By Heath Bradley.
By Heath Bradley
CLEMSON, SC– While the Clemson Tigers won for the first time in the city of Atlanta since 2003 this past weekend. Senior defensive end Malliciah Goodman says that victory is already in the past. The Tigers enjoyed their second straight victory over Auburn, but have quickly moved on to their next opponent, the Ball State Cardinals. While speaking to reporters today, Goodman elaborated about how fast the celebration phase changes into the preparation phase.
“You are excited about the win. Then on Monday, you have meetings to watch that film and put it away. This afternoon we will focus on Ball State, making a quick transition between the two teams,” said Goodman.
As the Tigers now begin preparation for Ball State, Goodman reiterated that today is Monday and Monday is the start of a new workweek, beginning with afternoon meetings and practice.
“You celebrate the win the weekend. Once this week starts it is workweek again. We are 0-0 now and we are trying to be undefeated this week, that is our plan,” said Goodman.
While the Tigers will shift their preparations to Ball State this afternoon, Goodman did take some time to discuss his thoughts on the defensive performance from Saturday night. According to Goodman, defensive coordinator Brent Venables, coaching in his first game at Clemson, did a great job making adjustments as the game went on.
“We made great adjustments and came out with the win,” said Goodman.
These adjustments allowed Clemson to hold Auburn to nine second-half points, while Clemson scored 13, to give the ACC Tigers a 26-19 victory in the Georgia Dome.
While the Tigers, there were still mistakes, mistakes that Goodman knows the Tigers can correct in practice.
“There is still work to do, we did do some good things. We will fix the mistakes this week,” said Goodman.
Goodman and his Tiger teammates will look to correct these mistakes heading into this week’s matchup with Ball State.
Goodman understands that as a senior leader on this team, he will be expected to keep players focused on the next task at hand, beating Ball State.
“It all goes back to leadership and how you react towards a win. How you get through the week. Whether we are going to sit there and talk about Auburn, we beat Auburn, we are 1 and 0. That is not going to help us win a game. You have to focus on the next opponent and what they do,” said Goodman.
As the Tigers practice this week, expect the same preparation and intensity from this team as was put in for preparation for Auburn. This 2012 Clemson team is going to prepare for each game as it is the most important of the season, and players like Goodman are going to hold everyone, including himself accountable.