Barrett Carter says Tigers remember how Irish dominated the Tigers last season

Barrett Carter doesn't think they had the right mentality going to Notre Dame last year.

by Ariana Pensy - Correspondent - Thu Nov 02 13:42:03 GMT-04:00 2023

CLEMSON - Clemson is a team that prides itself on dominating people physically. Clemson fans most likely remember how last year against Notre Dame went -- getting dominated and pushed around by the Irish in a 35-14 rout.

This year, while the team is coming into the game in a vastly different position, they hope they can knock off the Irish and change the narrative around the program. However, as junior linebacker Barrett Carter identifies, part of the problem is stopping the chunk plays that were ultimately the difference in the game versus NC State this past Saturday.

“Chunk plays are huge. You definitely want to make them want to nickel and dime up the field. You want to stop them, but if they’re going to get those plays, you want to make them nickel and dime and not just get them all in one play like NC State did,” Carter said. “So, that’s definitely (a) point of emphasis … Don’t let them get those explosive plays because those are huge with momentum too. So, we’re going to have to limit that if we’re going to win this game and win the momentum side.”

Notre Dame comes into this game unable to make the playoffs with two losses this season. However, they are still ranked No. 12 and are just as physical as they were last season. They are led by running back Audric Estime, who racked up 104 rushing yards against the Tigers last season. This season, he is averaging over 100 rushing yards per game. Something like that definitely jumps off the board when scouting an offense. That is why Carter and the rest of the defense are prepared to do their best to stop these Fighting Irish.

“We know that they’re a really complete team across the board … So, we got to bring our A-game, attack this game the same way we attack every game. But, especially when you’re playing a physical, downhill team such as Notre Dame, you have to bring your big-boy pads,” Carter said. “So, looking forward just to getting back out and competing and showing that we’re able to compete with a team such as Notre Dame. But, definitely just looking forward to the opportunity.”

There has been a certain narrative around Clemson this year. At 4-4, they are not living up to their standard, and some fans have taken up issue with that. Head coach Dabo Swinney defended his team in a fiery response to some of those criticisms about the team this year. While Carter appreciates that his coach is willing to do that for his players, that is not something he wants his coach to have to do again.

“You don’t want your coach to have to stick up for you or take the blame or anything like that because I feel like it’s also on us players to go out there and execute whatever is being called or whatever,” Carter said. “So, I think it’s great that Coach Swinney does that. But at the same time, it also lights a fire inside of me and wants me to go harder for the guys … It’s on us to line up and dominate the person in front of us.”

Carter and the rest of the team are determined to turn things around for each other and play hard. The hope is that if the Tigers can knock off the Irish this coming Saturday (Noon / ABC), then perhaps people will stop criticizing the school, and they can show what this program is truly capable of.

“If we go out and handle our business Saturday, we can definitely go out and flip the script, flip the narrative about Clemson football,” Carter said. “Hopefully, if we do (focus on today and making players better), we can go out on Saturday and just dominate and show the world what we’re about, that Clemson football is still here and it’s just a … year full of lessons that are being learned.”

Defense is not the only problem. Last season, they allowed an average of 20.86 points per game. That number is not quite different from this season, where they allow an average of 21 points per game. The key difference lies in turnovers.

Clemson has lost ten fumbles this season, tied for the second-most out of any team in the FBS, and 15 total turnovers. In all of last season, the Tigers had 15 turnovers, with only four of them being from lost fumbles. They did not have a single lost fumble in the first seven games.

From these figures, it is quite clear that turnovers are a key problem this year that was not last year. Particularly for some of the younger players, this kind of adversity is difficult for them. However, as a leader, Carter has taken the initiative to keep the team positive and focus on the next game.

“In a tough time like this, it’s made us come together even more because you’re going to have some guys that are, they’re going to be a little negative just because of what’s going on. We’re 4-4. So, there’s been a little negativity,” Carter said. “But us as leaders, we’ve stepped up and made sure we tuned that out and brought those young guys who maybe haven’t experienced this many losses in their life, just make sure that they stay with us and stay positive through it all because it’s all just going to be a lesson learned at the end of the day.”