Tigers push to 'keep fighting' after consecutive losses

Jeremiah Trotter Jr. says the Tigers just have to keep fighting.

by Ariana Pensy - Correspondent - Sun Oct 29 12:14:58 GMT-04:00 2023

CLEMSON - Of the 24 points scored by the Wolfpack on Saturday, 14 of those came off of turnovers. Unfortunately for the Tigers, the Clemson defense could not get a turnover of their own to help give the offense some momentum.

The Tiger defense performed well, except for a few crucial plays. One of those was a 72-yard receiving touchdown by true freshman Kevin Concepcion to give the Wolfpack a 24-7 lead with 4:50 left in the third quarter. That score was the result of a missed tackle by sophomore cornerback Toriano Pride Jr. Despite that, defensive leaders like junior linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Jr are standing behind Pride Jr.

“We just got to learn from the mistakes and keep fighting. We’re all having Toriano’s back,” Trotter Jr said. “We came over to the sideline, we told him to flush it and just keep playing. Just keep fighting.”

This game was the first time since September 23 in the overtime loss to Florida State that the defense did not force a turnover. Further, this game marked the first time since November of 2011 that Clemson has had back-to-back losses. Clearly, this is not the championship-level team fans are used to seeing. But, Trotter says that the young players on the team have the right mindset to get the Tigers back to that level.

“We got to keep pushing, got to keep working to be able to get back to that playoff-caliber team that you want to be,” Trotter Jr said. “So, we just got to keep making sure that they have the right mindset, and our young guys have been really good at that, just making they have the right mindset, and they are some of the leaders on the team as well. So, I’m really excited to see, just moving forward, those young guys grow as they keep progressing in their careers.”

One positive that can be taken away from this game is that the Tigers got the ball in the end zone when they got in the red zone. While they were only able to muster up three red zone trips, which is not going to win most football games, junior running back Phil Mafah was able to get a touchdown off of two of those, while graduate kicker Jonathan Weitz made a 19-yard field goal on the other red zone trip. Despite finally getting some points in the red zone, Mafah was not satisfied with this performance because what ultimately matters is getting the win.

“It’s been great just to see that we were able to finish in the red zone, especially today,” Mafah said. “But, it just wasn’t enough, and we just have to keep building on what we have done, keep learning again, just fight to get the result that we want.”

Part of the offensive struggle most of the game is because fellow junior running back Will Shipley exited the game with an apparent neck injury in the second quarter. He did get a neck x-ray during the game and was seen wearing a neck brace. While Shipley’s injury gave Mafah the chance to step up, it was difficult for him to watch Shipley go down like that.

“It hurt bad. That’s my brother. We’ve been at Clemson together for all the years we’ve been here. So, definitely felt sad to see him go down,” Mafah said. “It’s definitely discouraging, but we all know that we got a job, especially in the running back room, just to keep the standard and just keep going, keep fighting for the team and for him especially.”

Elsewhere on offense, the players still have confidence in Klubnik, despite him having his first game since the Orange Bowl against Tennessee with multiple interceptions. This loss against the Wolfpack was also his worst quarterback rating since that bowl game and his most pass attempts since that game. Klubnik has continued to have problems in decision-making, and the team as a whole has problems holding onto the football. Still, players like Mafah maintain they have confidence in Klubnik as their quarterback.

“He’s a leader for us, and that pick that got thrown, it was a perfect play, dropped on up, d-line just got his hands on it, and it just went in their favor,” Mafah said. “Crazy play, but we got all the belief in him. He brings the energy. He wants to win, and we’re just going to keep riding with him, just keep going.”