Dabo Swinney’s weekly press conference at Clemson Tuesday will go down as one of the shortest, if not the shortest, of the coach’s career. Timing out at just 21:05, and in front of a sparse gathering of reporters, the press conference mirrored the feeling about this week’s matchup with Connecticut. Yawn! The Tigers might as well be on a bye week.
Of course, Swinney can’t afford to approach the game that way. At 6-3, this non-conference tilt as a 38-point favorite gives his Tigers a chance to enhance their postseason resume. The Huskies are 1-8 and going thru a coaching change after Randy Edsall announced his retirement after the second game. Edsall wanted to coach out the season, but the school said no, so defensive coordinator Lou Spanos has been in charge.
UConn has had plenty of time to prepare for the Tigers. They haven’t played a game since October 22nd. The two-week bye came about as a result of the Huskie playing their first game on August 28th. Their lone win was against Yale, 21-15, on October 16th. The Huskies rank 126th nationally in total offense and 109th in total defense.
One piece of news from Swinney Tuesday was that reserve offensive guard Paul Tchio has left the program and entered the Transfer Portal. Tchio was a sophomore from Milton, GA who played 101 snaps this season with one start at NC State. Swinney also confirmed something he said Sunday and that is that receiver Joseph Ngata is out this week due to his ankle injury suffered at Louisville. Otherwise according to Swinney, they team is healthy as far as those who have not been ruled out for the season.
