By Heath Bradley
CLEMSON – Clemson defensive tackle Josh Watson feels last Saturday’s performance by the Clemson defense is their best to date in 2012.
“I would say yes,” he said. “We came up with some key turnovers and made some key stops on third down.”
The Clemson defense once again made strides in the second half, allowing only seven points, en route to helping the 13th-ranked Tigers defeat Virginia Tech 38-17. The Clemson defense forced three interceptions, including a 74-yard pick six from safety Jonathan Meeks. Watson says the defense will look to build on their recent performance Thursday night versus the Demon Deacons of Wake Forest.
“It is a good win for us, a good confidence builder going into a short week versus Wake Forest. We hope to build on it,” the sophomore said.
The Tigers (6-1, 3-1 ACC) travel to Winston-Salem, N.C. to take on the Demon Deacons team that has struggled at times in 2012. Watson and the Tigers know not to take any opponent lightly.
“Wake Forest is undefeated on Thursday nights at home,” he said. “They are a good team; we would never take them lightly. They are a dangerous team. They always have something up their sleeve. They always play good against the good teams. We are not taking them lightly.”
While the Tigers have not been very successful in recent history on Thursday nights—2-8 since 1998—this is a new team. Most of this year players have never even played on a Thursday night. For Watson, he feels this team can rely on the experience they have gained in other big night games in 2012 to help lead them to victory, while also hoping to make a statement that the defense is not the same defense that played in earlier games this season.
“We have been in some big games already this year,” he said. “Wake Forest is going to be another big night game that we need to step up our game and play well in. Make it a statement game, pull it out defensively.
“The whole country is going to be watching. We need to show them that the Clemson defense is making improvements.”
When asked what has helped this Clemson defense turn the corner in recent weeks, Watson said players have started to grow up, not in the sense of being immature, but in the sense of learning and trusting the game plan. As the players have become more comfortable doing what has been asked of them, they have started to see more results.
“Maturing, taking our coaching and applying it into the games, not just at practice,” the 6-foot-4, 285-pound tackle said. “We trust our coaching. What they say is what we need to do. We trust our coaches and we are being disciplined.”