CLEMSON -- Following Clemson's 33-21 loss to Louisville Saturday night at Memorial Stadium, the Tigers fell to 59th nationally against the run, allowing 140 yards per game. It's even worse when breaking it down to rushing yards per attempt, as they rank 95th nationally thanks to 4.61 yards allowed per carry.
Both numbers are not Clemson's defense, a unit that is known for its ability to stop the run and force opponents to become one dimensional via the passing game.
Though the Tigers (6-2, 5-1 ACC) have been feast or famine for much of the year, and has played well at times, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said Saturday's game for Clemson's defense was its worst of the season.
"We got plenty of talent," he said during his conference call Sunday night. "We got great talent over there. I just think I did not have them ready to play. It is that simple. It was a poor job."
The defense did not look ready to stop the run against Louisville. The Tigers allowed 210 rushing yards, including 151 to running back Isaac Brown, who averaged 7.6 yards per carry. As a team, the Cardinals averaged 7.8 yards per carry.
"We did not create turnovers. We had been doing a great job with that," Swinney said. "We did not tackle well, I thought we have been better there, but the biggest thing has been not leveraging the ball. Not finding the ball, getting off blocks up front and finding the ball.
"Again, there were a bunch of missed tackles. That was the biggest disappointment was just things in the run game."
Swinney said the Tigers were not fitting some of their gaps properly in the run game, not triggering in a timely fashion, which creates some space.
"There were a lot of things that we need to do better," he said.
Clemson hopes to get that fixed before playing Virginia Tech this coming Saturday at Lane Stadium in Blacksburg, Va. Hokies running back Bhayshul Tuten ranks second in the ACC with 951 yards and 12 touchdowns. He also ranks second in rushing average at 118.9 yards per game.
He is averaging 6.7 yards per carry, which ranks third in the ACC.