CLEMSON — Clemson had another rough one at home this Saturday, and the defense wasn’t at its best.

For most of the game, SMU had its way over the Tigers. Especially in the second half, the Mustangs answered nearly every Clemson score with one of their own, keeping their lead high and staying strong. Despite a great performance from backup quarterback Christopher Vizzina, who threw three touchdowns in the absence of Cade Klubnik, it wasn’t enough in the end.

Starting linebacker Sammy Brown shared some of his thoughts on Clemson’s performance.

“I don’t know, I just feel like we couldn’t finish,” Brown said. “I feel like the players were there, and we couldn’t make them.”

There were many plays that slipped out of the Tigers’ grasp, and they ended up being detrimental and critical ones. On a third-and-one, Vizzina threw a deep pass to the sideline for receiver Tyler Brown, who was unable to come down with it. Clemson decided to go for it by using defensive tackle Peter Woods, who ran a counter-style run and came up short on the power play, allowing SMU to go down the field and score on the ensuring possession.

Another critical play was on the Mustangs’ final drive near the end of the fourth quarter, where the defense managed to force a fourth-and-three situation. Quarterback Kevin Jennings dropped back and threw a ball over the middle to Yamir Knight, who was held by defender Ronan Hanafin. The referees threw a flag for pass interference, and SMU continued its drive into the end zone, putting a bow on their victory.

“They threw in a few wrinkles, but at the end of the day, we have to do our job,” Brown said. “They adjusted well at halftime, but at the end of the day, we have halftime too. So, we have to make adjustments, too.”

It seemed like, as time went on, the Clemson defense adjusted backward. In the first half, the Tigers held SMU to only 2.6 yards per carry on the ground.

Things got worse in the second half, as the average yards per carry rose to 7.3 on the same number of carries as the first half, 14. The Mustangs also had more yards per play and a higher conversion rate on third downs, which led to their win.

“We have to get back to work on Monday,” Brown said of what Coach Swinney told them after the game. “We have to fix the correction. There’s nothing that we can do about the game that just happened. We have to give them credit, but at the end of the day, we have to come back to work on Monday.”

Brown and the rest of the team will have the chance to get back to work, as they enter another open week, where they will prepare for their game against the Duke Blue Devils on Nov. 1 at Memorial Stadium.