When Clemson’s secondary gave up 510 passing yards and five touchdowns to South Carolina quarterback Jake Bentley in the regular-season finale, they were ridiculed by the fans and media alike.
With the College Football Playoff approaching and with the prospects of facing Notre Dame’s Ian Book and possibly either Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa or Oklahoma’s Kyler Murray in the national championship game, there were not too many people who believed the Tigers could withstand those elite quarterbacks and still win both games.
However, they proved everyone wrong, and they did it with dominating performances.
In its last three games combined, the Clemson secondary allowed just 463 yards on 43 of 86 passes with four interceptions and gave up just one touchdown.