Venables says it all came together for Clemson's defense in Gamecocks shutout

Venables called the effort "a great feat."

by Zachary Wagner - Correspondent - Sun Nov 28 11:16:03 GMT-04:00 2021

The Clemson defense made its stand on Saturday night inside of Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, holding South Carolina to zero points on the night and securing the teams' seventh win in a row against the Gamecocks, 30-0. The shutout also marks the 22nd time Clemson has held South Carolina off the scoreboard, with all 22 of those coming in Columbia.

Overall, Clemson held the Gamecocks to 206 total yards and only 43 of those came on the ground. KJ Henry got Clemson's only sack on the night and Andrew Booth Jr. picked off South Carolina’s Jason Brown twice in the first half.

It was an all-around dominant performance from the Tigers defense, and for defensive coordinator Brent Venables, this win ranks up there with all the championship and playoff wins, especially because it came against their rival in their home stadium.

“It’s the last game, against your rival,” Venables said. “It’s been a tough year in a lot of ways. They're ranked pretty high in some offensive categories, so to get a shutout on the road, it’s special. Proud of our guys. It takes a lot of work from the players, to the support staff. A lot of guys care about that paw, and what it represents.”

“They did a great job all around,” Venables said of his defense. “We got turnovers early and got hands on a ton of balls. Our guys were impressive and focused. We still got some guys down but were still able to perform at a high level. This was probably our best performance of the year. They hadn’t lost at home this year, it’s an amazing atmosphere, but love that our guys didn’t let it affect them.”

South Carolina had a chance to put points up on the board on the final drive of the game, marching down the field and entering the red zone with less than 30 seconds left. Gamecocks quarterback Zeb Noland fell just short of the goal line as time expired to seal the shutout, and in Venables' words, he was angrier the defense let them get that close to scoring than he was nervous.

“Nervous isn’t the right word, angry is probably more accurate,” said Venables of his feeling during the shutout-sealing drive. “We kept them out though. A shutout is so nice so I was more angry that we weren’t going to get that. Shutouts are hard to get, especially against your rival. We know each other very well, playing against each other in the same state. Great, great feat for our guys though. Hopefully this allows them to continue to improve and get better and win our bowl game.”

The defensive line only produced one sack on the night, a different story than the week before against Wake Forest when they sacked Sam Hartman eight times. They still more than contained the Gamecocks rushing attack and made the big tackles when needed.

“We played well, we’ve played well all year,” Venables said. “We set the edge, got some knockback and got off our blocks well. It all starts up front, it’s a battle up there. They're built around their run game and they want to run the football."