Tiger defense not happy after mistakes in Miami

Clemson linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Jr. led Clemson in tackles at Miami, but the defense made too many mistakes overall in the double OT loss.

by Ariana Pensy - Correspondent - Wed Oct 25 07:00:06 GMT-04:00 2023

CLEMSON - For a defense that prides itself on stopping the run, Clemson’s failure to do so against the Miami Hurricanes is part of what led to the double overtime loss. The Hurricanes got 212 rushing yards against the Tigers, the most out of anyone this season.

As a defensive leader, the performance was something that junior linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Jr is certainly disappointed with. He attributes this to the lack of execution, particularly in the second half.

“Just got to make sure we clean up our run fake gaps a little better. I thought we did a good job fitting our gaps in that first half. In the second half, we started to miss fit a little bit. But, nothing that we can’t fix,” Trotter said. “We’re going to make sure that’s a focal point going into this week as far as making sure we’re gap sound in the run game.”

The Tigers have been struggling to get things down on both sides of the ball. Not only do they lead the FBS in fumbles lost with 10, but the defense is tied for No. 56 in the FBS in interceptions with six. The turnover margin has been quite a battle, so the run defense is crucial for Clemson to succeed. While they are still a top-20 rushing defense, things must improve.

“As a defense, we pride ourselves in stopping the run, and we weren’t happy allowing that,” Trotter said. “So, we’re going to make sure that we clean that up in practice this week.”

Miami is the best rushing offense the Tigers have faced this season. Thus, going against NC State, who ranks No. 79 in rushing offense, averaging 143.3 yards per game, should offer Clemson a chance to bounce back a bit. The ability of the defense to bounce back, as well as the rest of the team, will depend on their ability to flush what happened against the Hurricanes and continue to move forward.

“Myself personally, as well as my teammates, just learning how to improve and grow from the losses and not just let them linger,” Trotter said. “We always try to (have the) same mentality that we have even after a win. But this week, coming off a loss, it’s going to be that same mentality, look to grow.”

Defensively, players need to stay aggressive and attack their gaps. Missing tackles and missing assignments are not something that a winning team does.

“Just focus on what we got coming up, just try to fix some mistakes, and just try to have a one-day mentality, one-season game mentality,” Trotter said. “If (we) do that, then we’ll finish out the season strong, and we just got to try to take every week, every game, with that type of mindset.”

Winning this game against the Wolfpack is necessary if Clemson has any hope at a 10-win season, as well as building some momentum playing No. 14 Notre Dame at home next on November 4. It will be their first home game since October 7 against Wake Forest.