Goodwin says young corners are trending upward after solid performances

Wiggins makes a big play in the win over Boston College.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Mon Oct 10 13:56:27 GMT-04:00 2022

CLEMSON - Clemson's cornerbacks are trending upward.

The corners struggled mightily in the win at Wake Forest a few weeks ago, but since then have rebounded with solid efforts in wins over NC State and Boston College, with Nate Wiggins making a big play in the endzone at Boston College and Toriano Pride intercepting the first pass of his career in the win over NC State.

Defensive coordinator Wes Goodwin spoke with the media Monday, and agreed that things have been much better the last few weeks for the young corners. He said that the grades have improved significantly since Wake.

"I don't remember numerically, but I imagine it wouldn't be very high," Goodwin said of the Wake grades. "But the trend is definitely upward on those guys. It's been a great two weeks just learning how to prepare, learning how to practice. You know, young guys coming in, you have to teach them everything - how to study, film, what they're looking for on the screen, you know, big picture wise. This is why you need to play your technique this way. This is where your help is on this coverage. So it's just been a huge learning process for everyone involved, and definitely the trend is going upward and I couldn't be more excited. Over these last two weeks, their hard work definitely showed off on Saturday night. It's been really good to see."

Cornerback Fred Davis didn't play much against NC State but was back on the field against Boston College with Andrew Mukuba moving back to safety.

"Fred played really good Saturday night in his role," Goodwin said. "I think he may have had 20-something snaps. I don't remember off the top of my head but he really played solid, did some really good things. The gameplan called for Mukuba to play safety, so it worked out."

Wiggins made one of the best plays of night against Boston College after the receiver made a double move. Wiggins stayed in the receiver's hip pocket and batted the ball down in the end zone - in stride - to deny the score.

"That's a big-time play. He got double moved, and young guys, at times, their eyes go in the backfield, and that's just an unbelievable play," Goodwin said. "A pivotal play in the game, it created momentum, and I thought that was huge."

Cornerbacks coach Mike Reed said the attention to detail has been the difference.

"Guys are more detailed at work, putting in extra time in the film room and study sessions, and asking more questions," Reed said. "A lot of times, what you have with a lot of young kids is sometimes is they're afraid to ask that question because they don't want to seem like the guy that doesn't know what's going on. And as much as you always tell them there's no stupid question, just ask a question, some kids are really gun-shy when it comes to that. And I have a couple of kids that don't hold back anymore and they ask the question because they want to know. They don't want to be out there second-guessing anything. They want to be able to play free."