Dabo Swinney bristles at criticism of Clemson’s non-conference schedule
By Keith Farner
Published:
Dabo Swinney and Clemson will get some national spotlight this week when ESPN’s “College GameDay” is in town for the matchup against N.C. State in a top-10 matchup.
During his defense of Clemson’s non-conference schedule, Swinney took a veiled shot at the SEC, and its limited non-conference slate. Clemson this season has Furman, Louisiana Tech, Notre Dame and South Carolina as its non-ACC opponents.
“I don’t know why people talk about our non-conference schedule. We’ve played 10 Power Fives forever around here,” Swinney said, via Clemson247. “We’ve played some of the best of the best for as long as I can remember. If someone is not having a good year, you can’t do anything about it. Playing Notre Dame and South Carolina. Notre Dame is Notre Dame and South Carolina is an SEC opponent and a rivalry opponent. We play 10 and a lot of people play like eight and they play the small-level ones.”
Swinney also defended the ACC overall.
“Our league and our division for sure, and I haven’t seen everybody, but I know this: Our league is strong and our division it’s going to be a battle every single week with these quarterbacks,” Swinney said. “Everybody’s got a quarterback and when you got a quarterback you have a chance. There’s no doubt about it. I’m telling you, this is a bunch of guys that have a chance to play this game a while in this league. It’s exciting. You’re going to see one of them this week, this guy can play.”
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
