Clemson LB Trotter Breaks Down Keys to Defending Vols Offense

Jeremiah Trotter Jr. mentioned the word "conditioning" several times during his Wednesday media session for the Orange Bowl.

The Clemson linebacker knows defending Tennessee's high-tempo offense means the Tigers better be in really good shape, but it's also a challenge coming off three weeks without a live game. 

Mix that with what the Vols do in terms of trying to confuse defenses and even without three huge offensive weapons, the Vols give Clemson a lot to think about heading into Friday's 8 p.m. bowl game at Hard Rock Stadium. 

"On film I'm definitely seeing that they like to attack defenses as far as spreading them out, hitting the short pass," Trotter said. "They'll nickel and dime you and then hit you deep."

The Vols, who have the nation's highest-scoring offense at 47.3 points per game, won't have quarterback Hendon Hooker and receivers Cedric Tillman and Jailin Hyatt, but they do have head coach Josh Heupel, who likes to speed defense up, give them little time to dissect what his players are doing and force you to defend the entire field from sideline to sideline. 

"I'm seeing a lot of the defenses that they're going against like to blitz and keep pressure on them so they can't hit those deep shots, don't have enough time to get those deep shots," Trotter said. "Really, you just got to swarm to the ball."

Trotter said because of all the underneath passing plays the Vols run, it's imperative to gang tackle and get the ball carrier on the ground. 

The Tigers could use a similar game plan as to what they did against UNC in the ACC Championship Game when they used three-down linemen and a lot of zone to keep the Tar Heels in front of them. 

It's a bend-but-don't-break mentality that could work if Clemson's defenders remain disciplined. 

"We gotta make sure we have our eyes on the right place," Trotter said. "We can't give up our leverage. We just got to make sure that we are really locked it on our responsibilities."  

Want to join in on the discussion? 100% FREE! Interact with fellow Tiger fans and hear directly from publisher Zach Lentz, deputy editor Brad Senkiw, recruiting analyst Jason Priester and staff writer Will Vandervort on any subject. Click here to become a member of the ALL CLEMSON message board community today!

Get your Tiger tickets from SI Tickets HERE

Do us a HUGE favor and like, subscribe and follow us on social media:
►LIKE us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/allclemson
►SUBSCRIBE: https://www.youtube.com/c/AllClemson
►FOLLOW All Clemson on Twitter:https://twitter.com/All_Clemson

More on All Clemson: /college/clemson/