CLEMSON FOOTBALL

Sacks and Selfies.......Williams breaks it down
Barnes forced a fumble on this play (Photo by Joshua S. Kelly)

Sacks and Selfies.......Williams breaks it down


by - Senior Writer -

CLEMSON – DeShawn Williams DeShawn Williams
Sr. Defensive Tackle
#99 6-1, 292
Central, SC

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sacked Syracuse quarterback A.J. Long Saturday evening in Death Valley, and his celebratory dance left a lot to be desired. But it wasn’t as bad as the sack dance of senior defensive end Tavaris Barnes Tavaris Barnes
RS Sr. Defensive End
#9 6-4, 273
Jacksonville, FL

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.

Williams notched his second sack of the season Saturday, but defensive line coach Dan BrooksDan Brooks
Assoc. Head Coach / Def. Tackles
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told Williams the celebration needs work.

“I don't get there too many times. Coach (Brooks) told me to act like I've been there before,” Williams told the media in the WestZone Tuesday, “I told him I don't get there too often, so I don't know how to act. It's good when you affect the quarterback like that, it says a lot about your front.”

Barnes forced a fumble by Long on a third down play late in the second quarter. The Orange recovered the fumble and sent their special teams unit out onto the field for a long field goal attempt.

Barnes, meanwhile, was still celebrating – he grabbed defensive tackle Grady JarrettGrady Jarrett
Sr. Defensive Tackle
#50 6-1, 290
Conyers, GA

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and acted like he was taking a selfie with his line mate. Jarrett realized that Syracuse was about to run a play and hurried Barnes back to the Clemson sideline, where he underwent a barrage of insults for the failed celebration.

"The selfie thing, hah, that was funny. We gave him crap about it," Williams said. "It was funny because they were about to run the next play while he's doing it. We were like, 'That's too long of a celebration.' I’m surprised he didn’t flagged for it. I am pretty sure Syracuse turned that in."

Williams was told that Houston Texan superstar J.J. Watt mimed taking a selfie this past weekend, but he said there is a difference between Barnes and the All-Pro Watt.

"That's J.J. Watt. He can do whatever he wants," Williams said. "He's pretty much the mecca of all defensive linemen, so I ain't got too much to say about him."

Clemson leads the nation with 78 tackles for loss and is tied for third with 30 sacks, and affected Long for most of the afternoon.

Williams said that was the plan set forth by defensive coordinator Brent VenablesBrent Venables
Def. Coordinator / Linebackers
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– harass the freshman.

“Especially a quarterback like that one - he was a freshman and he was young and he had never been in an environment like ours,” Williams said. “We wanted to let him know that this is big boy football. Any quarterback we face, we want to make our presence known. We just want to be in his ear and just let him know that the next play we are going to be there, It breaks their rhythm passing the ball. Hitting a quarterback or being around him breaks that rhythm.”

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