Barrett Carter happy to wear the championship belt after big day

Carter wears the wrestling belt in the interview room.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Sat Jan 06 07:00:05 GMT-04:00 2024

The victory over Kentucky in the Gator Bowl was the most important thing to Clemson linebacker Barrett Carter, and his key role in turnovers was a close second. But the championship wrestling belt? That can’t be overlooked.

Clemson’s defense forced four Kentucky turnovers, and Carter was right in the thick of it. He tipped one ball that he turned around and caught for an interception, and he recovered a fumble as well. Carter, who has already announced his intention to return to Clemson for a final season, walked into the interview room following the game wearing the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl Championship Belt and a smile as wide as Florida.

“Oh, my gosh. I was the biggest wrestling fan when I was a kid. When I realized it was fake, I kind of stopped watching it, but 7-year-old me is screaming right now just seeing the older version of me with a belt,” Carter said. “It's definitely a surreal moment. Yeah, I used to be a wrestling fan.”

Carter was asked how the Tigers were able to create the turnovers, and he said it started with defensive coordinator Wes Goodwin.

“I think it all starts with Wes giving us great play calls. But, secondly, guys are just doing their jobs and flying around,” Carter said. “I think that's how you create turnovers when guys do their jobs, and you get to the ball, and you never know what's going to happen.

“Just like K.B. (safety Khalil Barnes) forcing that fumble, and I was able to scoop it up, just guys flying around doing their job. That's just a big emphasis for us, just flying around, making the plays that come to us, not trying to do too much. That's just huge for us to create those turnovers late in the game and just huge for momentum as well.”

The Tigers were without several key defensive players – injuries and opt-outs and transfers took a toll – and that allowed younger players to get a baptism by fire. Carter said that baptism will pay off in the long run.

“For sure. It's definitely a lot of growing pains when you are a young guy and you are thrown in the fire like that, but that's how you learn,” he said. “We just watched the video and said, if you don't lose a rep, if you don't lose in life, you're never going to learn, and that's what these young guys did.

“They fought through so much adversity, but long-term, it's going to help them succeed. I'm just super proud of them the way they fought for four quarters.”

The Clemson defense ranked in the top 10 nationally in total defense but suffered several breakdowns that allowed the Wildcats a bevy of easy scores. However, this time the offense and timely field goals picked up the defense.

“Coach Swinney talks about our team is a triple-braided cord: offense, defense, and special teams. We all just try to feed off of each other and complement each other,” Carter said. “Defense creates the turnover. Offense goes out and scores a touchdown, kick a field goal. Yeah, special teams in there with the kick.

“We focus on that every single day at practice, just building off each other, creating momentum for each other and just feeding off each other's energy. It was a four-quarter game to the last. Guys fought for the whole game. Just super proud of us and super proud of how each segment was able to feed off of each other. Just super proud of the guys.

When he was asked about his interception, he said that getting their hands up was a priority in bowl prep.

“It was something we emphasized this week, just mirroring the hand. I mean, no knock on Devin Leary, but he is not a huge quarterback, and that's something we do week-by-week whenever we play somebody that's not as tall,” Carter said. “Just focus on mirroring the hand and trying to bat those balls down. Fortunately, I was able to mirror the hand and get a pick.

“I'm still mad. I dropped, like, two picks early in the game, but I'm super glad that I got one. That's definitely something that we work on all week in practice.”

Carter tipped Leary’s pass just past the line of scrimmage, then turned around and made a diving grab.

“We had a good play called. Running back came to block me, and I saw he was about to throw the ball, so I got my hands up. I saw the ball -- it went behind me,” Carter said. “Usually when you bat a ball down, it goes back towards the quarterback or somewhere like that, so I saw that it went behind me. I knew I had a chance to get it.

“Just super fortunate that I was able to make the play. Just huge momentum for our team. That was a spark that was much needed for us.”