CLEMSON — In his Sunday conference call, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said his defense, especially on the perimeter, was soft in the Tigers’ loss to Georgia Tech.

“They blocked us, and we didn’t do a good enough job of winning that matchup. We are not playing well at corner right now, or at Tiger,” Swinney said. “So, we are soft on the perimeter, and we’ve got to get better.

“So, there is a lot of opportunity to improve.”

Defensive coordinator Tom Allen says his cornerbacks are not necessarily soft, they are just not reacting to the play at the right time, and their technique is off. He believes that is why Tech’s running backs and wide receivers were running through his corners.

“It was the lack of reaction to the call or the formation,” he said. “You have to anticipate certain things.”

Clemson, who will host Syracuse this Saturday at Memorial Stadium, did not anticipate much in trying to stop the Yellow Jackets from the end of the third quarter through the fourth quarter.

The Yellow Jackets ran 23 plays for 128 yards on their last two possessions, and lot of those plays were run at the perimeter when they ran over corners Avieon Terrell, Branden Strozier, Ashton Hampton and Jeadyn Lukus on a consistent basis.

“We had calls that we wanted to be in and that we worked on and we did not pull the trigger with one of our guys on the end, and the guy playing the Tiger position,” Allen said.

Swinney felt part of the problem was that the cornerbacks lost their confidence at some point and self-doubt creeped into everything they were trying to do.

“Confidence is created through repetition, through the ability to replicate and master the system,” Allen said. “You have to have the confidence to pull the trigger and go when you see what your key gives you.”

Allen says they have some guys playing that they know has to get better with their technique, and when they do, they will then start playing with more physicality.

“I don’t think they are soft,” he said. “I think the soft play is created sometimes with hesitancy and lack of just enough good reps to play with confidence and great physical technique.

“So, I expect us to play better in that area without question.”

The Tigers will find out on Saturday when they take on Syracuse (noon, ESPN).