CLEMSON – If Clemson is going to live up to expectations and compete for a national title this season, there is no doubt the defense needs to be much improved.

The Tigers absolutely didn’t live up to the standard in place a season ago, particularly when it comes to stopping the run. Clemson allowed 4.7 yards per carry, its worst number since the 1970s.

Although it wasn’t just the run defense. Numbers were down across the board, as Clemson had all kinds of issues slowing down opposing offenses.

Enter Tom Allen. Dabo Swinney hired Allen away from Penn State after last season to get the Clemson defense back on track. While most of the faces on that side of the ball remain the same, there is a different buzz in the air surrounding the unit.

One of the bigger differences lies in how Allen likes to call the defense.

“I think schematically it is a little different, if you were to watch the tape and see the differences between this year and last year,” veteran safety Tyler Venables said. “I think you will notice some things that are different just by the way people call it. People believe in different stuff.”

However, the biggest difference between last year and now just might be experience. The Tigers return a ton of it, and those players on the defensive side of the ball are now better due, in part, to those struggles last year.

After advancing to the College Football Playoff last year, the Tigers got a small taste of what success on a national stage feels like. Now they are hungry for more. As a result, players have attacked the offseason and last season’s failures are used as fuel for motivation.

“Guys have matured, gotten a little older, and every year that you play this game it is going to scar you up, it is going to bruise you up,” Venables added. “And you are not going to forget when you touched the stove. If you are missing a fit or missing a gap on the highest stage, you are absolutely going to punish yourself for that and get punished by the game. The longer you play it, the more reps you get at it, the better off you are going to be.”

Allen brings a wealth of experience to Clemson. His coaching career spans over three decades and includes seven years as the head coach at Indiana.

Last season at Penn State, Allen’s defense ranked seventh in the nation in total defense (294.8 yards per game) and eighth nationally in scoring defense (16.5 points per game). The unit finished second in the country in tackles for loss (119) and fifth in sacks (44).

With a coach with that kind of experience leading the charge, and a defense that is extremely hungry to prove last season was more of an anomaly than anything else, the Tigers seem poised to have a bounce-back season on the defensive side of the ball.

The fact that most of the players are the same from last year’s defense, which experienced so many struggles, will only make the redemption story that much better.

“I think we have an older, more experienced defense, who was pretty scarred up last year, to be honest with you, in a multitude of games,” Venables said. “There is an edge. There is a toughness to redeem themselves. It is going to be exciting to watch.”

Photo by Dawson Powers