Eric Mac Lain played on the offensive side of the ball at Clemson, where he blossomed into a first-team all-conference performer on the O-line. But Mac Lain took some time on ACC Network recently to praise the Tigers’ defense, and particularly their much-improved pass defense.
Mac Lain, who has been an ACCN analyst since 2019, gave props to the Clemson defense that has been dominant in 2023. He also credited the secondary that made huge strides from last year to this year, and spoke about the bright future the Tigers have with a defensive back group that’s chock full of young talent.
“This has been a staple for Clemson all year long. That defense has been absolutely elite,” Mac Lain said.
“But I do have to give so much credit to that secondary and those coaches back there, man, because these guys were an absolute liability last year. Wake Forest and company housed them, South Carolina housed them, Tennessee in the bowl game housed them, and these guys have exploded this season. They’ve played so well. Held (North Carolina quarterback) Drake Maye to 200 yards. Held these guys (South Carolina) to 160 total yards. It has been electric to see these guys play defense, and guess what, those DBs are a lot of youngins and a lot of guys that are going to be there next year. I think Nate Wiggins is a certified first-round pick. But these other cats, man, they’re ready to play and ready to step up.”
Clemson finished the regular season first in the ACC in total defense (278.7 yards per game allowed) and third in scoring defense (19.9 points per game allowed). As for the Tigers in terms of pass defense, they finished the regular season ranked fifth nationally in passing yards per game allowed (162.2) after ranking 76th nationally in that area a year ago (231.7 passing yards per game allowed).
Clemson ended the regular season with four straight wins, and a major reason for that is the fact the Tigers held Notre Dame’s Sam Hartman, Georgia Tech’s Haynes King, North Carolina’s Drake Maye and South Carolina’s Spencer Rattler to their first- or second-worst passer ratings of their respective careers.
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