CLEMSON — There is a lot to figure out after last Saturday.
Clemson folded against the Louisville Cardinals at home last week, losing a night game at Memorial Stadium for the first time in 11 years. Nothing seemed right, as Clemson struggled on all sides of the ball and couldn’t get past the Cardinals.
One thing that didn’t go right was their execution on offense. Through the first three quarters, the Tigers only scored a single touchdown and were down 19 points at one point. Rookie wide receiver Bryant Wesco Jr., who led the team in receptions against the Cardinals, spoke about what the coaches had said to them after the game.
“Like Coach [Dabo] Swinney said, we can’t control what we do for the playoffs,” Wesco said, “so we just gotta be able to finish this week out.”
One result, besides losing an ACC game at home, comes in the affect the loss has on their standings. The Tigers need help to make it to the ACC Championship Game in Charlotte.
“Coach [Garrett] Riley was stressing the focus on those key details that we do,” Wesco said. “Focus on that offense that we were showing out for the past six games, and showing for one bad game can’t affect the rest of our season. We have got to be able to kick it back up and kick that offense back up.”
The key details are very important, whether it be how they start the game off with their play calls, where the Tigers target the field, and how well the receivers can hold onto the ball. The offense the Tigers have had in the prior six games is something that they want to continue to replicate, but it will be hard against their next opponent, the Virginia Tech Hokies.
“Their DBs,” Wesco said. “They have No. 44 and No. 4. They’re very good athletes, so I think that they are very good run fitters, and they can make a tackle. I feel like blocking is one of the key things I’ve been trying to work on…and making those one-on-one plays, winning those.”
Defensive backs Dorian Strong and Mansoor Delane are two of the most prominent players on the Hokies defense, who will definitely give the Tigers a run for their money. Wesco, however, admits that the offense sees the potential challenge and is preparing well for it.
Wesco and the rest of the Clemson offense will have a chance to prove itself worthy again when they face Virginia Tech this Saturday (3:30 p.m., ESPN) in Blacksburg, Va.