In the days following what Dabo Swinney viewed as a lethargic showing from his defense in the second game of the season, Clemson’s head coach didn’t hold back in letting his players know it.
Swinney may have very well been voicing some genuine frustration after the Tigers were outgained by Furman, an FCS opponent, in their home opener two weeks ago, but veteran defensive end K.J. Henry believes it was more calculated than that. Henry is convinced he was trying to send the unit a message with his criticism of the group’s effort to the media.
“Coach Swinney is smart,” Henry said with a smile. “He knows what he’s doing now, and he knows we’re going to see that stuff.”
Still, Henry wasn’t too happy to see his coach’s public lashing of the defense.
“It really pissed me off,” said Henry, who noted Swinney shared similar criticisms with the defense in private. “I’m not going to lie.”
But, to hear Henry explain it, his frustration didn’t stem so much from what Swinney said as much as the fact that the defense’s performance elicited those kinds of remarks from Swinney in the first place. The defense, with its share of next-level talent, garnered preseason hype as one of college football’s best, but the group hasn’t always looked like it through three games.
It’s worth noting the unit hasn’t yet played at full strength either. Starting defensive linemen Xavier Thomas (foot injury), Tyler Davis (undisclosed injury) and Bryan Bresee (death in the family) have yet to play together in a game this season, and defensive backs Andrew Mukuba (elbow) and Nate Wiggins (hip flexor) were also held out of last week’s game against Louisiana Tech. So was backup defensive lineman Tre Williams (knee).
Clemson is expected to have Bresee back for its trip to No. 21 Wake Forest on Saturday. Swinney said Sunday most of the others are being monitored on a day-to-day basis to determine whether or not they will be available by the weekend, but Henry wasn’t interested in using the attrition as an excuse for the defense, which has had its issues at times, particularly against the pass.
Clemson still ranks among the top 25 defenses nationally in points and rushing yards allowed but is yielding 244.7 yards through the air on average, third-most in the ACC.
“Regardless of who’s on the field, that’s the expectation we have of ourselves,” Henry said. “We had some guys out or whatever, but we’re going to play a lot of great teams and going to have to sub a lot of people. And I think one of the better parts of our team and this defense is our depth. So just really pushing that when one guy is in and one guy is out, the standard stays the same. That’s been the motto and has been the message since I’ve been here.”
Swinney praised the defense’s response in the effort department in Clemson’s 48-20 win over Tech, and the Tigers showed better execution against the Bulldogs’ quick passes and screen game, an area Furman exploited against Clemson a week earlier. Tech’s Air Raid offense hit on its share of vertical shots in the passing game to average more than 14 yards per completion, but the Tigers limited Tech to 5 yards per play, held the Bulldogs to just 5 of 15 conversions on third down – a vast improvement from Furman’s 55% conversion rate – and forced a season-high four turnovers.
“I think we’ve grown every week. Hit a little plateau with Furman for sure but definitely some great things that have been put out there,” Henry said.
There’s still work to do with the heart of Clemson’s ACC schedule looming, but Henry said the defense has used Swinney’s message as a reset after receiving it loud and clear.
“It’s using that anger in a way that helps better the team, and he knows that we’re going to do that,” Henry said. “We’re going to take that challenge. We didn’t play to our standard (against Furman). We didn’t play to his standard. And if we were being soft and being lazy, then that’s what it was. As one of the leaders of the defense, I definitely take that on the chin, but all the guys do.
“There’s not one person on this defense who’s shrugging their shoulders and just letting that be OK. That’s not OK with anybody. Nobody’s doing it intentionally by any means, but we just have to understand what we put out there and make it better each week. That’s the goal.”
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