By Will Vandervort.

Brent Venables’ Orange defense gave up five touchdowns, 212 yards rushing, 407 total yards and 7.7 yards per play in the White’s 35-24 win in Saturday’s Orange & White Spring Game.

“The White defense was obviously the better of the two defenses,” Clemson’s defensive coordinator said. “I screw that one up.”

Venables, the head coach of the Orange Team, had first choice to pick earlier in the week when he and offensive line coach Robbie Caldwell—the White’s head coach—chose groups. Going against his better judgment Venables went with offense with his first pick, while Caldwell choose defense.

That turned out to be the difference in the game. The White defense gave up 331 yards and allowed just one touchdown the final two quarters, and it came with 4:34 to play when the game was all but decided.

“That will be the last time I listened to anybody else,” Venables joked.

But despite the loss in the spring game and his Orange defense giving up a lot of big plays, Venables felt good overall about his defense following the 15 practices they had this spring.

“It was good. It has been a good spring,” he said. “There are a bunch of things you can nitpick about today, but overall I thought we had a really strong spring. I think we will have an opportunity to have a strong defense. I think we have a little bit of depth in the secondary and I think we will be strong up front.

“We have to continue to develop and continue to get better in our pass rush.”

The pass rush was one of the finer bright spots of the Spring Game. Overall, the two defenses combined for four sacks and six more tackles for loss. The defensive front also deflected several passes at the line of scrimmage, while safety Jeffery Gibson had the game’s lone interception.

Venables has to replace eight starters from last year’s No. 1 ranked defense, including four starters and two key reserves on the defensive line. He also lost his two best starters at linebacker to graduation.

Now, he and the Tigers will have to depend more on young players such as Gibson—a true freshman—and other young, but talented players to make plays this fall.

“Leadership development and some of these guys having to grow up really fast once they get onto campus—we have five D-lineman showing up here this summer—and the continued development of some guys that have not been starters in that one or two deep there, first team or second team,” Venables said.  “They are having a great summer and are really doing a great job watching themselves from the spring cut ups. We will see where we go, but we have a chance to have a strong starting eleven plus a few.”