CLEMSON — Clemson’s safety Kylon Griffin spoke with the media following Clemson’s season opening loss to LSU and looked ahead to the eighth-ranked Tigers’ matchup with Troy.

The Clemson defense held LSU’s prolific offense to 354 total yards, including just 230 through the air.

Question: Going back and looking at the tape. How do you feel the defense performed?

Griffin: “I feel like we performed great. We really rose to the occasion. There’s always more room to improve. But I feel like overall, we did what we expected to do.” 

Question: What was the locker room vibe after this loss and the idea that you can look past this loss eventually?

Griffin: “There’s some disappointment. Nobody ever wants to lose. I think we all did have confirmation on what we’re capable of. I think that’s an uplifting thing for the team that we shouldn’t be down about this.” 

Question: What’s it like having Tom Allen coach from the coaches box. Was that different for you at all?

Griffin: “No, it’s not really different. I’m looking at the same thing, formation of the play, and trying to communicate with teammates. It’s not that big of a difference honestly.” 

Question: Communication wise on the field on Saturday. How’d you feel like that was? 

Griffin: “I mean it was a challenge. It does get loud on the field, but I think for the most part we did well. We work on communication, hand signals on the field, just in case teammates can’t hear you. I think we did really well, though. But there were some challenges.” 

Question: Coach [Dabo Swinney] mentioned there were a lot of positives from you guys despite the loss. What were some of those things you kind of noticed that you can build on moving forward?

Griffin: “I think there are a bunch of areas where we got better at from last year. I think tackling is the main thing. From spring all the way to now. I think it’s continuing to improve. Communication, that’s another thing.”