Dabo Swinney looks back at Auburn, offers initial thoughts on Lamar Jackson

Clemson got standout performances from several defensive players in Saturday’s 14-6 win against Auburn, including guys that didn’t have much experience playing in big games.

Junior defensive end Austin Bryant had 3.5 sacks for his career before posting four sacks Saturday, while safety K’Von Wallace made three solo tackles in his first career start. Linebacker Tre Lamar had six tackles, including a critical sack on fourth down, in his second career start. And safety Tanner Muse had six tackles in his second career start.

Those four first-year starters, along with the rest of Clemson’s defense, held Auburn to 117 total yards and six points in the top 15 showdown.

“To get that type of experience and be battle-tested like that early is something I think will hopefully pay off for us as we get ready for this next challenge of going on the road,” Tigers coach Dabo Swinney said during his Sunday teleconference. “It will certainly help them from a confidence standpoint.”

RIGHT TACKLES STRUGGLE

Tremayne Anchrum and Sean Pollard split time at right tackle Saturday, and neither had much success against Auburn’s defensive front.

Swinney was disappointed with how the two played after watching the film.

“We did not play well at right tackle,” Swinney said. “We’re much better than how we played. We practice against good players every day and just did not play to the standard. It definitely was not a bright spot for us last night.”

Swinney added that he expects the two to play better this week against Louisville.

INITIAL THOUGHTS

Swinney has not watched much film on Lamar Jackson yet but did see most of Saturday’s game against North Carolina and was not surprisingly impressed by what he saw.

The 2016 Heisman winner had 393 passing yards, 132 rushing yards and six total touchdowns in Louisville’s 47-35 win over UNC.

“He’s just very confident. He’s very poised. You can tell he’s very sure of himself and the offense.That part has jumped out just from watching him yesterday,” Swinney said. “He’s hard to tackle. You’ve got to be very disciplined with your rush lanes. Everybody’s got to play their gaps properly. When he gets to running around, he’s a handful. We saw that last year up close. He’s going to make his plays. That’s going to happen.”

NOT MUCH SEPARATION

Clemson running back C.J. Fuller got the start for the second consecutive week but received only four carries in the win.

Fuller’s final carry of the game came in the third quarter, and he fumbled on the play. Adam Choice and Tavien Feaster played at running back the rest of the way.

Swinney said there is not enough separation at the running back position for a player to fumble, and the three will continue to battle for carries, as will freshman Travis Etienne.

“We’ve got to take care of the ball. We’re in the same place we’ve been,” Swinney said. “We’ve got three guys that we really trust as starter-type guys and a young guy that’s getting better every day that’s going to have his opportunity as we keep moving forward.”

This story was originally published September 10, 2017 at 7:58 PM with the headline "Dabo Swinney looks back at Auburn, offers initial thoughts on Lamar Jackson."