CLEMSON — The one thing that has not been talked about in Clemson’s win at Boston College this past Saturday was the play of its defense.

The Tigers held the Eagles to 221 yards in their 41-10 victory in Chestnut Hill, Mass. It marked the second straight week they have held their opposition under 300 yards of total offense.

Granted, Clemson has not played the “Greatest Show on Turf” or Brady and the Patriots the last two weeks. However, keep in mind how bad the defense played in its loss to Syracuse on Sept. 20.

It allowed the Orange to tally 433 total yards, including 306 and 27 points in the first half in a 34-21 loss.

“It was probably the worst half of football I have seen in a long time in the first half of that Syracuse game. It was pathic,” head coach Dabo Swinney said.

However, the Tigers held the Orange to seven points and 127 yards the rest of the game and followed that up by limiting North Carolina to 270 yards and 10 points.

“It starts at practice. It is all about earning the right to win,” defensive tackle Peter Woods said. “I feel like we have done that Monday through Friday leading up to this two-game road streak. I just think that is going to be our mentality now coming into every game.

“It is about earning the right to win and doing what you can do Monday through Friday to earn that confidence in preparation, so you can go out there and execute and have fun.”

The Tigers (3-3, 2-2 ACC) had fun at Boston College, especially in the second half when they limited the Eagles to 51 yards and recorded four sacks. BC was 0-for-6 on third down in the last 30 minutes of the game.

“They just responded. They take pride in their performance and so do the coaches,” Swinney said.

It is no coincidence that the Tigers have turned the table defensively since defensive coordinator Tom Allen decided to leave the coaches box and call plays on the field.

“Coach Allen brings crazy energy. I know it (fires) me up,” Woods said. “It feels more like practice. They say you practice how you will play in the game, so I feel that having him on the sideline (helps), we got our guy down there.”

And their “guy” not only coaches them up, but he celebrates with them too.

“It feels good. Obviously, he brings a ton of energy, but he keeps us motivated and helps with communication too,” Woods said. “You can see that product on the field.”

The product has held the Tar Heels and Eagles to less than 100 yards on the ground. UNC managed just 57 rushing yards, while BC tallied just 85.

“I am proud of them. We need to keep it up,” Swinney said. “It is back-to-back games in which we played well. We needed a little momentum, and now we just need to keep building.”

Clemson will try to do exactly that this week when it faces SMU on Saturday (3:30 p.m.) at Memorial Stadium.