After a tragic loss to the Louisville Cardinals last week, the Tigers bounced back with a 24-14 win in Blacksburg this past weekend. Clemson’s defense looked like it did last year, holding the Hokies to zero offensive points until the end of the fourth quarter. Here are the new and improved defensive grades for Week 11:
Safeties: A-
RJ Mickens added another masterpiece to his dominant senior season, recording five tackles and two pass deflections. He also caught his first interception of the season late in the fourth quarter on a short ball over the middle from Hokies backup QB Collin Schlee.
Khalil Barnes, who made four tackles in the ACC game, has been among one of the team’s most reliable tacklers in the run game. However, Barnes still struggles with coverage, letting up four of the seven passes that were targeted at him for just over 50 receiving yards.
Veteran Tyler Venables also appeared in six snaps, recording two tackles in his limited playing time.
Cornerbacks: A-
The entire secondary did amazing in this game, holding the Hokies offense to a 42% completion rate, 1:2 TD/INT ratio, and a QBR average of 18 between two quarterbacks.
Ashton Hampton, a true freshman, played a career-high and season-high 40 snaps against Virginia Tech and was utterly outstanding. The six-foot-two cornerback allowed 52 yards on 33 coverage snaps, 30 of which were on a jump ball to Virginia Tech WR Da’Quan Felton. However, after they put the young defensive back to the test again the following play, he came up with an incredible one-handed interception that landed him in the SportsCenter Top 10. In addition, per PFF, he ranked as the second-best graded freshman of the week.
During the second half, Avieon Terrell, Clemson’s primary cornerback, briefly left the game, appearing as a strategy by Clemson’s DB coach to get Ashton Hampton more opportunities. Unfortunately, when playing, Terrell gave up a touchdown late in the fourth quarter, ending his recent run of impressive performances. Nevertheless, he recorded three tackles, a pass deflection, and only gave up 35 yards, which was a strong performance compared to an average College Football cornerback.
Junior Jeadyn Lukus saw just 32 snaps–almost half of the 61 he saw last weekend– possibly related to him committing two penalties on back-to-back plays for 25 yards. Yet he still let up just one reception for six yards and made one tackle.
Linebackers: A+
Clemson Football and Dabo Swinney appeared to run a 4-3 defensive scheme against Virginia Tech, which they don’t usually run. But, it seemed to work out for Sammy Brown as he got 31 total snaps, his most since Week 4 against N.C. State. He dominated the contest with eight tackles, two and a half tackles for a loss, a sack, and a hurry. The elite performance earned him the honors of ACC Linebacker and Rookie of the Week.
Senior Barrett Carter had himself a game against the Hokies, stuffing the stat sheet with four tackles, one pass deflection, half of a tackle for a loss, one QB hit, and a hurry. He looked agile and aware in his season-high 38 snaps in coverage, allowing just seven yards on three targets.
Wade Woodaz, the current leader in tackles for Clemson, had a quiet game looking at the box score but made a considerable impact in-game. The hybrid linebacker lined up in coverage 35 times and allowed zero receptions, accounting for one tackle and a pass deflection.
Defensive Line: A+
QB Kyron Drones and the Virginia Tech offense couldn’t get anything rolling at home, whether on the ground or through the air. This defensive success all starts in the trenches for Clemson.
The secondary did their job, but many fans looked for an improved run defense as the Tigers allowed Louisville’s true freshman RB Isaac Brown to rush for 151 yards and a touchdown last weekend. Clemson’s defensive line exceeded expectations against the Hokies, conceding just 40 rushing yards for an average of 1.9 yards per carry.
The D-line got it done in outstanding fashion, recording 12 tackles and two tackles for a loss, in addition to a forced fumble by T.J. Parker that Clemson DT Tre Williams recovered.
