What Dabo Swinney has learned about his team through 3 weeks

Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said throughout the offseason that he had a team with plenty to prove that would not be satisfied with winning a national title.

Three weeks into the season, the Tigers are certainly playing that way.

Clemson has outscored its opponents 117-30 through three games and completely dominated Louisville on Saturday, winning 47-21 and leading 33-7 entering the fourth quarter.

The Tigers have earned back-to-back wins against top 15 teams and appear to be favorites to return to the College Football Playoff for the third consecutive season.

“What I thought I had early on was a hungry team. You may not think that because, ‘Ok, you’re a team coming off a national championship,’ but we’re such a new team and so many new people,” Swinney said on his Sunday teleconference. “We’ve got enough leadership and enough experience to kind of guide us, but we’ve got so many new guys that I was anxious to see how they were going to respond in different roles, bigger roles, and I’ve just been very encouraged.”

Clemson has showed off its depth along the way, overcoming injuries in the secondary to get off to a quick start this season.

The Tigers have passed two of their four biggest tests already this year, with games against ranked teams Virginia Tech and Florida State still to come.

“They’ve got a good edge to them. And I think we’ve got the type of depth that as a coach, you just dream about having,” Swinney said. “I think we’ve got some guys that are paying attention to details, guys that are taking pride in preparation, because that’s what it always comes down to is how you prepare. I like our team. I like the makeup of it. Just enough leadership and experience to go with the youth and energy and hunger from these young guys.”

PROGRESS AT RT

Tremayne Anchrum and Sean Pollard struggled mightily at right tackle against Auburn, but the two played much better this week against Louisville.

The offensive line played a big part in helping the Tigers finish with 613 total yards, including 297 rushing yards.

“We played better. Pollard had one sack on our quarterback... but really, he actually played really well and so did Anchrum. Anchrum came back and played a really solid game for us,” Swinney said. “Both those guys, they take a lot of pride. These are talented guys. They’re just true sophomores…. Anchrum graded 90 percent, and Pollard was around the same thing. It was good to see them bounce back.”

INJURY REPORT

Clemson is hoping to get cornerback Marcus Edmond back this week after he did not travel with the team after suffering a foot sprain in the first series against Auburn.

Tight end D.J. Greenlee was injured in Saturday’s win against the Cardinals and could miss significant time.

“Injury wise we came through it really good. We’ve played three tough games. We didn’t have Marcus Edmond, obviously. Hopefully, we’ll get him back soon,” Swinney said. “Greenlee is probably going to be out for a little bit. It looks like a sprained MCL for him, but other than that, everybody came through the game pretty well.”

This story was originally published September 17, 2017 at 8:08 PM with the headline "What Dabo Swinney has learned about his team through 3 weeks."