Clemson Defeats Syracuse: Quotant Quotables

The Clemson Tigers defeated the Syracuse Orange 49-14 on Saturday. Here are the quotes to prove it:

Scott Shafer on tossing some words across the field to Dabo Swinney after Clemson went for it right before the half:

"Football is an emotional sport," Shafer said. "Anybody that knows me knows I'm extremely emotional — sometimes over the top. I said a few things out there today that I feel bad about. I really do. In the heat of the moment they're the same things I said on the basketball court or the football field when I was a kid playing.

"But I'm an adult now and I need to constrain myself a little bit better. I won't change the way I feel, I'm going to fight the good fight just like we want our kids to."

Dabo Swinney on Shafer's reaction to his decision:

"Were we supposed to take a knee? We've got a whole lot of football left, and anything can happen. You saw in the third quarter when they had momentum there; there's nothing less important than the score at halftime.

"A game is never over until the last second ticks. So I'm not taking knees in the second quarter."

Shafer on the home crowd:

"Ever since I got this job I really wanted to represent this University in a classy fashion and I wanted this town to be excited about the way we play. A team that fights, like they fight in this community, and we asked for the crowd to be the 12th man today and they were great. We had a huge showing today and I was so proud to run through that tunnel and see our fans, our community, our students out there representing us and wanting us to be what we want to be. To be honest with you I think the fans did a better job than we did. We owe them more and we’re going to give them more. I just want to make sure everyone understands that I am so happy and proud of this community. We need to do a better job. We played a hell of a football team with a great coaching staff and we just weren’t good enough today, we gave them too many plays.

Shafer on how his team came out in the second half:

"I was proud of them. They kept fighting. They got knocked down, kicked around a little bit and character is revealed when things are down. At halftime I said it’s opposite day. Every thought in your mind that you want to go, you’re not going. We’re going to go out there and fight our butts off. I told them the crowd deserves it, they showed up today and we didn’t show up in the first half. Let’s give them a reason to stick around. I was proud of the fact that they did that and we tried to pull everything we could pull out of the book to make it exciting and try and get back in this thing, and for a minute there I thought we had a shot."

Terrel Hunt on his performance:

"I didn't do my part today. I messed up, and it showed on the field."

George McDonald on the poor passing day:

"In the passing game we have to figure out what we can do to get guys open," Syracuse offensive coordinator George McDonald said. "We have to do a better job there. You're in the ACC, so everybody is going to have guys that can cover. We just have to do a good job there."

Ashton Broyld on the outcome:

At the end of the day, we got to play football. We didn't play our best football today and we know that. It was a time and a point where we had them. We had them right where we wanted and we just didn't execute, and that's what we come back for on Monday, to get better and tighten up the little things."

Jerome Smith, when asked about his 100+ yard rushing day:

"The fact of the matter is we lost. We kept fighting. We kept fighting as a team and that’s something we will always go by. We’re going to keep fighting and keep being physical. They’re the #3 team in the country for a reason and they showed that they are a really good football team. That’s our goal for the future’ to become a team like that."

Durell Eskridge on Clemson's speed:

"We knew they were going to be fast," confessed SU's defensive back. "But after that first drive (the one that lasted 38 seconds and covered 82 yards), we found out they were faster than we thought. Sammy Watkins is fast. Tajh Boyd is fast. No. 1 (Martavis Bryant) is fast. They've got track stars on their team. They're a great team all over the field. There's a reason they're in the Top 5."

Eskridge on not having Brandon Reddish in the lineup:

"It made a big difference. Brandon is a great player. We could’ve used him. We were looking forward to seeing him play this week. Unfortunately, right before the game, they told us he wasn’t playing so that was one of our big losses. But with the guys we had, we felt like we still could have played well but we didn’t communicate well and it cost us the ballgame.

Julian Whigham on the Clemson wide receivers...

"Earlier in the week I said they were nice and they were. They were fast, one of them was pretty big, but they bleed too. It’s not that we were afraid of them, it’s just that they did a good job."

Jay Bromley on what the team takes away from the loss:

"We just take the game for what it is. We get in film mode and we make sure we go over the mistakes and understand what they earned and what we made mistakes on. They’re a good football team with a great quarterback. We give them their praise for that. But we understand that we have to continue to work hard and not give people plays on offense and defense and if we do that, then the score is a little different. Hand it to them for doing what they did today."

Macky MacPherson on what he takes away from the game:

"We’re fighters. We’re a team that’s going to fight you until the end and it doesn’t matter what the score is. We’re going to try and put as many points on the board as we can. We’re going to go out swinging whether we’re winning, losing, or tied. I’m proud of the way these guys fought their butts off. No one gave up and no one hung their heads. Terrell (Hunt), Ashton (Broyld), Sean (Hickey) and me – we all made sure no one was pouting on the sidelines when the score became 35-7. We came real close to making it an interesting ball game. We take away a few penalties, dropped passes, a few missed assignments here and there, and some guys couldn’t hear the snap count but it could have been more interesting."

Scott Shafer sums it up:

"We tried to pull everything out to make it respectable but we came up short and I just want everyone to understand that we got beat by a doggone good football team today."