Business as Usual for Tigers Defense
How can an opponent hope to stop a Heisman Trophy quarterback who has amassed more than 5,200 passing yards in 2019, a running back who is averaging 6.6 yards per carry and a corps of standout wide receivers?
Fourteen defenses have tried to solve that riddle, and 14 have failed.
Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables said that although LSU admittedly has a “superstar cast” with which to contend, the Tigers must prepare for the national title game, which is set for Monday in New Orleans, like any other matchup on the schedule.
“It's really all games,” Venables said. “You don't say, ‘Let's get more prepared for the national championship.’ To me, I think to have sustainability, consistency, you prepare for all of them the same way. When you start (saying), ‘OK, we're going to put more time or practice different or meet different,’ you're asking for it. Your players will know right away.
“So for me personally as a coach, growing up in the Bill Snyder (former coach at Kansas State University) school of thought, you want to stay in a routine that's very consistent, never way up here, never way down here,” Venables added. “You have a very methodical way in which you prepare every single game. When you do that, your players are always engaged.”
Venables said that LSU, which pummeled Oklahoma by a score of 63-28 in the semifinal round of the College Football Playoff a couple weeks ago, is “dynamic across the board,” from quarterback Joe Burrow, rushing back Clyde Edwards-Helaire, wide receivers Ja'Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson and tight end Thaddeum Moss.
“These guys, I don't know if we faced a quarterback completing 80 percent of his passes, 55 touchdowns, over 5,000 yards,” the coach said. “Again, the depth of the playmakers is what makes them unique as well. The running back (Edwards-Helaire) is not just a running back. He's really a bonafide receiver as well.”
Venables called Burrow is a “terrific player,” noting that the LSU quarterback gives his team a balanced approach on offense, with the ability to beat opposing defenses with his arm or his feet.
“I mean, he's unbelievable,” Venable said. “The poise, the toughness, the precision, the accuracy, his ability to throw and improvise, throw on the run and improvise, extend plays. He's really, really good. Doesn't matter (whether the play is) to the left (or) to the right. … He's a great player.”
Venables pointed to one play early in the Oklahoma game that illustrates Burrow’s poise under pressure.
"He never is rattled, never gets out of whack,” Venables said. “He's always got his eyes down the field. He'll throw across his body. He’ll throw it over the top. He'll throw it short. His accuracy on the run is incredible. He creates plays.
“There's a play early — I think it's a 7-0 or 7-3 game against Oklahoma — and he's on the sideline,” Venables added. “He’s getting run out of bounds. Got a good call on defense. They got them all covered. The receiver gets knocked out of bounds. He comes back inbounds, and they make a great play, and they go on and score, and they just rip the life out of you. That's what they've done really all year.”
The coach said that for Clemson to defeat LSU, the Tigers of South Carolina will need to play error-free football and match LSU’s level of precision.
“If we're successful on defense, it won't be because of me, I can promise you,” he said. “It will be because of the players that are out on the field. They're executing. Again, lining up (and) getting their nose bloody, putting their hands in the grass. That's really what it will come down to.”
