By Will Vandervort.

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney was not going to sugarcoat what happened to his defense in last Saturday’s fourth quarter meltdown at eighth-ranked Georgia.

“I think defensively we got a little bit pouty the other night because they were worried about what the offense was doing,” Swinney said Tuesday during his weekly press conference. “Don’t worry about what the offense was doing – go play.”

It was a frustrating afternoon for the Tigers’ defense, especially in the second half when they were back on the field every three plays. Clemson’s offense managed only one first down and 15 total yards in the second half, causing the defense to be on the field for 19 minutes and 42 seconds.

After holding Georgia’s strong running game pretty much at bay for the first three-quarters, the constant pounding by the Bulldogs’ big offensive line and Todd Gurley finally wore down the defense. Georgia racked up 211 of its 328 rushing yards in the fourth quarter, including touchdowns of 18, 47 and 51 yards by Gurley and reserve running back Nick Chubb on consecutive offensive plays.

The 18-yard run was a cutback on a toss sweep by Gurley with 10:26 to play in the fourth quarter. After that it appeared as if the defense just gave up as bad positioning and missed tackles by players like linebacker Stephone Anthony showed up on Georgia’s final three drives.

Chubb, a freshman, ran over Anthony and carried the senior on his way to his 47-yard run.

“If the ball is on the five-yard line or the minus-five, it doesn’t matter,” Swinney said.

Swinney says he wants to see his defense play with more of an edge and be mentally stronger than they did in the fourth quarter against the Bulldogs. He pointed out that the 82-yard drive they allowed at the start of the fourth quarter, which resulted in Gurley’s 18-yard score, was their opportunity to make a play and switch the bad field position that plagued the Clemson offense all night.

Pinion had a 60-yard punt prior to that drive which pushed Georgia back to its own 18-yard line.

“That’s an offensive play – sixty yards,” Swinney said. “We were backed up the whole entire third quarter and finally, finally flipped the field. And instead of going out there and getting a stop and winning the game on defense, we give up an 82-yard drive – most of it on two plays.”

Those two plays were a 38-yard run by Gurley and then his 18-yard touchdown.

“No matter what the offense does, we have to take that and learn from it. We have to go out there and do our jobs,” defensive tackle Grady Jarrett said. “Our performance had nothing to do with the offense because we are out there to play defense.

“We have to finish stronger and I feel like the effort was not there in the fourth quarter and once they got that momentum going, it was hard to overcome. We have things we have to fix.”

And one of those things is their attitude. Jarrett, Swinney and defensive coordinator Brent Venables said the defense has to develop a mentally that it has to be tougher in the fourth quarter.

“You can use a lot of different adjectives as ways to describe it, but you’re pissed,” Venables said. “From a defensive standpoint you want the game on the line and you want the opportunity to win the game and we had every opportunity to do that and we did not do it.

“Georgia was the better team in the fourth quarter and they wanted it a little more. They out executed us and outplayed us when the game was on the line.”

And that made Jarrett mad.

“It is inexcusable to play with bad effort,” he said. “Believe me it is being addressed as we speak. I highly doubt we will have an effort problem ever again. It is inexcusable.”

And there is need for any pouting.