Clemson Was Ready for Miami's D'Eriq King

Clemson's defense answered the call Saturday night and put its best foot forward in the biggest test thus far in 2020

Facing its biggest challenge on the season, the Clemson Tiger defense rose to the occasion Saturday night and shutdown D'Eriq King and the potent Miami Hurricane offense. 

Despite having an extra open week to prepare, the Hurricanes were handcuffed for much of the evening as the Tigers gave Miami fits all night long. 

A testament to not only Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables' gameplan but his players as well who executed and brought pressure all night. The Tigers refused to let King take over the game and limited the dual-threat transfer from Houston to 12-of-28 passing for 121 yards and two interceptions.

"As players, we just go with a game plan the coaches give us and do the best we can and try to execute it the best we can," Clemson linebacker Baylon Spector said. 

Outside of a 56-yard dash in the second quarter, King was surrounded by orange jerseys throughout the night as the Canes' offense was limited to a single touchdown and one field goal. 

"We saw that one play where he carried the ball all the way down to the red zone. He's a very explosive player. But at the end of the day, it comes down to the gameplan and the players that have to execute it," Spector said. 

The veteran linebacker felt his teammates did a superior job of buying into Venables' plan for the night which began with a focused approach in practice leading up the game. 

"I thought the gameplan was great. The coaching staff does a great job every week of putting a plan together for us and I thought we had a really good week of practice and it showed tonight. The preparation throughout the week was phenomenal," Spector said.