Clemson defense shuts down Eagles offense, led by defensive line

Etinosa Reuben also had a field goal block in his effort.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Sun Oct 09 08:00:06 GMT-04:00 2022

CHESTNUT HILL, Massachusetts – Boston College had some early success against Clemson’s defense, but once defensive coordinator Wes Goodwin made the necessary adjustments, the Eagles were harassed and harried on the way to just three points.

The Tigers defeated Boston College 31-3 Saturday night in Alumni Stadium, and the three points allowed were Clemson’s fewest of the season and its fewest since a 30-0 shutout of South Carolina last November. It was the fewest points allowed by Clemson to an ACC opponent since a 52-3 win against Wake Forest in 2019.

The three points were Clemson’s fewest surrendered to Boston College since shutting out the Eagles, 13-0, in 1952 at Braves Field. Clemson limited Boston College to 254 yards, including only 34 yards on the ground. lemson held Boston College to 1.1 yards per carry, Clemson’s 32nd time holding an opponent below 2.0 yards per carry since 2014, second-most in the nation.

Clemson is 31-1 in those games in that span. Clemson has now held consecutive opponents below 2.0 yards per carry for the first time since last year’s games against UConn and Wake Forest.

Goodwin said once the Tigers tightened up the coverage, Boston College failed to get any traction.

“Yeah, I think the biggest thing is we just tightened our coverage down. The first third down, it was a scramble,” Goodwin said. “We could have matched our routes better on the scramble drill and turn that into a man principal. It was a third and extra-long. And then there was another conversion early where we were in a man coverage. We were kind of loose on the slot, so just we just challenged Andrew Makuba to tighten down on the slot and play more aggressively. Going in, we wanted to pressure and get after him on third down and we brought a lot of pressure and just tightened our coverage down.”

Clemson sacked Boston College quarterback Phil Jurkovec four times, forced 13 quarterback hurries, stripped Jurkovec of the fall for a fumble, and wound up with 11 tackles for loss. Part of that was due to a defensive line that continues to wreak havoc on opponents.

“We know what we have in those first few guys. But we are able to continue to grow and build our depth behind him,” Goodwin said. “Just continue to build some consistency and chemistry and keep guys fresh. Those guys play with such great effort and continue to grow that chemistry up front.”