach Swinney, because he does open that door for us to get in touch with our spiritual side. That's one thing I really did. But looking at it from a football standpoint, it's kind of crazy. Last year I was a part of the team but I wasn't playing. And to see them those guys like Shaq and Kevin Dodd, I look up to as big brothers having their opportunity and taking advantage of it last year, and then this year when we're coming in being a starter playing against the Ohio State, it's kind of crazy that I got to come out here and perform at a high level. So, yeah, it's just kind of a great feeling, yeah, definitely. Q. Deshaun, did you follow Alabama a lot this year, just kind of keeping up, reading about them, keeping up and give us kind of a preliminary scouting report on the team that you're going to be playing at the championship? DESHAUN WATSON: I honestly couldn't tell you. I just focused on Clemson. I haven't been watching film on them because we've been focusing on the next opponent. So if you ask me at the next media thing in Tampa, then I could give you some answers. But, honestly, I can't answer that. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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