Jones sees Tigers as a potential "dangerous" team

Sheridan Jones was recently named a semifinalist for the Campbell Trophy, known as the "academic Heisman."

by Ariana Pensy - Correspondent - Wed Oct 04 07:00:06 GMT-04:00 2023

CLEMSON - Fifth-year cornerback Sheridan Jones knows the importance of momentum and feels Clemson is unstoppable when momentum is on its side.

“Momentum is big,” Jones said. “We play a momentum-based game, and we get the ball rolling in our favor, once we get going, I feel like nobody can really stop what we have going for us, our team, and just getting guys healthy as well going into the bye week, that’d be really great … A 100% healthy team is a dangerous team.”

Justin Mascoll’s forced fumble was one of two turnovers in the first quarter Saturday in the 31-14 win over Syracuse and one of three in the game as a whole. It was a huge recovery from not having any defensive turnovers the previous week in the overtime loss to No. 5 Florida State. Jones says that this results from the defense’s overall relentlessness and physicality.

“A lot of turnovers happen when you’re getting a relentless pursuit to the ball as well,” Jones said. “As long as we’re in the right scheme and they do such a great job just putting us in the right position to make plays and as long as we’re all flowing to the ball, just playing fast, physical and relentless, then the turnovers will come.”

Jones was recently named a semifinalist for the William V. Campbell Award, commonly called the “Academic Heisman.” This award is given to players who demonstrate high academic success, contribute to their community, and make an impact on the field. Jones learned the importance of academics and education from his mother and grandmother at a young age and used his knowledge to benefit in the classroom and perfect his play on the field.

“You go out there, you play corner, you have a quiet night, that’s a good game for a corner,” Jones said. “I take a lot of pride in my craft, and I just try to be the best corner that I can be for this team and just try to be the best teammate I can be (and) try to be the best leader I can be because we got a lot of young guys on the defense.”

Given his combination of on-the-field and off-the-field success, he is a great role model for younger players on the field, such as sophomore cornerback Jeadyn Lukus. Lukus had his first career start in the season opener against Duke and contributed to a forced fumble against Charleston Southern. Lukus is certainly one of the players who has stepped up and stood out to Jones as an improving player on this team.

“He plays with a lot of confidence. He has good trust in his abilities,” Jones said. “A long, very lengthy corner, physical, fast. He just goes out there with that mindset that he knows he’s here for a reason. I love Jeadyn. He comes to practice, he comes to play every day, and on Saturdays, he (is) who he is, and he just goes out there and does what he has to do.”

Clemson will be looking to get their second conference win of the season against Wake Forest on Saturday (3:30 p.m./ACCN).

The Demon Deacons are coming off of their bye week. In their last game on September 23, they lost 30-16 against Georgia Tech and their quarterback was sacked eight times. This seems like a promising matchup for the Tigers, particularly with Clemson’s five-sack performance against the Orange. Still, no game can be taken for granted.

“They have a good, dynamic offense. They run well, they pass well, good players, good skill-set,” Jones said. “We just got to be Clemson defense, play relentless ball, win your matchup, and just go into that game knowing who we are and just play lights out.”