With a current record of 4-3, it is no secret that the Tigers have had their fair share of struggles this season. For safety Nolan Turner, many of those struggles came to light against a very talented Pittsburgh offense and a savvy quarterback in Kenny Pickett, who put up 302 yards against Clemson’s defense on Saturday at Heinz Field.
“Yeah, it’s awful,” Turner said on Tuesday. “It makes me sick, but like I said, you get on third down and we screw something up and then he converts. Then we got third and ten, he scrambles on third and one or two and a little quarterback lead up the middle and we’re just not making the plays we need to make. Just a lack of precision… it’s tough.”
That lack of precision and continued pattern of small mistakes continued to pile up for the Tiger’s, especially into the fourth quarter, where Clemson’s offense saw the field for just under two minutes compared to Pitt’s thirteen, eventually leading to the Panther’s 27-17 win.
“We were really poor on third down, had a few critical penalties, but you know, the biggest thing was just executing on third down,” the Vestavia Hills, Ala. native said. “Obviously the fourth quarter was really frustrating, disappointing, you know, just not as precise as we need to be in situations like that. We gotta get off the field and we didn’t. Just a lack of precision on our part and we gotta do better.”
“We gotta get the ball back to our offense. We got them in multiple situations on third down and just a little bit off on some of those plays and that’s all it takes for them to convert, especially when you’re playing such a savvy smart quarterback like Pickett was. You can’t make some of the mistakes that we did and expect to play well.”
For Turner and his teammates, despite Clemson’s playoff hopes hanging by a thread, the goal stays the same. The sixth year wants to go out with the same strength and the same heart that he came into Clemson with in 2016.
“Obviously, it’s just been a rough season and such an incredible journey,” Turner said. “I’ve been so blessed to be a part of one of the greatest runs in college football history and I just want to go out strong. As a competitor, you want to play the next game and play well, so I think each week, my mindset really hasn’t changed whether we’re 7-0 or 4-3 right now. I’m preparing the same, practicing the same, nothing’s really changed other than our record, so just gotta go out there and play with a lot of heart. We just want to finish well, as a group of seniors, I think that’s important to us.”
Clemson welcomes Florida State to Memorial Stadium on Saturday, October 30, for IPTAY Day and the annual Breast Cancer Awareness Game. Kickoff is slated for 3:30 p.m. on ESPN.
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