Clemson safety Tanner Muse
Q. Tanner, how would you compare this year’s defense to last year’s defense?
TANNER MUSE: I think this defense is a little quicker. I think on the back end, we were just getting started. Just getting our groove together. I know that was Isaiah’s first time playing Sam and a couple of other guys at corner and things like that. But all in all, we had a great frontline that helped us cover it up, you know.
But this year, we’re building a really strong back end. We’re kind of young on the front end. So we’ve definitely been trying to help them, but it’s been a whole year. They’ve definitely grown up. I think just the speed that we have on our back end is just really, really good.
Q. How much of the experience of being here and being in this playoff the last few years does that help you this year?
TANNER MUSE: I think it helps me, just personally, because I’m on a loop. Every year I’ve been in this playoff and it’s been awesome. It’s just something I’ve definitely taken advantage of, just being here for this opportunity has been great to me. It helps me just let the young guys just hear my experiences and what I’ve — the things that I take advantage of during this scheduling that we have. So definitely just my experience has helped everyone.
Q. Tanner, what do you do with all the gear you’ve gotten from all these playoff games?
TANNER MUSE: I usually give them to Mom and Dad. Some things I’ll keep. I’ll probably keep this shirt. This jacket is a little something-something, so I’ll probably just put it in the closet. It’s not my favorite. It is what it is.
Q. What is your favorite thing?
TANNER MUSE: They always do a good job of pants sometimes through the years. They’ve had some really good pants. They’ve had the chrome swoosh, which is really nice. That’s a nice little feature, people are like, Whoa, that’s pretty cool. But, yeah, definitely the pants we’ve gotten over the
years.
Q. When do you guys get to celebrate Christmas?
TANNER MUSE: I celebrated Christmas with my mom and dad and them Friday night, just this past Friday. And then we’ll have Christmas tomorrow. So we’ll have that as a team, Christmas morning breakfast, take a little break, go to practice and then that will be it. So I definitely have already done my Christmas and I’m moving on.
Q. Looking at this wide receiver group that Ohio State has, what’s your impressions of them?
TANNER MUSE: Definitely really good. Crafty route runners, speed, whole the nine yards. I think the tight ends do a great job as well just being receivers, as well as the quarterback. You can’t really take a play off when you’re covering those guys because they’re always very dangerous. So looking into that, you’ve just got to be able to understand your scheme, understand where your help is and just be locked down the best you can.
Q. You were on the 2016 team, do you remember kind of that offense and how this is similar or different?
TANNER MUSE: Yeah, J.T. Barrett and the boys. Curtis Samuel was their go-to guy. At the time, I think it was [Mike] Weber, Jr. was their running back. I think we had kind of like a key thing on Curtis Samuel because he was obviously one of their better players. And trying to contain J.T. He was a
very good guy as well at the time. Just making sure he was — just take care of them.
Q. How does this offense compare to that one?
TANNER MUSE: It’s not the same. By no means. I think they’re better in all phases. So we really have to bring it this time just because they’re so much better. They’re just better in every facet of the game.
Q. What does this matchup mean for Isaiah [Simmons]? I mean, as far as — just obviously the versatility of the Ohio State offense, especially with the way [Justin] Fields can run the ball? Does having someone like Isaiah on defense factor into trying to neutralize that?
TANNER MUSE: Yes and no. He’s obviously featured that in a lot of game plans, but you don’t want to bring the same thing. People can’t key in on that. They’ll adjust and things like that, or they’ve already adjusted to it, what they think is going to happen. You have got to bring different aspects of the game — or what you do to your offense. We’re definitely going to have to do different things. But he’s obviously going to be a big factor in the game. Don’t let me tell you he’s not. But, yeah, he’s going to have to do different things and use him the best we can.
Q. You mentioned route running for the Ohio State receivers. How does that make it difficult on a defensive back? Those can sometimes be tougher matchups than someone who is more athletic but sloppier with their protection.
TANNER MUSE: Definitely. You take a guy like Hunter Renfroe, super crafty. He’s probably the hardest guy I’ve ever covered. He beat me all the time. But he wasn’t overly fast. He wasn’t overly powerful. He was just super crafty. When you’ve got guys like that, it just makes it so difficult because
they understand your leverage, they understand where they’ve got to be. It’s just really a nightmare.
Q. Tanner, I know the running backs group has honored C.J. [Fuller] and Tyshon [Dye] with the heartbeat shirts. Have you seen those shirts?
TANNER MUSE: I have not seen those shirts, no, sir.
Q. Were you around when those two guys were on the program?
TANNER MUSE: I definitely was around. Tyshon, when I first got here, I had a really crap practice. He said, Hey, man. Keep your head up. Just keep grinding and you’ll earn yourself a scholarship. I was so mad. I’m like, Tyshon, I’m on scholarship. And he’s like Oh, that’s what’s up. That’s my first interaction with Tyshon. But he’s always been nice and super encouraging to me. And then C.J. as well. He’s always bright that light wherever he went, real spirited and just a great guy. It’s tough — it was tough on the guys that were here when they were here. But definitely is very cool people remembering them and honoring them.
Q. Why do you think he didn’t think you were on scholarship?
TANNER MUSE: Probably my skin tone and playing safety. You don’t see many. But that was kind of his point. I ain’t never seen no white boy play safety. Yeah, there’s a few of us.
Q. How has them passing, how has that changed your perspective during your time at Clemson?
TANNER MUSE: Them passing, definitely life is precious. C.J. [Fuller] went into surgery, it happened. Tyshon [Dye], just a nice day at the lake. They had so much to give to the community, so much just to give to just everyone they were around opinion.