Seattle can cling to its Legion of Boom just like an overpriced cup of coffee from Starbucks.
Clemson’s secondary doesn’t need a snappy nickname. These dudes are basic.
“We don’t call ourselves nothing,” said Jayron Kearse, the starting strong safety who has 33 tackles, four pass breakups, four tackles for loss and four pass breakups this season.
“We just go by the name — we’re just ‘No Fly Zone’. I mean, anything comes through the air, we try to leave with it. We go by ‘No Fly Zone’.”
Interceptions are certainly a key ingredient to strong secondary play, and after seven games, Clemson has already matched last season’s total of 12. Heading into Thursday night, that’s tied for 19th in the country.
The Tigers have the nation’s lowest completion percentage defense (43.2). Opposing quarterbacks have a rating of 92.98 — that’s third best. Clemson is also ninth in pass defense with 156.9 yards allowed per game.
In 2014, they finished fifth, second and first, respectively, in the three categories. The interception count of 12 was tied for 55th.
Only one of Brent Venables’ starters in the secondary, cornerback Cordrea Tankersley, has an interception this season, and one of those three was returned for a touchdown against Miami.
“I think it’s fair to say that people have thrown more his way and he’s answered the bell, and good for him — good for us,” Venables said. “That was a big question mark there and I think what you’ve seen was he came out of the gate a little bit unsure of himself, and he’s continuing to work and develop.
“The more success he’s had has validated what (defensive backs) coach (Mike) Reed is teaching — his technique and understanding his role and those types of things. His presence and his play-making ability and how he’s come on has really helped the flexibility of what we’re doing.”
Not many teams want to throw the ball to the other side of the field at the star cornerback. Mackensie Alexander is usually targeted just a few times a game.
“They’re trying to attack (Tankersley), but it’s obviously not working for them,” Kearse said, “So leaving Mackensie on the island, not attacking him, they’re not benefiting from it, so I don’t know what to tell anybody going up against us.
“Right now, we’re just clicking on all cylinders.”
Then, of course, there’s free safety T.J. Green, who leads all Clemson defenders with 392 snaps. Like Tankersley, he’s a first-year starter.
Also in the mix is cornerback Adrian Baker, who made his first-career start on Saturday. He got the nod when Alexander was moved inside to play the nickel position against the Hurricanes.
“Really pleased for (Baker). That’s going to help us moving forward, developing him and getting him some confidence,” Venables said. “He’s a lot like Cordrea…scheme-wise, with what we do, sometimes that can challenge your confidence a little bit, because we’re going to isolate you and force you to — Social Darwinism, survival of the fittest, and a lot of times young guys aren’t really ready for that, but we don’t ease into anything, so that was big for him.”
Good luck with that, Jacoby Brissett, Everett Golson, and any other quarterback Clemson sees in the final three games of the season.