By Will Vandervort
ATLANTA — The Clemson defense was tired of hearing all the talk.
Granted they did not like the fact they lost to their archrival in the season-finale either. But they also did not like the fact there manhood as football players was questioned.
After Monday’s 25-24 victory over No. 7 LSU in the Chick-fil-A Bowl, anyone questioning 13th-ranked Clemson’s toughness on defense again can be put to rest. The 13th-ranked Tigers held LSU to one yard of offense in the fourth quarter and to 219 overall.
After hearing for the last month there was no way they could stop LSU’s power running game, Clemson—thanks to defensive end Malliciah Goodman, defensive tackle Grady Jarrett and linebacker Spencer Shuey—held LSU to 99 rushing yards on 25 carries, while sacking quarterback Zach Mettenberger six times and recording six tackles for a loss.
“It kind of makes you upset,” Goodman said after the game. “We know we can compete and we know we can play. Everybody else in the country has seen us play and they think we can play or be physical then, but once we play an SEC team, it’s like ‘Clemson will fold. Clemson will do that or do this.’
“Part of tonight was proving those people wrong, but we have to change the culture at Clemson so that they say, ‘Clemson is a national championship contender.’ When you step on the field with Clemson, you are going to get our best and that’s what we proved tonight.”
Clemson’s defense played perhaps its best game of the season. The Clemson defensive line dominated LSU’s big offensive line at the point of attack. Three times LSU lined up in third-and-short situations and all three times they were held to no gain or lost a yard.
“It’s about toughness and attitude,” Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables said. “They stepped up and accepted the challenge and responded against a great football team.”
The secondary and the linebackers also stepped up. Without a position coach, Clemson held LSU to only 120 yards passing, while safety Travis Blanks recorded his first career interception.
“There wasn’t anything we really did, it was the guys up front,” corner Xavier Brewer said. “They were putting pressure on them all night. That made it easy for us.”
The biggest play by the defense came with under a minute to go when Mettenberger’s pass on third down-and-two from his own 42 was batted down by Goodman.
“It’s about going hard. Being physical and going hard,” said Goodman, who had 2.5 sacks and three tackles for loss. “You have to go in there with some intensity and have a purpose. You have to go hard and give it everything you have. That’s what we did.”
And that’s why Clemson won the game.