CLEMSON – When Clemson fell at home to Louisville, it was a wakeup call for the Tigers’ defense.

The Cardinals basically ran it at well in the upset win, totaling more than 200 yards on the ground, with running back Isaac Brown averaging 7.5 yards per carry.

The week following the loss found this Clemson team doing a lot of soul-searching, with many players on the defense realizing it was gut-check time.

“We were pretty upset about how we played against Louisville,” defensive tackle Tre Williams said on Wednesday. “We had to look ourselves in the mirror and were like, how do we want the rest of the season to go.”

While the loss certainly put a damper on Clemson’s hopes of making a run to the ACC Championship Game, the Tigers traveled to Virginia Tech last weekend looking to make a point and make a point they did. Especially the defense, as the Tigers responded in a big way in the 24-14 win over the Hokies.

It was arguably the defenses most complete performance of the season. Virginia Tech, who came in averaging well over 200 rushing yards per game, was held to just 1.9 yards per carry, as the Tigers completely shut down the high-powered rushing attack. Not only that, the defensive front was as disruptive as its been all season, with Hokies quarterbacks feeling the pressure all afternoon.

“We were like, ‘Never again. Never again,'” Williams said. “That can’t ever happen to us. We are a Clemson defense and that should never happen to us. We just had a chip on our shoulder.”

After the strong performance in Blacksburg, this defense now knows what it is capable of. Moving forward, that will be the bar.

“Now we know what it looks like,” Williams said. “Now we showed ourselves and our coaches this is what we can do. So the bar is set. There ain’t no dropping under the bar anymore.”

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