Clemson's Justin Mascoll says his group was playing to get back respect, showed swagger

Tyler Davis was one of six Tiger defenders to at least get a share of a sack.

by Ariana Pensy - Correspondent - Sun Oct 01 07:00:07 GMT-04:00 2023

Clemson needed to get on the board with an ACC win, and they took care of business in Syracuse.

The defense stepped up in their biggest game of the season, with three turnovers forced and five sacks. Sixth-year defensive end Justin Mascoll set the tone early with a forced fumble on Orange senior quarterback, Garrett Shrader.

“I respect Shrader a lot. I feel like he’s a great athlete, and he’s a great competitor,” Mascoll said. “Our mindset was just trying to be the most physical team up there, and we knew he didn’t like the slide. He’s not a slider. So, it was just a great opportunity for me and my teammates, and, yeah, it was fun.”

There were numerous plays last week where Clemson shot themselves in the foot. Despite only allowing 22 rushing yards to the Seminoles, the Seminoles were able to force overtime shortly after a missed field by Clemson. The tie was set up by a fumble after a missed blitz pickup that was ultimately returned for a touchdown. That play specifically highlighted the turnover struggles the Tigers had been dealing with all season. However, turnovers were what won the game for Clemson this week.

“We just wanted to come out and come out and just get our respect back,” Mascoll said. “We know, as a team, there’s a lot of people that are doubting us. But, we know that we’re all we got and we’re all we need, and just, we have to continue to be inside-out and not worried about what’s going on outside.”

This game seems to be an important turning point for Clemson moving forward in the season, particularly for the defense. While they had been able to get in the backfield, sacks were a struggle to come by. Through the first four games, they only had six sacks. Against the Orange, six different players had at least half a sack. Performances like this show Clemson is getting their swagger and confidence back.

“I feel like we’re starting to get that swagger back for sure. The confidence is there, and just the energy…Coach Swinney is just telling us to keep the energy on the sideline and preaching he wants to see that swagger, and as leaders on the team, that’s what we have to bring.”

Another sixth-year player who stepped up in this game was defensive end Xavier Thomas. Thomas has at least two sacks every season, but against the Orange, he had his first fumble recovery since 2019. Thomas almost took it all the way to the end zone but was stopped three yards short. The players on the Tiger defense are always looking to see their teammates succeed. So, Mascoll was incredibly excited for Thomas on that play but also had a little critique of Thomas’s return.

“I was so excited, and it was, I feel like in other games he had the same situation where I think FAU, he scooped, we thought he scored, and they brought it back and, he scooped, and I was like, ‘Wow, he’s really about to score,’” Mascoll said. “He had it right there. He should have cut it back, but he didn’t really have that vision right there.”

Freshmen have been incredibly valuable to the Tigers this season. While a lot of attention has been given to true freshman receiver Tyler Brown, freshman defensive end TJ Parker has also had quite the impact on the defensive side. Parker is leading the team in sacks (three) and tackles for loss (7.5) so far this season; two of those sacks came against Syracuse.

“I appreciate TJ (Parker), (Thomas), all those other D-Ends in our room,” Mascoll said. “We just push each other, and we love to see each other go out and succeed.”