Clemson head football coach Dabo Swinney believes the loss to Duke will, in the end, be a small footnote in what he expects will be a successful 2023 season.
For the Tigers to overcome that season opening loss, a number of issues will have to be corrected including the number of dropped passes.
Anytime an offense only puts up seven points, everyone gets scrutiny and the two fumbles at the Duke one yard line jumps out the most. But Swinney doesn’t feel the drops will be an issue.
“I didn’t watch a single game across the country where there wasn’t some drops,” Dabo Swinney said on Wednesday.
“I didn’t watch a single game. So, we caught the ball well. Yeah, we had a couple critical drops and we had the one 3rd and 8 there with Antonio [Williams] on a competitive play.
Swinney points to the nine different receivers and the more than 200 yards passing as signs the receiving corps is in a good place for improvement.
“I mean, listen, when you watch the NFL, you’re gonna see some drops,” Swinney said.
“Was it an epidemic? No. Are you happy and satisfied with any drops? No. But was there anything alarming? No. It was actually a pretty good start with this group and definitely got room for improvement. These are human beings. These aren’t robots. This isn’t artificial intelligence running around out there. These are young people, but for a first game, good start and something we can build on. Certainly not perfect, but nothing alarming or anything like that.”