Brown Adjusting to Speed of the Game

CLEMSON — Clemson dominated NC State last week in its first ACC game of the season.

After a 59-35 win, the 17 ^th -ranked Tigers improved to 2-1 and 1-0 in the ACC. Additionally, freshman linebacker Sammy Brown made his presence known.

–While maneuvering through the newness of playing college football, Brown explained his experience navigating the first couple of games of the season. Additionally, he noted the different paces on the practice field compared to a live game. “There’s definitely a difference between practice speed and game speed.”

–Brown detailed the duties of a linebacker explaining, “They are the quarterback of the defense.” He emphasized the importance of the leadership role amongst the linebackers explaining they are the “leader of the defense.” Additionally, Brown detailed an individual goal that Coach [Ben] Boulware encouraged him to meet during the NC State game. He motivated him to play a fast game. Just two drives later, he had a tackle for loss. He capped it off by saying the edge that he encourages them to have is beneficial in contributing to their success.

–Brown credits his effort as the reason as to why he’s successful. “One thing I pride myself in is giving one hundred and ten percent effort.” He recalled his father telling him “If you’re going to be wrong, at least be wrong, doing it one hundred and ten percent.” Brown explained his determination on every drive saying, “When you run to the ball every single play, you’re going to make tackles.” Both yearning and working towards being a huge contributor on the field, Brown details how impactful he works on being on each play. Giving his props to the technology, he explained how they elevate his game explaining “With the iPads you can actually see what’s happening.”

The Tigers host newly added Stanford for another ACC game. Stanford is coming off of a victory at Syracuse. The game kicks off at Memorial Stadium at 7 p.m.