No Days Off for Tigers’ Defense
Although the Clemson’s performance on offense may have raised some question marks in the team’s 21-20 win against the UNC Tar Heels, the Tigers came back the next week and inflicted a 45-14 drubbing to the Florida State Seminoles, racking more than 550 yards on the ground and in the air.
According to sophomore defensive tackle Jordan Williams, members of the Tigers used the criticism as ammunition to succeed on both sides of the ball.
“We knew it was coming; we knew exactly what was coming, but it's nothing that we didn't do to ourselves,” Williams said about criticism surrounding the UNC game. “So we just took that as motivation (to) push. Last week, we didn't take any days off. We just kept grinding, and we knew that if we prepared well, executed in practice, took everything as a game rep, we knew we would be ready for Saturday.”
And ready they were.
Clemson’s defense allowed 103 yards on the ground and 153 yards in the air. The Tigers’ menacing defense came up with four turnovers and hurried the quarterback six times. Florida State was held to just 10 first downs on the day.
Clemson’s defensive line may be a young squad, but the players have focused on using each game as a chance to grow, Williams said.
“I feel like we're learning every day,” he said. “... With us being such young guys with not a whole lot of experience under our belt, I felt it was just a great (game). ... Everyday we're learning something new, and I feel like we're going to keep (a) growing continuum. We're never going to be complacent with where we're at. We're always going to want to keep continuing to climb and get better each day.”
Despite beating Florida State by a 31-point margin, the Tigers actually fell to No. 3 in the ranking behind LSU and Alabama.
Williams said the team wasn’t necessarily focused on the national standings.
“We really don't look at that kind of thing,” he said. “Coaches do a great job of making sure that we don't really focus on that, and we never really looked at that kind of thing. Of course, we hear it and see it through social media and stuff, but we just kind of ignore it and just keep being Clemson."
Williams said that even though the Tigers aren’t living and dying by the ranking, the UNC game and the bye week that followed seemed to serve as a kind of motivational jump start for the team.
“Definitely did,” he said about events of the last few weeks creating a sense of urgency. “I feel like because of the bye week, we had to make sure that nobody's just like taking practices and stuff off, taking reps off just because we had a week off. You know what I mean? So, I feel like that urgency, we had to get that back going, but definitely has been a sense of urgency knowing that what's being said out there in the media even though it doesn't really affect us.
“But we definitely want to push past that and be able to keep preparing the way we should.”
