Venables: Clemson Defense Needs 'Ton of Improvement'

Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables says there was a fair amount of both good and bad in the win over Virginia.

Clemson gave up over 400 yards of total offense to an ACC foe Saturday night for the first time since 2017. While the Tigers had made some key plays defensively, there is still plenty of room for improvement moving forward. 

Defensive coordinator Brent Venables said there was both good and bad in the 41-23 win over Virginia, which pushed the Tigers (46) ahead of Oklahoma's FBS record Saturday win streak of 45 from 1953-1957.

Venables said he felt overall his unit played "good enough" and did some really good things along with some not so great things during the game. When asked about his assessment of the game and ability to contain Virginia quarterback Brennan Armstrong ahead of a bigger test in Miami's D'Eriq King next weekend, there was no cause for alarm. 

"We're okay. I think (Virginia) had 17 starters back from a Coastal Division championship team," Venables said. "They've done a great job, they are experienced and have a really good system that's very quarterback friendly and a good defense."

Venables and Clemson freshman defensive lineman Byran Bresee said Armstrong was exactly what they expected from watching film. The Tigers were not too critical of their self-assessment on containing the Virginia quarterback but pointed out deficiencies that need to be addressed. 

"Take the win and time to go back to work, a lot of learning, and improving," Venables said. "A lot of guys played spot duty a year ago. They are starting now and again just a ton of improvement we need across the board but a lot of to love too ending with three sacks and a bunch of hands-on balls."

As for setting the new FBS record for consecutive Saturday wins, Venables was said it's fun to be part of one of the greatest runs in college football history. 

"Congratulations to us," he said. "I don't want to minimize it. If I had someone next to me here, I'd booty bump or fist bump them, but that's pretty cool. Forty-six Saturdays in a row, that's awesome and cool to do it here at Clemson. It's a place that is very rich in its traditions and Coach Swinney has done an amazing job since he's been the head coach. It's pretty cool to be a small part of that for sure."