Clemson tight end Jordan Leggett had the breakout game he and the third-ranked Tigers needed him to have against Louisville last Saturday in Death Valley.
He not only had a much-needed, well-played game, but also broke the Clemson touchdown record for tight ends in a career when he caught the game-winning 31-yard catch late in the fourth quarter.
Leggett, who had three catches for a season-high 70 yards, took time to meet with the media on Tuesday afternoon to talk about his performance against the Cardinals and Friday’s game at Boston College.
Question: How frustrating was it starting off the season slowly, and how much better does it feel getting the last couple of games under your belt?
Leggett: “It’s definitely frustrating, but I just have to tell myself stay patient and I feel like the ball will find me more and in bigger games. Whenever we play, I guess the out-of-conference teams and stuff everything seems to be hitting. So they definitely look for me more in the bigger games. That’s why I’m just waiting for it.”
Q: You set the Clemson tight end touchdown record the other night. How special was it for you to do that in such a meaningful game?
Leggett: “It was pretty awesome. Coach (Dabo Swinney) presented me with a game ball the other day in practice. It’s definitely special and a moment I won’t forget.”
Q: How do you go about fixing the turnover problem you guys have on offense?
Leggett: “Just ball security. We work on it in practice. There’s different drills we can do to work on it in different positions, including mine. Just for Deshaun (Watson), it wasn’t as much his fault rather the DBs making great plays and the receivers not letting that happen, but there’s a bunch of things we can do to work on it.”
Q: How hard was it to sell the two-point conversion against Louisville?
Leggett: “It actually wasn’t as hard as you would think, but it definitely worked out just how we planned for it in practice.”
Q: What are the challenges going against a top-ranked BC defense that is very disciplined?
Leggett: “It’ll definitely be a big challenge. With their scheme they like to load the box up and stop the run. It’s the exact same thing we saw last year, so after so many plays we’re starting to get the hang of it. All we have to do is execute in practice then translate that over to the game.”
Q: Are they one of the more physical teams you’ll face all year?
Leggett: “They’re definitely bigger up front. They have a lot of senior bodies up front, they’re stocky and very disciplined.”
Q: How much different has the preparation been with the game being on Friday?
Leggett: “A normal week is four days and we travel on the fifth, so Coach Swinney just made us practice the day after the Louisville game. So we still get all of our days in, just going to play Friday instead of Saturday.
Q: When you caught the ball did you think you were going to score?
Leggett: “Well I kind of turned up field and I saw that there was literally no one in front of me, so I just started running and got some good blocks from the people in front of me, and I was able to score.”
Q: After your four years of high school did you think you could accomplish all of this at Clemson and create these moments for this school?
Leggett: “Honestly, no. I never thought I’d be in the position I am in today. After four long years and going through the seniors we’ve had, they’ve definitely taught me a lot and put me in the best position I can be in right now.”