Tag: Mario Goodrich

Booth feels like ‘defense dominated’ against Georgia

Andrew Booth was happy with Clemson’s defensive effort, especially his own, albeit it came in a 10-3 loss to Georgia Saturday. “Very proud. I felt like Coach (Venables), he had their number all night,” Booth told reporters during Tuesday’s media …

Andrew Booth was happy with Clemson’s defensive effort, especially his own, albeit it came in a 10-3 loss to Georgia Saturday.

“Very proud. I felt like Coach (Venables), he had their number all night,” Booth told reporters during Tuesday’s media availability. “Felt like the plays we ran over in practice were the plays that were run out there. Very proud. Felt like we dominated out there.”

Booth said the defense never felt any pressure down the stretch. He added that the defensive unit did what it could to keep the game in reach.

Which, they certainly did.

Clemson’s defensive coordinator had his unit ready for anything Georgia’s high-powered offense threw their way Saturday. The Bulldogs ran a lot of up-tempo, but Venables had his troops ready to go.

“In practice, Coach V puts a lot of stress on us,” Booth said. “He loves to call it stress. He goes really fast and we get a lot of reps in.

Coming into the season, a point of emphasis for Booth taking his game to the next level was for the junior cornerback to be more physical and for that matter, more consistent.

That certainly was on full display during Saturday’s marquee matchup, even in losing fashion. Booth recorded four tackles (one for loss) and a pass defended.

Booth didn’t see many targets his way but was on his game when called upon in run support. In the first half, he made an open-field, shoe-string tackle after shedding a block, which ended in a third-down stop and a huge defensive stand for the Tigers.

“Coach V, he made that a very huge point,” Booth said. “I felt like me and Mario (Goodrich) were very physical out there on the outside, like as you saw out there. He really challenged us over the offseason and spring and fall. I feel like we came through with that.”

As for Mario Goodrich, the senior cornerback recorded 12 total tackles.

Challenging his veteran corners, seemed to pay off for Venables, especially in run-support.

Not to take the spotlight away from Booth’s dominant performance, but behind him, a true freshman in Andrew Mukuba blossomed during his first career start.

“He looked like he really belonged,” Booth said of the freshman safety out of LBJ Early College HS in Austin (Tex.). “It was crazy. He wasn’t timid out there. He didn’t look scared. He was out there. He was ready to go. It really showed all week in practice too. Mukuba looked and acted like he really belonged. He acted like he’s been here for a minute, so that was great to see.”

The Tigers will certainly need players like Booth and Mukuba to maintain their great performances as the team’s safety depth chart took a hit with the loss of safety Landen Zanders (shoulder) for the season and the cornerback room already being thin as is.

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One-on-ones get competitive juices flowing between Clemson’s WRs, CBs

Andrew Booth’s answer was confident if not predictable. Asked who’s won the most matchups when defensive backs and receivers go one-on-one against each other during Clemson’s fall camp, the Tigers’ junior cornerback thought for a second. Then he …

Andrew Booth’s answer was confident if not predictable.

Asked who’s won the most matchups when defensive backs and receivers go one-on-one against each other during Clemson’s fall camp, the Tigers’ junior cornerback thought for a second. Then he smiled.

“I have won most,” Booth said.

Clemson devotes practice periods during camp specifically to one-on-one matchups on the outside. And with a group of tall, big-bodied wideouts going against a rangy collection of cornerbacks with a blend of experience and young talent, coaches and players say they’re some of the most competitive on the practice field.

That usually brings with it a fair amount of trash talk. Booth said the receivers don’t chirp too much, but if someone is talking, it’s usually sophomore E.J. Williams.

“He’ll let you hear it,” Booth said.

Junior lineman Ruke Orhorhoro has a reputation as perhaps the best trash talker on the Tigers’ defense, though the corners will also engage with the receivers from time to time. Booth said it’s all part of the competitive juices that get to flowing in a setting where the best man wins.

“You’re going to have some of that,” Booth said. “We all hug each other’s necks when we get back in there (after practice).”

The matchups often feature good on good. For Booth, who’s being counted on as a lockdown type this fall, that’s meant plenty of assignments against Williams, Joseph Ngata, Frank Ladson Jr. and Ajou Ajou among others. Mario Goodrich, Sheridan Jones, Fred Davis, Malcolm Greene and Nate Wiggins have also gotten plenty of one-on-one work against a group of receivers that doesn’t lack for physicality.

Even without star wideout Justyn Ross (COVID-19 protocols) unavailable for most of the one-on-one sessions in camp, the corners have still seen plenty of size from the wideouts. Ngata, Ladson, Williams and Ajou are all at least 6-foot-3 while Ngata and Ajou are each north of 220 pounds. Some of the new additions to the wide receiver room have only increased the group’s height with freshmen Beaux Collins and Dacari Collins checking in at 6-3 and 6-5, respectively.

“We get challenged as well as anybody can be challenged on the practice field,” defensive coordinator Brent Venables said. “The receivers, backs, tight ends and quarterbacks, that’s how you get better is through strain, through pain and through failure. It forces you to be on your A game because you get exposed quickly if you’re not ready to go.”

At times, the corners even wear boxing gloves to prevent them from grabbing receivers or tugging their jerseys, which can lead to penalties. Wearing the gloves emphasizes footwork and leverage for the corners, something Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said he’s been pleaded with from the group.

“Our technique has improved. Our positioning is a lot better,” Swinney said. “We’re making a lot of plays on the ball. We’ve got a lot of competitive plays, and that’s what you want to see.”

So, yes, the receivers have won their share of one-on-ones, but the victories have gone both ways. Booth, Goodrich, and Jones, all upperclassmen, have combined to play 1,395 snaps during their time at Clemson while Davis and Greene were part of the rotation as true freshmen last season. Wiggins is the only one of the Tigers’ top six corners that hasn’t yet played a down in college, but the true freshman may be the rangiest of the bunch at 6-2.

The group has given the wideouts some good looks, too.

“It’s nice because I’ve got Booth, Fred Davis, Malcolm Greene and all these great corners to go against. They make me better every day,” Ajou said. “So if I can go against them type of guys, I can do it against anybody.”

It’s every man for himself, though. And whether it’s a corner breaking up a pass or a receiver making a catch in front or over the top, the winning side isn’t usually shy about letting the other know about it.

“You better show up every day,” Swinney said. “It’s very competitive out here.”

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Clemson’s veteran defense ‘ready for the moment’ of marquee opener

There’s no escaping the magnitude of the season-opening moment awaiting Clemson. The Tigers’ marquee matchup with Georgia on Sept. 4 will officially be a top-5 clash following the release of the preseason coaches poll Tuesday. Clemson was ranked No. …

There’s no escaping the magnitude of the season-opening moment awaiting Clemson.

The Tigers’ marquee matchup with Georgia on Sept. 4 will officially be a top-5 clash following the release of the preseason coaches poll Tuesday. Clemson was ranked No. 2 while the Bulldogs came in at No. 5.

Not only is it a chance for Clemson to immediately start building its resume for a seventh straight College Football Playoff berth, but the Tigers may very well not get an opportunity this good to do so the rest of the season. The only other ACC teams to appear in the coaches poll are North Carolina (No. 9) and Miami (No. 16), and Clemson won’t play either of those Coastal Division teams unless the Tigers were to meet one in the ACC championship game.

So the moment looms large, but those who are a part of Clemson’s defense insist it won’t be too big for them.

“I think we’re definitely ready for the moment,” senior safety Nolan Turner said.

Turner has good reason to believe that. It would be one thing if the defense was starting over with a bunch of players who weren’t used to performing on the big stage, but that’s not the case with Clemson.

In fact, it’s quite the opposite.

The Tigers have all but one regular defensive starter back from last year’s 10-win team. Seven linemen on the roster have started at least one game along what should be one of the country’s deepest, most experienced defensive fronts. Meanwhile, the second and third levels are led by a couple of sixth-year players in Turner and middle linebacker James Skalski, who’ve combined to play in 111 games during their time at Clemson.

Skalski and Turner were both around for the Tigers’ last two national titles in 2016 and 2018. Every defensive starter and many of their backups have played in at least one ACC title game and one CFP game.

The ACC championship game is annually played at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, the same site as this year’s opener. So the Tigers will also have a good bit of familiarity with their surroundings.

“We’ve played in a lot of big games, and we know this is going to be a huge game,” Turner said. “We’re really looking forward to it. Excited to have the crowd back and be in a stadium like Charlotte. The atmosphere is going to be incredible.

“I think it definitely brings a lot of value being in those games and those situations before and kind of keeping that poise and that composure and not letting the moment be too big for you.”

Ironically enough, with Turner and Xavier Thomas deciding to return to school for another season and Justin Foster changing his mind after initially announcing his retirement from football, the only real attrition for Clemson’s defense this offseason was the dismissal of cornerback Derion Kendrick, who’s in line to face his former team now that he’s at Georgia. But there’s experience to make up for that, too.

Andrew Booth Jr., Mario Goodrich, Malcolm Greene and Sheridan Jones are still around at corner after combining for 19 starts last season. Fifth-year senior Baylon Spector joins Skalski among the starters at linebacker, and sophomore linemen Bryan Bresee and Myles Murphy will be looking to build on their freshmen All-America seasons.

They helped Clemson finish second in the ACC in points and rushing yards allowed last season. Last year’s unit also ranked ninth nationally in interceptions and second in tackles for loss.

This year’s defense will need to play like a more veteran group in order to give the Tigers a better chance than they had the last time they saw a top-5 opponent. Clemson yielded more than 600 yards to Ohio State in a 21-point playoff loss its last time out, a performance Spector said left the defense feeling embarrassed.

But being blinded by the bright lights of the national stage the Tigers’ defense will find itself on come the first Saturday in September? That’s not something the unit is particularly worried about.

“One of our goals is to win the opener, and we’re going to prepare the same,” Spector said. “But we’re excited for sure.”

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