CLEMSON — After last week’s heartbreaking loss to Duke, Clemson linebacker Wade Woodaz was visibly frustrated.
With the back seven getting exposed due to multiple coverage busts, Woodaz tried his best to convey his frustrations, but the look on his face told the story.
“It makes me sick,” Woodaz said last week. “I could literally throw up because of what everybody has put in.”
A week later, after the Tigers beat Florida State 24-10 to win its first home game against a Power-4 opponent in more than a year, Woodaz had a different look in his eyes, one of relief.
“It was good for everybody’s mental health, for sure,” Woodaz said. “Been dealing with dirt just constantly being thrown on our name, but we rised up out of it.”
Woodaz had four tackles, two tackles for a loss and a quarterback hurry to help guide the Clemson defense to an effort that saw the Seminoles’ high-powered offense limited to season lows in points and total yards.
While there were still a handful of coverage busts, Woodaz was happy to see all of the work the defense had been putting in finally produce the desired result, especially after allowing Duke to pass for 360 yards last weekend.
“I think you guys saw it. It was sickening,” Woodaz added. “We were hungry for a win. And pissed off, honestly. At everything going on.”
“That was the number one offense in the country, and we held them to season lows in (some) categories.”
Florida State rushed for just 110 yards, with most of those coming on six plays. The defense sacked Tommy Castellanos six times and held the dynamic runner to just 31 rushing yards on 11 carries.
While there is no doubt still some work to be done ahead of a Friday night trip to Louisville, the Tigers now have a performance they can build off of.
“Outcomes are just a distraction. It’s about the process,” Woodaz said. “Everyday. If you stick to the process, you will get the results you want. The result? Cool. Happy to have it. But guess what? We got practice tomorrow. Just got to go back to work.”
Photo by Bart Boatwright