RALEIGH, N.C.  — Since his arrival to Clemson in 2012, Brent Venables’ defenses have given up 40 or more points five times.

Two were in year one: Florida State and NC State. The third was in 2013, to Florida State and the fourth was in the 2014 opener at Georgia.

No. 5 was on Saturday night, as Clemson escaped from Carter-Finley Stadium with a 56-41 win. Venables spoke with reporters afterwards, to give his perspective on the Tigers’ eighth win of the 2015 campaign.

What was your quick takeaway from that?

Venables: “Obviously, proud of our guys’ fight that we showed. Really thought it was going to be one of those kind of games. Unfortunately, it kind of came to fruition. The big plays that we gave up were killers, a 40-yard run early, changed the field. A 60-yard run in the second half, a 40-yard throw-back on third-and-short, the little wheel route they got on us. I thought that NC State really made some excellent plays. I’ve got a lot of respect for their quarterback. He’s a tough joker to get down, but we weren’t quite as precise as we’ve been. I thought that they had a good plan. We’ve got to help our guys a little better. We haven’t given up those big play runs like that this year. Those are killers in the course of a game like this — momentum, field position, points — you’ve got to play better when we get down in the red-zone. There were a lot of situations we made some terrific plays as well. Just loved our fight. Thought NC State did a lot of good stuff. Fortunately, we did more good stuff. Plenty, obviously, to correct. We were far from great, but we were good, especially when we had to be. There were a lot of good excellent plays in there, defensively, individual efforts. And there’s a lot to get their attention, moving forward.”

As far as his size, strength, elusiveness — is (Jacoby) Brissett about as thought a customer to get to the ground as there is?

Venables: “You saw it in person. We’ve got some big strong guys. Our guys coming, whether it’s Jayron (Kearse) or Kevin Dodd or (B.J.) Goodson — (Brissett) is a load and just a great competitor, a great, great competitor. He’s one of those guys that can run it and throw it, keeps his eyes down the field. That makes it that much more difficult. I think we had five sacks and probably should have had five-plus more. But he’s a very good player.”

Was there anything consistent with the chunk runs they were able to get?

Venables: “Just one fit, we missed a fit (on) two runs. The ones that were concerning were the 40-yarder they hit early and they hit a 60-yarder there in the third quarter. It doesn’t take anything other than one guy not being a fit. They did some good stuff with pre-snap, some formation-ally and some things like that. They did a good job. I’ve got to do a better job of awareness with our guys. That starts and ends with me getting them, structurally, aligned correctly. Just that one guy not being in his gap and a good inside zone runner like (Jaylen Samuels) and (Matthew Dayes), they’ll work you. That’s why they do what they do.”

Any flashbacks to the game you guys had against them in 2012?

Venables: “I tried to forget that. Brain lapse. I thought we played better. You can’t give up one-play touchdowns. You can’t give up a 60-yard run. You can’t give up a kickoff return for a touchdown. I think we had one, one-play drive. You can’t do that, but I really thought we were getting into a rhythm, until that 60-yarder. I thought we were getting into a rhythm in the latter part of the first half and into the second half. So, again, there’s a handful of four or five plays that I’d like to get back that I don’t think are reflective of who we’ve been. Then, they’re going to make some plays. I loved our guys. That was a slug-fest right there, just in regards to continuing to have to fight and find a way to get a stop there. That was — I loved that last drive. There were some plays in there that they made. Our guys, all the way right there until the end, they really showed a lot of who they are as men, as competitors and as Tigers, so that was pleasing to see.”

Can you teach off the mistakes going into Florida State?

Venables: “Yeah. Got to get a guy in a gap on a couple of long runs. They threw our flat defender on a boot away, he’s got to sink out, and here comes the wheel route and you cover it. We didn’t do a good job, obviously, of getting our guys ready for a couple of those things.”

B.J. (Goodson) was very active.

Venables: “He had a great, I thought, from the sideline, I thought he played terrific. Really executed things well, fit things well in the run-game. Stayed on his feet, pressured well. I thought he played well.”

Dabo (Swinney) said he thought this was the test you needed before Florida State.

Venables: “We’ve been tested, but that was, again, I think giving up some of those plays — our guys haven’t been used to that. I think that gives them a little dose of humility that keeps everybody better and helps you grow and improve. That’s part of the journey, part of the course of the season. Thing don’t always go your way. Preached it over and over all week and in the locker room before we went out. There’s going to be a lot of adversity tonight, OK? We’re going to have to overcome it. They’re going to come out with a bunch of things, some things that maybe you haven’t been familiar with — you’ve got to weather that storm.”