Trotter says Tigers Need to Flush FSU Loss Fast
By: jackie-gill September 24, 2023

CLEMSON — After a tough loss Saturday to No. 4 Florida State, the Clemson Tigers are grasping for the leftover opportunities their season has to offer.

Despite the 31-24 loss to the Seminoles, the Tigers learned a lot about themselves, especially on the defensive side of the ball.

Clemson linebacker Jeremiah Trotter, Jr. spoke to the media about the Tigers’ success at Memorial Stadium on Saturday, and how they held one of the country’s best offenses to 286 yards and 17 points in regulation.

“As a program, we’ve always been the type to not focus on the headlines and what people are saying on the outside because at the end of the day – we have to focus on what we’re doing,” he said.

Clemson (2-2, 0-2 ACC) also held the Seminoles to 22 rushing yards on 20 carries or 1.1 yards per carry. Trotter had six tackles and a sack.

“We were fitting gaps, being aggressive at the point of attack, and swarming to the goal every single play,” the Clemson linebacker said.

While it’s difficult to absorb Saturday’s overtime loss, it is up to older players and mentors like Trotter to gauge the best approach and advice to give his younger teammates.

“Try to learn from the mistakes, flush it – come back next weekend,” he said. “Don’t put your head down, that was a team effort, we showed a lot of good things. We just need to clean up the bad things. We have to focus on what we have coming up next – we always have a ‘now’ mentality, and right ‘now’ this loss is technically in the past, so we just have to keep moving onto the future.”

Clemson never trailed Florida State until overtime, where it officially lost the ballgame.

“They literally made one more play than we did,” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said afterwards.

The Tigers must now look ahead to their second road game of the year at Syracuse next Saturday. The Orange is a perfect 4-0 on the young season. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m.

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