If you are a defensive player in college football, it’s tough to top the week that Clemson defensive end T.J. Parker had.
The sophomore tallied four sacks in the Tigers’ win on Saturday afternoon against Pittsburgh at Acrisure Stadium, a school record. Adding in five tackles for a loss, seven total tackles and a forced fumble behind that sack total. Parker picked up the Bednarik Award Player of the Week, given to the best player on defense in the country.
For Parker, the “little details” were executed to the ability that he wanted it to be, which led to the numbers.
“Its just a testament of the hard work I put in,” Parker said on Wednesday. Really focused on a lot of the little details [over] the past couple of weeks and just the plays that I missed throughout the whole season, I made them this week, so I’m very excited about that.”
T.J. Parker
One of the most interesting storylines of Parker’s numbers was that no sacks were recorded by the Alabama native in the first half. Parker also described how he tripped on one play in the first half that could have given him another sack, but was executed by a different player.
That sort of unluckiness can be magnified by the defensive end room as a whole, headlined by coach Chris Rumph. Parker says that the team has joked around frequently because of the missed sacks that the team could have had.
“Sometimes it could just be luck,” he said. About timing sometimes. We always joke in the D-end room that we lead the country in ‘almost sacks’. We missed a couple this year and against Pitt, we made those plays.”
Parker described the type of player he is when he’s in this flow state too: terrifying. With a strong belief in staying hot when getting to the quarterback, it’s not hard to see why Parker was a terror for Pat Narduzzi’s Panthers team, who threatened the team’s rhythm while trying to make a second-half comeback.
“I let them know that too,” he said. “It’s a bad day when I get to trash talk them on the field because I don’t stop. So it’s like every time I line up against him in the second half, he’s sighing and stuff like that, trying to talk to me and be friends, I’m not trying to hear that. I’m just trying to play my game, so once I get into that mode and get going, there’s no stopping me.”
This isn’t only a one-time thing for Parker, who plays in this flow state of play “every day”, as he told the media. The sophomore is a believer in performing in practice, which has slowed the game down for him.
“I treat practice like a game because then the game is easier,” Parker said. “That’s Swinney’s big message too, like for us, our Tuesdays and Wednesdays are going to be harder than the game, and that’s the way it should be, honestly, just because you don’t want the game to speed you up, you want to slow the game down, and that’s been really big my sophomore year.”
This Saturday’s game is rather special to Parker, especially during the Military Appreciation Game. Parker’s father, Sgt. Tommy Parker, served in the Army for 11 years, which required “a lot of order and discipline”, which T.J. says that has helped him as he grew up.
“I feel like it helped me for who I am today,” Parker said of his father. “My dad has sacrificed a lot to be where we’re at right now, and I love him to death. He’s always taught me how to be a better man than I am an athlete.”
Parker especially honored his dad last year in Clemson’s military game against Georgia Tech, running down the hill with the flag in honor of Tommy’s actions in the Army.
“It was amazing. I got to represent my dad,” Parker said. “He was at the game, so he got to see me play [and] live out my dream, so I know he was happy to see that and my mom was super proud of watching it too. I was just super happy to run down with the flag and represent my dad.”
If Parker does it again, or not, nobody knows just yet. However, fans will find out in Clemson’s next game against The Citadel at Memorial Stadium at 3:30.
