Brent Venables admitted he is never satisfied when it comes to his defense. But Clemson’s defensive coordinator appreciated the effort of his players in the sixth-ranked Tigers’ 49-3 victory over S.C. State Saturday at Death Valley in Clemson.
For a second straight week, Venables’ defense held the opposition out of the end zone and under 260 total yards. It marked the first time since the 2017 season, Clemson held its first two opponents from scoring an offensive touchdown.
“Holding offenses out of the end zone two straight weeks, that is not an easy thing to do, regardless of who you are playing, especially considering how many guys we played tonight,” Venables said.
The Tigers (1-1) held S.C. State to 235 total yards. The Bulldogs averaged 3.9 yards per play and 3.0 yards per rush.
S.C. State (0-2) was 2-for-16 on third down. They have had a goal line stand early in the fourth quarter when Keith Maguire broke up a pass on fourth-and-goal from the four-yard line with 13:19 to play in the game.
“Not only did we not give up a touchdown, but we had a goal line stand on top of it,” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said. “They had four downs down there and all (of our) backups in.”
Swinney pointed out, in the past, it has been some of the more frustrating times the last few years when the starters have pitched a shutout or have held an opponent out of the end zone, only to see their backups give up a late touchdown.
That did not happen on Saturday.
“That has been some of the most frustrating times around here, especially with Venables, when you get into some games like that and you sub guys and all of sudden you see a drop off,” Swinney said. “Guys give up a score and things like that.
“Man, those (backups) played their tails off. We had a couple of (bad) plays here or there, but to see them dig in and get that goal line stand, and then to see the [James] Skalskis and all of them over on the sideline really playing every snap and being excited, that was a great moment.”
Besides the goal line stand, the Tigers also had an interception by reserve safety R.J. Mickens, which he returned 37 yards to the S.C. State 25. Plus, they had a couple of other fourth down stops.
“We did some good things. We played physical,” Swinney said. “I thought our first group was just awesome, as far as leveraging the football and doing what we needed to do in our run and pass defense.
“But the goal line stand, that was the highlight for me because we had a lot of those backups in there and to see them continue to play well was awesome. Two weeks in a row they could not get in the end zone. I know we are a better team than South Carolina State, but Georgia is pretty good, too. So, I am really proud of our (defense).”
Football season has finally arrived. Time to represent your Tigers and show your stripes!
