Tanner Muse says Gamecocks embarrassed Clemson's secondary last season

The Gamecocks had 600 yards of total offense last season.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Mon Nov 25 12:28:34 GMT-04:00 2019

CLEMSON – Tanner Muse was embarrassed by the secondary’s showing against South Carolina last season, and he thinks giving defensive coordinator Brent Venables two weeks to prepare for the Gamecocks will mean a different outcome.

Gamecock quarterback Jake Bentley passed for more yards against Clemson than any other South Carolina quarterback in the history of the series, racking up a career-high 510 yards and five touchdowns through the air. Bentley put on a clinic in terms of the deep ball, accounting for all but 90 of the Gamecocks’ 600 total yards of offense in Clemson’s 56-35 victory.

The teams play this Saturday at noon (ESPN) in Williams-Brice Stadium, capping a big week for Muse.

“It's emotional. Good to see my family on Thanksgiving. It will be good to see them, and I am excited about that,” Muse said Monday. “I am super excited about that. I am super excited about this plan we've got. I think we are very prepared. I like having that little jump on teams. I think when you give Coach V two weeks to prepare it's going to be a good game plan and a good outcome. I am super excited and looking forward to it.”

Muse said last year’s effort was embarrassing and disappointing.

“I don't think we had a very good outing last time we played them,” Muse said. “They had something like 500 yards passing I think it was, which is super embarrassing for us as a back seven. We pride ourselves on our performance, so seeing that film from last year is very disappointing for us. That is just not who we are. It is what it is. We are moving on and focused on the task at hand.”

Watching film of the game over the last two weeks showed Muse where the Tigers need to improve this time around.

“For me, personally, I watched the whole game. And watching how the game played out, it was very slow,” he said. “We didn't get after the quarterback very well in that game. There were some different things in coverages. It all comes down to the little things. If you don't do the little things you will get exposed and become something that it shouldn't and become a big scene and it really hurts you as a defense.

“It takes a toll on you when you give up so many yards like that. As a defense, it's really frustrating. That game was like a wake-up call for us. We had done really well up to that point and then we went into the ACC Championship and the playoff with a new outlook. It's kind of humbling. It's motivation. I think you saw the rest.”

Muse’s brother Nick is a tight end for the Gamecocks (he’s out with injury) and his girlfriend is a Gamecock dancer, so he isn’t worried about the environment Saturday, saying it’s only a few fans that act out.

“It's always a super electric stadium. You can feel the energy,” he said. “Dad talks about it all the time - Cocky - he loves it. They provide the towels and all of that. He is juiced about the game. But as for the throwing things on the field, I've been around it. There were some teams I dealt with in high school where they didn't have great sportsmanship. But like I said, that is one or two people doing that. They have a great fanbase. I've gotten to know a lot of people over there with Nick.”