Time for Clemson Defense ‘To Own’ its Flaws

CLEMSON, S.C. — No one was more disappointed with the way the Clemson defense played than defensive coordinator Wes Goodwin.

Though the Tigers knew what Notre Dame was going to do this past Saturday, they could do nothing to stop it. The Irish ran for 263 yards and had two running backs rush for more than 100 yards in the game.

Though linebacker Barrett Carter admitted Notre Dame was the better team, he said the issues were more Clemson than Notre Dame, saying they needed to be more disciplined with their gaps and stopping trying to be the hero on every play.

Goodwin agreed. He was dumbfounded by what he saw at South Bend and then on the game film when he went back and watched it on Sunday afternoon.

“I felt like last week was the best preparation all season,” the first-year coordinator said. “Everybody felt really confident going into the game and you know the result that happened.”

What happened is Notre Dame averaged 5.6 yards per carry and was 6-for-12 on third down. All six of the third down conversions came by way of a run.

Clemson, who hosts Louisville on Saturday (3:30 p.m.), could not stop the run. By the way, the Cardinals are averaging 202.2 yards per game on the ground, which ranks third in the ACC.

“Grow from it and get better as we proceed forward,” Goodwin said.

Besides not filling their gaps there were a lot of missed tackles, missed fits, losing leverage and players not setting the edge. The same mistakes this defense has made all season.

Goodwin even admitted there were pre-snap issues. His players were not aligned correctly at times. They got it adjusted on the field, but it was another self-inflicted mistake that did not give the defense a chance to be successful.

Can the Tigers get it corrected, especially with Malik Cunningham and the high-flying Cardinals coming to town this weekend? Louisville has won four straight games and five of its last six overall.

“There are a lot of fixable stuff, and things that happen in a game that guys can grow and learn from,” Goodwin.

But it seems they are not learning or growing. These are the same mistakes they made against Florida State and Syracuse last month.

“Everybody has to own it, myself included,” Goodwin said.

But can they fix it? We shall see on Saturday afternoon.

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