Venables calling on group to respond from hurt, disappointment of loss

Venables says the result leaves his group "pissed for sure, but you still respond."

by Zachary Wagner - Correspondent - Sun Oct 24 13:32:03 GMT-04:00 2021

The Clemson defense did not have its best outing of the season on Saturday afternoon against Pitt, allowing over 460 yards of total offense and giving up 300 yards through the air and two passing touchdowns to Pitt's Kenny Pickett in the 27-17 loss.

Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables said his defense did not play with the precision they have all season and just couldn’t put a stop to Pitt's offense down the stretch.

“I thought our first five drives were excellent,” Venables said. “That sixth drive, they moved the ball 90 yards down the field in 13 plays and were just more precious. We make a couple good plays, then we would lose the leverage on a route or not have the precision that it takes against a good team like that. We come back out 26 seconds later in what was probably the most inopportune moment of the game. We did not play on that last drive of the half. We lost leverage on that post route on that fourth-and-six and we can’t make it easy for them.”

The Panthers were 10-of-18 on third down on the afternoon and picked up four first downs on third and long situations on Pitt's last drive of the game with Clemson calling timeouts to stop the clock.

“Comes back to precision,” Venables said about Pitt on third down. “We lost leverage on routes and we let them run the ball as well. We let them out of the pocket and they executed at a better level then we did. They have good skill and you have to match them up and play well in space. You have to play with great precision and stay physical through the routes. Our timing has to be better and we have to beat people one-on-one up front.”

With a seventh-straight ACC Championship looking far out of reach now for the Tigers, Venables is calling on his players' willingness to compete and play the game they love to keep them engaged for the remainder of the season.

“For me, personally that’s easy,” Venables said. “When you love to compete, when you love to coach and love to play, then you really love it. You can’t just pick and choose your moments that you love it. The good players and good units are creatures of habit. How you work, how you show up, how you respond, the investment shouldn’t change. Is there disappointment? Yeah. Is there hurt? Absolutely. We’re pissed for sure, but you still respond. There’s a lot of adversity in whatever you’re doing. Whether you’re winning games or losing, there’s always adversity.

“Who you are as a competitor, as a teammate, as a coach, for me it’s pretty easy. The hurt of defeat and the emotion, you have to fuel it the right way. To get better, to keep fighting, if you’re made of the right stuff, which I believe all of our guys are, that will be the case as far as it goes. There’s still plenty to play for.”