Clemson first-team defense complementing offense, 'some things to fix' after that

Clemson got in four sacks and five QB hits against the Cavaliers.

by Ariana Pensy - Correspondent - Sun Oct 20 11:15:02 GMT-05:00 2024

CLEMSON - The Tiger defense repeatedly got after sophomore Cavaliers quarterback Anthony Colandrea, who fumbled twice and lost one of those fumbles, in Saturday's 48-31 win over Virginia.

“We had a good day rush-wise. I feel like we created a lot of pressure, got in the quarterback’s face, caused some questionable throws,” sophomore defensive end T.J. Parker said. “So, just going to take this as a team, build and go from here.”

Junior quarterback Cade Klubnik threw an interception near the end of the first quarter, which set the Cavaliers up for a touchdown in the second quarter, giving them a 10-3 lead. It marked the first time this season Clemson was losing at any point in a home game. Parker said the defense shrugged it off and went to work.

“Just flushed it, next play. Once that happened, everybody kind of looked at each other like, ‘We good. That’s over with, onto the next drive.’ So, had a windshield mentality,” Parker said. “Offense went out and did their thing. We just continue to play.”

That windshield mentality showed on both sides of the ball. It was after that Virginia touchdown that Clemson put up 35 unanswered points. They also started to get more pressure on Colandrea, resulting in four total sacks. Parker was responsible for one of those sacks. His sack was the first of the game just before the end of the first half.

By the time the third quarter ended, Clemson had a 38-10 lead, giving their young players on both sides of the ball some opportunities to get some snaps in. However, the younger players on the Tiger defense did not play to the standard set by the starters, surrendering 21 points in the fourth quarter. This highlights a trend throughout the first seven games of the season, as Clemson has been outscored 69-36 in the fourth quarter this season.

“When the young guys got in (and) they (started) giving up points, I told them, ‘(The) standard (doesn’t) change because you guys (are) getting in the game. You guys have to be ready, got to be prepared,’” Parker said. “So, my mindset for them (was) lock in and key in (because) what you watch us do, you guys got to go out and do the same thing. Just because we get out (doesn’t) mean the game’s over … At the end of the day, we have a standard to play to. We don’t play down to an opponent, regardless of what it is. Got some things to fix for young guys.”

When you have an offense like Clemson’s that has been dominating opposing defenses, outscoring opponents 294-161 so far this year, giving up 21 points in one quarter is not as costly as it would be for other teams. The offense and defense feed off of each other, as Clemson’s explosive offense also gives the defense more opportunities to make plays, as teams are constantly playing from behind.

“They score so much, it just gives us (opportunities) to keep playing, get back on the field. We keep stopping them. It’s just like a game of tag basically. They score, we stop them, they score, we stop them. We (are) trying to see who can get the other side back on the field. So, I really enjoy it. I’m glad that we get to see the fruits of their (labor). So, I’m just super excited the offense is rolling, gives us the opportunity to shut the offense down,” Parker said. “Every week, (they) get mad when they don’t score 40 plus. We get mad when somebody scores 20 plus. So, (there’s) a competition each week to see who can outdo each side. So, it makes the team a lot better.”

Clemson is now going into their second bye this season. When they come off of the bye, they will continue ACC play, facing Louisville on Sat. Nov. 2. The Cardinals are 1-1 so far on the road this season and are 0-2 against ranked teams. However, they did give No. 6 Miami a run for their money in a wild 52-45 game. But, the Tigers will have a lot of time to prepare for Louisville and have a ton of confidence after going undefeated in the months of September and October.

“I think for us going into our championship phase is a really, really good momentum. The month of October was undefeated,” Parker said. “So, just getting this good win, going into the bye week to heal our bodies back up, just getting an extra week to prepare for Louisville is very good for us.”