Sixth-ranked Clemson has had its fair share of struggles on the offensive side of the ball, but the Tiger’s defense has showed out big in their first two weeks of competition. With just two games under its belt, Clemson’s defense has allowed no touchdowns for two straight games, a feat they haven’t reached since 2017 when they held both Kent State and Auburn out of the end zone.
“I just think the defense as a whole has played very well,” Bresee told the media on Tuesday. “We all come in every week with a really good mindset, taking on the week, it’s always a new game plan. Just everybody getting in, watching film, learning our game plan for the week. Everyone’s done a really good job just taking that on and doing it every week and staying on it. Everyone’s just done a good job.”
The defensive end, who has been compared to the likes of Clemson great and 1981 national champion William Perry, tacked on a combined nine tackles, one for a loss, in the first two games of his sophomore campaign. For Bresee, the defensive performance they have put together so far comes as no surprise. In fact, it’s what the Maryland native expected.
“I think it’s what we expected from the offseason and everything, just how we were performing,” the sophomore said. “It’s awesome to see us come together now and do it in games. It’s really cool to see it all be put together, but there’s still a lot to work on and that we want to get better at throughout the remainder of the season, so just gotta keep working.”
Looking ahead to Saturday, the Tigers have yet another challenge in front of them. In their first ACC matchup of the season, the Tigers will face a Georgia Tech team that is fresh off a more-than-convincing 45-17 win over Kennesaw State last week. With the Yellow Jacket’s quarterback situation still up in the air between Jeff Simms and Jordan Yates, the Tigers are having to prepare for not just one, but two signal-callers ahead of this weekend.
While this would be daunting for most defensive units, Bresee is confident Clemson will be more than ready to face whatever the Yellow Jackets throw at them come Saturday in Death Valley.
“I mean, it’s more difficult than preparing if it were just one because you gotta game plan for both of them,” Bresee said. “They both have different tendencies, so instead of just game planning on one guy who you’re going to see the whole game, you gotta focus on both of them. Like I said, they both do different things, some maybe better than the other, so it’s kind of just another challenge to look at this week.”