After what was a disappointing end to an 11-3 season for Clemson in the Dec. 30 Orange Bowl, defensive back Nate Wiggins spoke with The Clemson Insider postgame and described what he felt like was a good week of preparation for Wes Goodwin’s defense despite the lopsided 31-14 loss to Tennessee.
“I felt like we prepared good all week for it, so we knew it was coming,” Wiggins told TCI regarding Tennessee’s high-tempo offense. “I feel like we played good.”
Clemson’s defense came away from Friday night’s contest with 69 tackles (eight for loss), four sacks and four pass breakups, and though Wiggins only came away with three tackles versus a talented Tennessee offense, the sophomore has a lot of pride in the season he was able to put together for the Tigers and Mike Reed’s cornerback room.
“I can say that my confidence went through the roof after the Wake Forest game,” the Peach State native said. “I told myself I never want to play a game like that again, and after that I just got more confident in myself.”
Oh, what a game at Wake Forest it was for not just Wiggins, but the entirety of head coach Dabo Swinney’s team. The eventual double-overtime victory was especially tough for Wiggins, who saw three costly pass interference calls made against him and was burned on several occasions in the secondary despite coming away with the game-sealing pass breakup.
It was from that game on that Wiggins vowed he would never play a game like that again — a promise that would completely transform the young defensive back’s play going forward.
After Wake Forest, the cornerback put together an impressive 10 games, garnering 25 tackles (two for loss), 12 pass deflections and one interception returned for a 98-yard touchdown in the Tigers’ ACC Championship win over North Carolina.
Wiggins’ pick-six versus the Tar Heels made history as the longest play in ACC Championship Game history and the second-longest interception in Clemson history with Don Kelley’s 102-yard return in 1970 ranking first.
Now with his sophomore campaign complete and the offseason officially underway, Wiggins is looking forward to his third year donning the Orange and White with hopes of making big waves on the field in 2023.
“I feel like we got a great team coming next year,” Wiggins said. “We’ve got a lot of players coming back, so we’ll be back.”
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