Clemson Star Calls Out Team Over Average Defensive Showing This Season

Clemson's defense has to improve and Barrett Carter expects it to happen.

Sep 21, 2024; Clemson, South Carolina, USA; Clemson Tigers linebacker Barrett Carter (0) tackles North Carolina State Wolfpack University quarterback CJ Bailey (16) during the first quarter at Memorial Stadium. / Ken Ruinard-Imagn Images

When Clemson plays their best football, it often starts on the defensive side of the ball. That's been the team's identity over much of the past decade, and as a result, they've often found success.

However, while this season has been a step in the right direction after a rough campaign last year, Clemson's defense is far from what it once was.

That's an issue.

If they want to reach the College Football Playoff, it'll likely take a miracle at this point. However, never say never, as things happen around the sport.

For Clemson to get to that point, they need to be better defensively, and they recognize that.

“I know these guys like the back of my hand, so I know we’re made of the right stuff,” Clemson linebacker Barrett Carter said, according to Sam Walter of The Clemson Insider. “We’ve been thrown in the ringer and came out swinging, so we know we have the right guys to be a really good defense.

While Carter has every right to be upset, he needs to be better, too. He's struggled a bit compared to how evaluators viewed him entering the year and has been part of the issue for Clemson's defense.

Still, a defense isn't just one player's fault, and Carter has still been decent. He added that the guys in the locker room want to get better, and he expects them to in the near future.

“I know we have the right guys in the locker room who work so hard every single day and put so much into it,” he said. “I have no doubt that we’ll be okay.”

Until they do so, there will be questions about Clemson's defense. The year is almost over already, and at some point, we have to view this team as what it is.

From the numbers to their performance, Clemson's defense isn't up to the standard they once set.

“It’s just up to us to go out there and do it, at the end of the day,” Carter said. “That’s what we failed to do. We haven’t played like a Clemson defense should play this whole year, but I know there’s still time for us to show that we can be elite.”

The coaching staff will have to consider this moving forward, as they shouldn't expect to be elite again until they're making plays on the defensive side of the football.