Young defensive standout Khalil Barnes sees Clemson unit playing free

Khalil Barnes says the Clemson defense is playing free. (Photo: Charles Leclaire / USATODAY)

Ariana Pensy - Correspondent - Monday, November 18 2024

PITTSBURGH - Clemson’s ACC regular-season finale against Pittsburgh was not pretty. While they came away with the 24-20 win, the nearly four-hour game featured poor offensive play on both teams, questionable officiating, injuries, and ejections.

With everything that transpired, the game ultimately came down to the final play of the game. The Panthers needed 24 yards to get a touchdown to win the game, but sophomore safety Khalil Barnes ensured they never had a chance with an interception to seal the victory. Barnes said that play and many others throughout the game were examples of Clemson playing free, something they were not doing early in the season.

“When we’re having fun, we’re playing free. When you play free, you play fast. You (aren’t) scared to make a mistake,” Barnes said. “(I) feel like early in the season, we (were) kind of tensing up, (over) complicating things, not just going out there and reacting like we normally do.”

The Tiger defense came alive with eight sacks, the most they have recorded in a game since 2021. Half of those sacks came from the sophomore defensive end, who tied the school record for sacks in a game with four. Only three other Clemson Tigers have accomplished this feat; they went on to have multi-year careers in the NFL.

For Barnes in the secondary, it makes his job in the secondary easier when you can rely on your defensive line to have such a dominant performance.

“It means a lot honestly because we know in games like this (when the) quarterback may not be that much of a scrambler, we call it a statute,” Barnes said. “Our D-line is able to get back there and make pressure. We don’t (have) to cover as long, do our job as long. But, it also sucks when they’re getting pressure, they’re a second away from a sack, and we give it up. So, it’s all complementary. But, we definitely felt their presence today.”

Beating Pittsburgh means Clemson finishes the regular season with only one conference loss, keeping them alive for the ACC Championship. However, they have some things to fix. The Tiger defense allowed 163 yards after catch to Pittsburgh.

Barnes said the team is having fun now after this win, but will shift their focus to The Citadel this coming Saturday (3:30 p.m. / The CW). That game will also be Senior Day, and the Tigers have a lot of seniors graduating this year.

“Obviously happy. We just kind of kept the faith. But, honestly, it was a celebration, played a little music. But, then when we started talking, the defense, Wes came over and got us together, we (were) really just talking about next week and how we want to finish the season,” Barnes said. “So, it’s a week-to-week thing. We can celebrate here. We’ll probably celebrate on the plane. But, literally (as) soon as we touch back down, we got another game next week. So, just got to move on.”