What Dabo Swinney said after Clemson’s upset home loss to Louisville

Clemson is 6-2 over and 5-1 in the ACC after Saturday’s 33-21 loss to Louisville at Memorial Stadium. Here’s what coach Dabo Swinney said about the game’s result.

▪ Swinney praised Louisville QB Tyler Shough (156 yards and a rushing TD) and RB Isaac Brown (151 yards, 1 TD). “Their kids played really hard. The quarterback was outstanding. Their running back was the difference in the game. We did not play anywhere near our best. It hurts. It’s a huge missed opportunity. We didn’t deserve to win. They absolutely deserved to win. We looked liked a very poorly coached team time and that’s on me. Incredibly disappointing tonight. We really missed an opportunity.”

▪ “At the end of the day we’re 6-2 and 5-1 in the ACC ... We came in controlling our destiny and now we don’t, which is incredibly disappointing. But we can control our response.”

▪ “There’s a lot of soul searching to be done when you have as horrible of a performance as we had.”

▪ “We feel like we let a lot of people down, but that’s college football. ... There’s no hope for a better yesterday. We’ve gotta respond, get back to work and see if we can recreate some momentum within our season.”

▪ “We all wish every game went our way ... but it’s football. We’ve gotta find a way to win next week. Every game is a season of its own. ... I give all the credit to Louisville, coach (Jeff) Brohm and his staff ... it’s not easy to win here. They walked in here and kicked our frickin’ tails. We’ve gotta go get back to work.”

▪ “You don’t deserve to win when people can line up and average 7.8 yards per carry on you”

▪ Swinney says it was “poor execution” on the left side of the FG blocking team on kicker Nolan Hauser’s two blocks. It was also the left side on the two blocks against FSU earlier this year. Dabo: “That’s coaching. That’s all I can say.”

▪ Swinney says the offense didn’t give up but missed far too many plays: “We didn’t make the plays we’ve been making early. Miscues, costly penalties tonight as well ... but I’m proud of how they competed. They fought until the end.”

▪ “We could not play complementary football. One side would do something good, and the other couldn’t ... Pin them at the 8 and it’s a 92 yard touchdown drive. Win the first quarter and then boom, big play. No complementary football.”

▪ Swinney says the Louisville defense didn’t do anything different than what they saw on film. So why did the Tigers offense struggle early? “Penalties,” Dabo says. “Penalties, missed plays”

▪ About not going for 2 late, which would’ve cut the deficit to 11 points instead of 12 points, Swinney says they didn’t consider it, all their charts said kick it and go get an onsides kick afterward. “Anything can happen,” Dabo says.

▪ Swinney was unhappy and reiterated they all thought Clemson had the ball on the late onside kick attempt vs. Louisville. On the ACC review: “I guess they saw something different in Charlotte”

▪ Swinney says he doesn’t know the extent of DE Peter Woods’ injury. Also doesn’t know the extent of DT DeMonte Capehart’s injury

▪ Is the run defense a player execution issue, a playcalling issue? Clemson coach Dabo Swinney: “I think they were just better than us in every facet ... when they run the ball on you like that, that’s on the head coach”

▪ Swinney says he’s not going to make any excuses such as a bye week meaning lost momentum before the Louisville loss. “It ain’t about any of that ... I got out-coached tonight”

▪ Swinney acknowledged the offense wasn’t fast enough lining up in the third and fourth quarters while trailing by three possessions. Why? “Just didn’t get the calls in there, didn’t have quite the urgency in, personnel -- it was across the board. You name it”