Goodwin talks his attacking Clemson defense, preparing for Miami

Clemson swarmed Louisville last week and likely face another dual-threat on Saturday with Jacurri Brown.

by Ariana Pensy - Correspondent - Wed Nov 16 13:12:03 GMT-04:00 2022

CLEMSON - A physical defense like Clemson allowing 263 rushing yards, as the Tigers did at Notre Dame earlier this month, is a hard statistic to handle. But, the Tigers were able to successfully overcome this with a dominant performance against Louisville.

Clemson is still ranked No. 19 in the country for rushing defense, allowing an average of 111.6 rushing yards per game. Defensive coordinator Wes Goodwin was proud of the way the defense responded with this physicality.

“I thought our guys played with great effort Saturday night and playing physical, playing fast, playing tough,” Goodwin said. “(It) wasn’t perfect, a lot of things to coach and correct. But overall, the effort was unbelievable.”

A number of the younger players on the team are continuing to step up and make improvements, such as sophomore safety Andrew Mukuba and sophomore cornerback Nate Wiggins. There are also plenty of veterans that are stepping up, like cornerback Sheridan Jones.

“Sheridan’s been really consistent since he’s been back in the lineup,” Goodwin said. “Nate (Wiggins) is starting to mature and grow, not perfect at times, but really playing solid, has some stuff he still needs to correct and clean up. I thought Mukuba did a really good job this week of playing coverage, really played with a lot of confidence.”

Some other players that deserve some attention are sophomore linebackers Barrett Carter and Jeremiah Trotter Jr. Carter had a career-high in sacks (2), tackles for loss (3.5), and tied his career-highs in tackles (8) and interceptions (1). Carter’s most memorable play was when he hurdled a Louisville running back to gain one of his sacks against the Cardinals. Trotter led the team in tackles with 12 and had a career-high seven solo tackles.

Despite the impressive play from these players, there were still a number of things to be improved on. There were some missed tackles, one obvious one from Wiggins, among other miscues. Goodwin addressed some of these issues.

“Just continue to work on the little things. Some of the explosive plays are just one guy that failed to do his job,” Goodwin said. He added that it’s all about, “Getting all 11 guys on the same page, whether it’s a gap issue, losing a B-gap on an inside zone, or outside zone, someone getting out of their gap, or someone missing a tackle on the perimeter.”

Having improved their record to 9-1, the Tigers are now ready to face the Miami Hurricanes. The Hurricanes are having a down season with a 5-5 record. The Hurricanes have not finished with a losing record since 2019 when they were 6-7 record after losing in the Independence Bowl to Louisiana Tech. Clemson is not taking anything for granted, however.

“We’ve got to have the right mindset this week for us to stay hungry,” Goodwin said. “We handled adversity last week. Let’s handle the success this week and continue to build our momentum going into the weekend.”

If Clemson wins against Miami, they will be undefeated in the ACC, something they have not accomplished since the 2019 season.