Skalski: Aggies are 'just another team'

CLEMSON— The Clemson Tigers broke in two new starters. Jamie Skalski and Chad Smith, in last week's 52-14 victory over the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.

Skalski was probably hoping for a better review from his position coach Brent Venables—who also happens to be the Tigers' defensive coordinator.

“As a group, we missed some layups that were there," Venables said. "Some tackles for loss, bunch of tackles for loss. We just can’t be surprised, we have to be sure of ourselves. We have to be a little bit better with fundamentals.”

However, when Skalski was asked about the play of the linebackers after their first game, he echoed the words of his coach.

“Me personally, I definitely left some tackles out there," Skalski said. "That’s something I can clean up but overall we graded well and I thought we played pretty good.”

"Pretty good" does not begin to sum up the play of the defense on one particular series. After throwing an interception that appeared to be a sure pick-6 for the Yellow Jackets, Tiger quarterback chased down the Yellow Jacket cornerback and knocked him out of bounds shy of the end zone.

That play gave the defense a chance to hold the Yellow Jackets scoreless, and led to the "coolest moment" that Skalski has ever been a part of.

“I remember jogging onto the field after (Lawrence) made the tackle thinking to myself, ‘It’s going to be cool if we pull this one off,'" Skalski said. "But as loud as the stadium gets in those moments it’s dead quiet when you’re out there. It was a really cool moment. I wish I could do it again honestly. It’s probably one of the best moments I’ve had in Death Valley.”

Death Valley is sure to be loud this week, as the No. 1 Tigers play host to the No. 11/12 Texas A&M Aggies in what has been named one of the top nonconference games of the entire football season.

On top of this game being one of the marquee games of the season this week will be extra special for Skalski.

Last season, Skalski played in only four games, as he redshirted. But even though he was on the sidelines for the Tigers' two-point win in College Station, he missed out on the opportunity to play in the game.

“It was really hard because that’s honestly one of the best stadiums we've played in," Skalski said. "That place is awesome. But like I’ve said, I knew their plan for me and I trusted it. Now it’s all working out pretty well.”

Even though he did not play in the game, he fully understands the challenge that the Tiger defense has before them this week.

Last season, Kellen Mond torched the Tiger defense for 430 yards through the air. With that memory still fresh in the minds of Tiger defenders, Skalski believes that the key for the Tigers is to simply "do your job."

“He’s a dual threat. He’s a dynamic guy and he can throw that football," Skalski said. "Watching the tape, he’s putting some on the money and really excited for this challenge we have in front of us.”

“That’s a Coach (Venables) question. I’m just going to do what he asks me to do. But just do our job. Do your job. Do it at a high level and I think we can contain him and hopefully come out on top.”

While the Aggies have been very confident this week, with two starters publicly guaranteeing an upset, Skalski believes the Tigers are just another team on a long list of teams that want to beat them.

“We treat every game the same," Skalski said. "It doesn’t matter who we’re playing, so for us it’s just another team coming in here that wants to beat us and that’s how we look at every single game.”