CLEMSON — T.J. Parker had a career day in Clemson’s win over Pitt last week.

The sophomore recorded four sacks, five tackles for loss, seven tackles, a pass breakup, and a forced fumble. Parker’s performance tied multiple Clemson records and is this year’s season-high in sacks during a game in all of college football.

The showing earned him National Defensive Player of the Week Honors from the Walter Camp Football Foundation, the Bednarik Award Player of the Week from the Maxwell Football Club, and ACC Defensive Player of the Week Honors.

For Parker, his dominant performance happened because he was in the “Zone.”

“Obviously, you’re locked in the game, but when you are really in the zone, it’s like you hear nothing, and it’s like a free flow,” Parker said.  “There’s things you do that just kind of happen and sometimes you can tell what you did, sometimes you don’t. It’s just like a free flow state I kind of felt.”

Parker did not find this free-flow state until the Pitt game. The defensive end has contributed with a sack in four other games this season, including two in the win over NC State. He has notched at least one tackle for loss in six of Clemson’s nine games.

With these numbers, Parker has already exceeded his season-career highs in every metric with two games left in the regular season. Before the season, Parker set a goal of recording 10 sacks before the year’s end. To accomplish that feat, Parker has made it a point of practicing like he is in a game every day.

“Every day, I treat practice like a game because then the game’s easier,” the Phenix City, Ala., native said. “That’s [head coach Dabo ] Swinney’s big message too. For us, our Tuesdays and Wednesdays are going to be harder than the game, and that’s the way it should be honestly, just because you don’t want to have the game speed you up.

“You want to slow the game down. That’s what’s been big for me in my sophomore year. The game has really slowed down for me.”

Parker and the Tigers have another chance to find a free-flow zone Saturday when they return to Memorial Stadium to take on The Citadel. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. on the CW.