Virginia will Look Very Familiar to Clemson

CLEMSON — Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney had a message for his former player and offensive coordinator Tony Elliott.

“I know you, too,” Swinney said jokingly during Tuesday’s weekly press conference.

Elliott, now the head coach at Virginia, brings his Cavaliers into Memorial Stadium on Saturday (noon, ACCN). Elliott played for Swinney back in 2003, and later became an assistant coach under him at Clemson.

He spent 11 seasons at Clemson from 2011-’21. Elliott coached the running backs and tight ends during his time, while also serving his last seven seasons here as the offensive coordinator. Five of those seasons he served as a co-coordinator with Jeff Scott.

Because Elliott spent so much time learning the ropes under Swinney, many feel it gives Elliott a leg up in Saturday’s ACC showdown. However, according to Swinney, that works both ways.

Swinney was Elliott’s mentor and obviously knows just as much about Elliott as Elliott does about him.

How can that help the 10 ^th -ranked Tigers on Saturday?

Clemson (5-1, 4-0 ACC) is very familiar with how Virginia runs its offense, a unit that is averaging 435 yards and 27.5 points per game.

Swinney indicated how the Cavaliers (4-2, 2-1 ACC) do a lot of the things Elliott used to do here when he was calling plays for the Tigers.

“They are very similar,” Swinney said. “It is built on running the football and there are some play-action stuff built off of it, boots and screens. They will take some shots, but a lot of similar stuff.”

Virginia’s offense is built around quarterback Anthony Colandrea, who has thrown for 1,490 yards, while completing 64.4 percent of their passes. He has nine touchdowns to four interceptions.

“Based on the quarterback they have, you see a ton of zone and lot of different ways to get to it formational (wise),” Swinney said. “Motions and swaps with the (tight end). There are a lot of similarities.”