When Dalvin Cook broke off his 75-yard touchdown run on the second play from scrimmage on Saturday, Clemson was not lined up right.

“We had a guy out of the seam, in the gap and (Cook) is fast enough to split the defense,” Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables said after the Tigers’ 23-13 victory over No. 16 Florida State. “We weren’t in the right call and we were not lined up correctly.”

Venables said there was a communication breakdown on the play. The players could not hear the call.

“Our guys were having a hard time. Our crowd screwed the defense tonight, but great job though. I’ll take it,” Venables said while laughing. “We have to do a better job. That has not been an issue at all since I have been here, but tonight—three or four times—we had a hard time making adjustments on the field.”

Top-ranked Clemson eventually got things fixed on the field, and slowed Cook down enough. After rushing for 128 yards in the opening quarter, he had just 66 the rest of the game. He averaged just 4.4 yards on his last 15 carries.

“We just got our hands in the dirt and played our game, executed,” Venables said. “It is not a real complicated game. It is leverage, staying on our feet, being where we are supposed to be and not trying to do too much. Really, that’s it.”

That’s what the Tigers (9-0, 6-0 ACC) did when it mattered most. With Clemson up three, 16-13, with 6:30 to play in the game, and FSU facing a fourth-and-one at the Clemson 40, the Tigers executed when they needed to the most.

On a toss sweep to Cook on the left side, linebacker Ben Boulware hit the seam to get to Cook, while defensive end Shaq Lawson set the edge to keep him from bouncing it outside as they both threw him for no gain, turning the ball back over to Deshaun Watson and the Clemson offense.

“That is the difference in the game, getting that stop,” Venables said.

“What a great stop that was on fourth-and-one. That was just huge,” he continued. “Florida State, they were the champs, they were not going to go down easy. They are a talented group of guys, but our guys battled all night long. We made plenty of mistakes, but you have to give Florida State credit. They hit a couple of seams on us, but once our guys settled in, I thought they really handled everything.”

The Tigers forced two turnovers to go along with the turnover-on-downs in the fourth quarter. Adrian Baker ended a potential touchdown drive on the ‘Noles’ second possession of the afternoon when he intercepted Sean Maguire’s pass at the Clemson five.

“I thought that was a huge play in the game, too. We let them go back down the field and then Adrian makes a really nice play on the ball,” Venables said. “They ran a post wheel and he did a great job with his own eyes and reached up and grabbed it down. Those are all big plays. Turnovers are huge in a game like this and it was a big difference tonight.”

The next turnover came after running back Wayne Gallman went 25 yards to give the Tigers their 23-13 margin. On the second play of FSU’s ensuing drive, wide receiver Jesus Wilson caught a pass down the seam and then sprinted 25 yards to the FSU 47, but Boulware came from behind him and ripped the ball from his grip and fellow linebacker B.J. Goodson grabbed it out the air before going down at the FSU 48.

“Ben gave up the slant route and then he comes and chases the guy down. He was just mad at himself and then rips the ball out. He is a great competitor,” Venables said.

And so was the rest of the defense, who like Venables said played like a football team in the second half and deserved to win the game.

“We anticipated some adversity tonight and we told the guys we were going to have to knock them out,” Venables said. “I thought late, when it mattered the most, we were fortunate enough to do just that.”