What Dabo Swinney said about Clemson’s wild win over Louisville
Clemson went on the road and earned a 20-19 Friday night win over No. 20 Louisville. Here’s what coach Dabo Swinney said about the victory that improved the Tigers’ record to 5-5 overall and 4-4 in the ACC:
— “Oh man. What a game. That was amazing. I’ve been a part of a lot of crazy moments. That was one that went our way.”
— “We made enough mistakes to lose the game ... we just made a couple more critical plays than they did. They missed kicks. We made kicks. The extra point was huge. Never know when those are gonna come back to get ya.”
— “The more pain and the more disappointment, the more this team has dug in. It’s been amazing to witness it ... This is an amazing group. They just battle”
— On the bad snap on the punt: “I was like, you’ve gotta be kidding me. My heart was breaking for Flo (Philip Florenzo) ... you don’t win games like that often.” But he adds they’ve lost crazy games this year. “You gotta take the good with the bad.”
— Swinney says the team’s back-to-back fumbles at the goal line were a “debacle.” He confirms that on fourth down QB Cade Klubnik was supposed to hand the ball to RB Adam Randall and instead he tried to hand it off to FB Peter Woods “for some reason.” Swinney described the moment as “unbelievable.”
— “To me, special teams won this game.” Notes that kicker Nolan Hauser has now made 10 field goals in a row. And says punter Jack Smith (four punts inside the 20) has been “an MVP for us. He’s been amazing all year. All year.”
— Swinney says long snapper Philip Florenzo thought he was going to get benched for Clemson’s next punt after his low snap. Dabo: “I told him, ‘Oh, you’re going back in. And you’re gonna throw a freakin’ dart.” Says Florenzo is an ultimate Clemson guy. Florenzo successfully executed his next snap.
— Swinney on next week’s game vs. Furman: “Now we’ve got a chance to punch our ticket to the postseason and extend one of the longest bowl eligibility streaks in history ... this is special. This is why you do it. That locker room was awesome.”
— On Adam Randall’s big game: “That’s why we didn’t go to the portal and get a back. ‘Cause we have Adam Randall. That kid deserves everything. It’s his first year playing running back — ever.” Randall had a team-high 132 all-purpose yards (105 rushing) and 2 TDs in the win.
— On the 2025 season: “There’s a lot of teams out there that would’ve been defined or destroyed by a bad start, but not this team ... We’ve found a way to find a message in the mess. It’s been a beautiful thing to watch. Honestly, I wouldn’t trade it.”
This story was originally published November 15, 2025 at 12:00 AM.
