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CLEMSON -- You could probably count on one hand the number of blitzes Brent Venables sent Saturday night against Georgia.

With some defensive coordinators that's not a big development. With this one, it's stop-the-presses stuff.

Or at least it should be.

Clemson's alarming offensive struggles were the main story from the 2021 opener, and there's nothing wrong with that.

But when that topic takes up all the oxygen in the room as irate fans are ready to fire the play-caller and write off any chance of their quarterback ever being any good again, it comes at the expense of giving proper due to what happened on the other side of the ball.

Venables' defense didn't just reassert its physical, punishing nature after some high-profile instances of looking surprisingly finesse last season. That much was expected as the Tigers returned so many important players from the 2020 defense.

Here's what was not widely expected: Clemson being supremely prepared for Georgia pushing the tempo.