Last Saturday, Clemson’s defense dominated Georgia Tech by holding the Yellow Jackets to just 71 rushing yards, the lowest amount of rushing yards Tech has recorded in a game under head coach Paul Johnson. It is also the second lowest number to be recorded by any offense coached by Johnson.

“That was a special performance in the big picture. Yeah you had a couple of blown coverages there, kind of made it interesting, but overall you felt in complete and total control of that offense. Not very often, if ever, can you feel that way against a Paul Johnson offense,” Defensive coordinator Brent Venables said.

Safety Jayron Kearse was named Swinney’s Defensive Player of the Game alongside Ben Boulware and Dorian O’Daniel for his performance against the Yellow Jackets. Kearse had 6 tackles and three tackles for a loss of 11 total yards. Kearse has been a standout defensive player for the Tigers this season, and he hopes that people are taking notice of his talent.

“I definitely feel like I’m one of the top safeties in the country. Put my numbers against anybody in the country and I guarantee they will match up, no mater who it is,” he said. “I’ve been making plays since I was a freshman. I’m still continuing to make plays. Nobody is playing better than me at my position, and I’m doing everything that I’ve got to do to go out there and show that.

“If the world takes notice then they do, but if they don’t, I’m still going to enjoy my time as a college football player,” Kearse said.

Shifting the focus from last weekend’s game to this weekend’s matchup against Boston College, Kearse knows that Clemson’s defense will have to remain disciplined to keep the Eagles off the scoreboard.

“Once they lure you to sleep, they want to try to run a play action play and try to beat you deep, try to get you to be undisciplined and trying to play the run so much that you forget about your responsibility as a safety or a cornerback,” Kearse said.

Boston College (3-3) has not had much success on the offensive side of the ball. Their worst performance came last weekend when they lost 3-0 to Wake Forest. However, they do have a lot of different formations that the Tigers have not seen before and will have to prepare to cover this weekend. Kearse is excited for that challenge.

“That’s why we like this game. It challenges us and we know it’s going to make us better going on through the season,” Kearse said. “We’re going to go out there and do our part as a defense to keep them from scoring.”

The Eagles’ defense is an entirely different story. Boston College is currently ranked as the number one total defense in the nation and is also No. 1 in multiple defensive categories. Kearse said that he is motivated to keep their offense from scoring points, but he believes that Clemson’s offense is talented enough to put enough points up on the number one defense.

“They’re number one in a lot of categories. It’s definitely going to be a task for us and a task for our offense. We want to go out there and show that we are the better defense on the field and our offense wants to go out there and show that they can do it against anybody,” Kearse said. “They’re a good defense, but we have a good offense.”