Clemson Football players took to the podium for interviews post-bye week this past Tuesday. Phil Mafah, Walker Parks, and R.J. Mickens were the ones selected to speak and covered a multitude of topics based on their difference in positions.
Clemson running back Phil Mafah spoke first, starting off by giving credit to Louisville’s defense and coaching heading into their matchup this weekend. But it shouldn’t be too hard of a matchup on the ground as so far, the Cardinals defense has allowed over 1,000 rushing yards and an average of 136 rushing yards per game this season.
“They’re a great defense, they have a great defensive front, they play fast, they’re well coached, they’re physical. We just have to play physical and be able to do what we do this time of year. They have great coaches too so they’ll have great scouting reports, we just have to execute the plan to win and focus on what we need to do daily.”
Phil Mafah
Physically, Mafah feels great heading into the matchup, especially after a long bye week for the team. He emphasized on how satisfied he’s been with his workload, as well as his versatility that he brings to the backfield of the Clemson offense.
“I feel over all pretty good, just maintaining my body, not having to do much of a workload, being able to be versatile… being able to run the ball as well as pass pro. I take pride in both things, whatever the team needs me to do, I’ll be there to do that… as long as we get the results we want.”
Phil Mafah
The improvement of the Clemson offensive line has been one of the biggest stories over the course of this season and the media isn’t going to stop asking Mafah about it any time soon as they seem to just keep developing week-to-week.
“It’s been amazing, they’ve done a great job. Just having those experienced guys being able to come back and have another shot at it, they have grit, they learned from their mistakes as we all have as a team… Another key piece to it has been Coach Luke, he’s been a fantastic addition to this offense.”
Phil Mafah
The offensive linemen agree with Mafah’s sentiment to the fullest as OL Walker Parks went onto speak about the moment he realized Coach Luke wasn’t just a regular coach, he was different than all the others.
“When he took over in the bowl game this last year versus Kentucky, he just demands excellence. One thing he always says is ‘practice doesn’t make perfect but it makes permanent’… I really like what he says about that… what you do, your effort, that’s how you’re going to play that week so I definitely appreciate his mentality and mindset.”
Walker Parks
Along with Mafah, Parks has also watched plenty of tape on the Louisville defense, and describes the team similar to how many would describe Clemson, gritty and aggressive.
“I’ve watched a couple of games… really good defensive front, good secondary as well. I’ll give props to them, they know how to finish… their gritty, they’re aggressive, really good guys up front.”
Walker Parks
He continued about how the Clemson offensive line and team will react in-game to the Louisville defense being pressure-oriented.
“[We have to] know how to make the ID’s, us being on the same page, communication wise up front, us doing our job and really not changing what we do. When you play different teams that run different fronts and different pressures… knowing how to recognize that and adjust to that on the fly is just something that we have to be able to do up front.”
Walker Parks
Veteran safety R.J. Mickens spoke before Parks and got straight into their possible challenges they face against a tough Louisville offense. Cardinals seventh-year QB Tyler Shough has been putting on a show this season as he’s thrown for 2,348 yards and 20 touchdowns.
“They got a really experienced quarterback, he actually hosted me on a visit back in high school when he was at Oregon… Really good player, he makes good decisions with the football. They’ve got really good receivers too so it’s gonna be really challenging.”
R.J. Mickens
He then went onto give his assessment of the defense thus far, saying that they need to stay more consistent as they’ve been ‘boom or bust’ all season long.
“We just gotta be more consistent… we’re really good sometimes then there will be a big play we give up… there’s still so much room for us to go and if we really wanna win this whole thing, we gotta be more detailed and more precise because things like that can cost us at the highest level against good offenses.”
R.J. Mickens
The Tigers are locked in heading into this important ACC matchup this could make or possibly break Clemson’s path to the ACC Championship later down the line. Miami, Pitt, SMU, and Clemson are the four ACC teams still unbeaten, but the latter two play each other this week.
