Goodwin says Tigers need to act like a shark, smell blood, and 'finish the job'

Goodwin says the Tigers have to finish the job.

by Nikki Hood - Staff Writer - Sun Oct 16 14:27:24 GMT-04:00 2022

TALLAHASSEE, FL – When a shark smells blood in the water, it goes for the kill.

Clemson, however, lacked that same killer instinct in Saturday's 34-28 win over Florida State at Doak Campbell Stadium.

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Clemson led Florida State 34-14 and looked like it was going to cruise to another victory, but much to the chagrin of the Tigers, the Seminoles had other plans. The 'Noles had 169 yards of offense and scored 14 points in the final quarter, forcing an onside kick to decide the game.

Defensive end Myles Murphy said the defense got too comfortable.

"Coach Swinney will give us the statistic where most crashes (happen) within a mile of the other destination because people get comfortable," Murphy said. "That's kind of what happened with our defense. We got comfortable. We got the lead and got comfortable. We were hoping they gave up, too, but they did not give up. That's great on their part for not giving up. Slowly but surely, they were coming back, and we let go of the wheel towards the end of the game. You guys saw what happened. It wasn't a good ending for the defense."

Defensive coordinator Wes Goodwin said he's disappointed that his defense did not take hold of the game and finish it the right way.

"Disappointed in the way we finished. Kind of like a shark, when you smell blood in the water, you've got to finish the job," Goodwin said. "We can't relax and let our guard down. We've got to play with the same intensity that we played the whole game with. Kind of disappointing to give up that last drive and let it get to a hands, onside situation at the end."

While the coaches can coach harder and drive the point home, Goodwin said at some point it has to be up to the players to make the plays and have that killer instinct to finish the job.

"As a coach, you try to motivate those guys, but I think it starts internally," Goodwin said. "Those guys have to have a killer instinct and be internally motivated. There's only so much screaming and punching stuff that you can do as a coach. Ultimately, they've got to go out there and perform. I've got to put them in situations to be successful."