CLEMSON, S.C. — Dabo Swinney knew his defense had an off-day against Furman and after watching the film, his opinion from Saturday had not changed.
The Paladins put up nearly 400 yards of total offense and generated three scoring drives, one of which was a touchdown to go with a pair of field goals.
Even though his team won and Dabo has gone on record saying any win should celebrated, that doesn’t mean his defense gets a pass.
During Tuesday’s news conference, Dabo did not dance around the subject of his defense which he says has gotten the message in practice and meetings that Saturday’s performance against the Paladins will not cut it.
“They know,” Swinney said. “(Defensive end) Myles Murphy knows when he’s loafing. And if he doesn’t, he finds out when he comes to the meeting on Monday. Then you either respond or you don’t.
“If you have any freaking pride to you, you’ll respond. If you don’t, you’ll end up on the sideline. Doesn’t matter who you are. That’s the way it is. We ain’t going to change the standard. And not just Myles. It’s the whole group.”
The Tiger defense will get a chance at redemption Saturday when Louisiana Tech comes to Pickens County.