Tigers Responded to Adversity, Now Must Respond to Success

After getting steamrolled in South Bend in a one-sided loss to Notre Dame, and with Louisville coming to town next, it was gut-check time for the Clemson defense.

After getting steamrolled in South Bend in a one-sided loss to Notre Dame, and with Louisville coming to town next, it was gut-check time for the Clemson defense.

Wes Goodwin's unit responded the way he had hoped against a Cardinals team that had won four consecutive games and five out of the past six, and with Miami up next, the first-year defensive coordinator wants to once again see how his defense responds against the Hurricanes.

"It'll be another good challenge for our team," Goodwin said. "We need to take the step. The next step as a defense is play consistent this weekend. We handled the adversity last week. let's handle this success this week, and continue to build our momentum."

Following the loss in South Bend, Goodwin preached aggressiveness and physicality in practice throughout the week and that mentality led to his defense recording four sacks, seven QB hurries and nine tackles for a loss in the 31-16 win over Louisville.

"We talked all week about how we would respond," Goodwin said. "And it was fun to see those guys rise to the challenge that we presented during the week, and knew that it would be a huge challenge going into the game. They were averaging 30-something a game and we responded with the right mindset."

"Just wanted to be aggressive and take the fight to them."

Miami comes in fresh off a 35-14 win over Georgia Tech, as QB Jacurri Bown got his first career start in place of the injured Tyler Van Dyke. The freshman was 14-of-19 for just 136 yards, but his decision-making was sound, as he tossed three touchdown passes with no interceptions.

Whether it's Brown or Van Dyke taking the snaps this weekend, Goodwin said the primary goal for the Tigers will be coming in with the same kind of mindset that he saw against the Cardinals.

"It'll be another good challenge for our team," Goodwin said. "We need to take the step. The next step as a defense is play consistent this weekend. They kind of found maybe a new identity in there in the new quarterback going to No. 11. They didn't turn the ball over, which has kind of been an Achilles heel for them recently. They protected the ball. Did what they needed to do within the game plan to win on Saturday. We got to have the right mindset this week. Huge challenge for us to stay hungry."

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