Clemson defense steps up to Venables' call to make plays late

KJ Henry swooped in on the fumble recovery to seal the Clemson win.

by Zachary Wagner - Correspondent - Sun Oct 03 11:00:08 GMT-04:00 2021

The Clemson defense made the plays when it needed to on Saturday night inside of Death as the Tigers held on to a 19-13 win over Boston College. No play was bigger than KJ Henry’s fumble recovery inside of Clemson’s own 20-yard line with less than a minute remaining and the game on the line.

The defense got a stop with just over two minutes remaining and gave the ball to the offense with the ability to ice the game with a first down. A sack on quarterback DJ Uiagalelei on third down with just under two minutes remaining instead meant the defense needed to go back out and get one final stop to win the game.

Defensive coordinator Brent Venables said after the Clemson victory that he told his defense to go out and make some plays to win the game before the final drive, and his defense responded with its third turnover of the game in the most crucial moment.

“Talk about wanting to win, it’s about making plays,” said Venables. “We made enough plays to win tonight, and certainly we did over the course of the game. We made enough mistakes to lose tonight too. Couldn’t be more proud and pleased for the players. I think that’s four out of the five weeks where the game comes down to the last drive.

"Really just proud of their effort, their toughness, their belief and their fight.”

It wasn’t the best day for the Clemson secondary, which gave up over 300 yards passing, but the Tigers did limit the Boston College rushing attack to just 46 yards on the ground. Venables said there have been some bright spots so far this year on defense, but they have to continue to get better every week to accomplish their goals.

“A lot of great moments this season, but also some tough moments,” Venables said. “A lot of learning opportunities. Proud of how our guys prepared, this was a tough preparation. We got a long way to go to be a great defensive unit, but I think we have a chance to become one. One thing we’re doing right now is playing with so much effort. Playing with great toughness and determination and a lot of heart.”

“It all starts upfront. They played really well tonight,” Venables said of his defensive line, which is down two starters. “I really thought our defensive line played really well tonight. Our back seven guys played alright, there were some mistakes. We’re never satisfied and we have a long way to go, but one thing you can’t fabricate or coach is love, determination and effort.”

Andrew Booth led the Tigers in tackles with eight, and one of those coming behind the line of scrimmage. When asked about the season his preseason All-ACC cornerback is having, Venables gave some high praise for the junior.

“The season Andrew Booth is having? It’s pretty good,” Venables said. “There can’t be a better tackling corner in college football. I think he’s had a really, really strong year. He’ll be the first to tell you he isn’t satisfied though and there’s still meat on the bone of improving and playing at an elite level. He’s done a bunch of different things really well for us and given us some security with the things he’s able to do. He’s shown a real toughness being able to play 80 snaps. As good as he’s done, he still has more to do to become an elite player and he knows that.”

Clemson will take the next week off with an open week, and get some rest and recovery for a defense that is battered and bruised. The Tigers will be hopeful with the off week, that guys that are nursing some injuries like Xavier Thomas (ankle), Mario Goodrich (ankle), Jake Venables (leg) and others can come back when the Tigers travel to New York to take on the Syracuse Orange on Friday, October 15th.