Trotter impressed by freshman defender wreaking havoc, breaks down Deacs challenge

Jeremiah Trotter Jr. had an interception that halted Syracuse momentum in the second half last week.

by Ariana Pensy - Correspondent - Sat Oct 07 07:00:05 GMT-04:00 2023

CLEMSON - The Tigers’ victory against the Syracuse Orange was their most holistic performance of the season. The defense set the tone early and maintained that same level of intensity up until the end, capped off by the third-career interception for third-year linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Jr.

“It felt good to be able to get that pick. We were in a good defensive call, I feel like there. Everybody was doing their job,” Trotter said. “I think if you watch the playback too, (defensive end Xavier Thomas) got a really good pressure on (quarterback Garrett Shrader), probably sped up the clock a little bit in his head and allowed me to be able to read (Shrader)’s eyes and get that interception.”

Part of what has helped Clemson dominate defensively is the emergence of freshman defensive end TJ Parker. Parker currently leads the team in sacks (three) and tackles for loss (7.5). The true freshman from Alabama was ranked as the No. 44 overall prospect in the country and is certainly living up to that designation and is standing out to veterans like Trotter.

“He’s just a guy that wreaks havoc. He does his job. He’s going to be in the right place when he needs to be there, and he’s going to create a new line of scrimmage,” Trotter said. “He’s a really big guy, physical guy and he’s just been very productive for us. It shows his work ethic and the way he prepares, I feel like it is definitely a key factor in getting those tackles for loss.”

The next challenge for Trotter, Parker, and the rest of the defense lies in their fourth conference opponent of the year, Wake Forest, this Saturday (3:30 p.m./ACC Network). The Demon Deacons look quite different on offense compared to last year with their former quarterback Sam Hartman transferring to Notre Dame. Now, fourth-year player Mitch Griffis is the starting quarterback. Trotter sees from watching the tape that the schemes the Deacs use with Griffis are quite similar to the ones they used when Hartman was there.

“I feel like they keep a lot of the same scheme that they had when (Hartman) was here. But, it’s definitely going to be a good challenge for us, lots of (run-pass options) is what I feel like we’re going to be up against and that zone-read option type of scheme,” Trotter said. “But we just have to keep coming, ready to play and have the right mindset and just prepare during the week. I feel like we’re going to have a great plan for the game.”

So far this season, Griffis has been under fire. Protection has been an issue, which is part of why Wake Forest has allowed the fifth-most sacks out of any team in the FBS with 18 through four games. Coming off of having six sacks against the Orange, this is something Clemson should be able to take advantage of. Nonetheless, Trotter does not take any opponent for granted and sees a lot of talent in Griffis.

“I’ve definitely seen a very poised quarterback. I feel like he’s going to be a really good game manager. He’s going to give us a nice challenge as a defense,” Trotter said. “But, we just got to be on our keys at the end of the day, do what we have to do as far as our game plan and stick to that and being confident out there when we’re playing, making sure that we’re disguising coverages, giving him different looks and also creating pressure, most importantly, to try to affect him.”