London Merritt has a pretty clear plan for Clemson’s defense heading into Friday night: make Cal quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele uncomfortable from the first snap.
The Tigers’ transfer defensive end knows what can happen if Sagapolutele gets clean time in the pocket, and he isn’t sugarcoating the assignment for Clemson’s front.
“We definitely have to put pressure on him,” Merritt noted. “He has a good arm, and he is confident in his arm. Without any pressure, he's going to be successful.”
For Clemson, that mission is bigger than just hunting sacks. Merritt wants the defensive ends collapsing the pocket, getting hands on throws and forcing Sagapolutele to speed up his decisions. That kind of heat, he says, makes life easier for everyone behind them.
“We’ve got to lighten the load up on our DBs,” Merritt said. “I already know they're going to do their thing, but it's going to make it a lot easier for us with pressure off the edge.”
Merritt should be a key piece of that effort after making his mark in Saturday’s 28-20 win over North Carolina. He finished with two tackles and two pass breakups, including a pair of disruptions on the Tar Heels’ final four-play drive. On that sequence, he got a hand on Billy Edwards Jr.’s arm twice as the quarterback tried to throw, helping set up Elliot Washington II’s game-clinching interception.
At 6-foot-3 and 250 pounds, the sophomore fits into a Clemson edge group that gives defensive coordinator Tom Allen plenty to work with. Will Heldt and Jahiem Lawson are part of that mix, along with Merritt and other defensive ends. Allen has even leaned into that depth in passing situations by putting four defensive ends on the field at once.
Merritt thinks that look sends a pretty direct signal.
“It says a lot,” Merritt said. “Our defensive end room has been a big room for us on our team.”
And when Clemson rolls out that package, the message to the quarterback is even simpler.
“Having four defensive ends in at a time, it definitely should scare the quarterbacks because we're coming,” he continued.
Through the early stretch of his first season at Clemson, Merritt says he’s becoming a more complete player, one who can help against both the run and the pass. Even so, he knows what he wants to sharpen next.
“Definitely becoming an all-around defensive end. Helping against the run, in the pass [game], getting pressure,” Merritt said. “That's going to be my biggest goal.”
Defensive ends coach Chris Rumph has pushed him to lean into the tools already in place.
“Definitely speed, use my speed, power,” Merritt said. “I feel like I have a good set of pass rush moves. He definitely emphasizes that power because I'm a pretty big-bodied defensive end, and I have a lot of quickness to me, too.”
That combination could matter plenty against Sagapolutele. Clemson does not need every rush to end with a sack, but Merritt made it clear the Tigers cannot let the Cal quarterback sit back and run the offense on his terms.
Pressure can change throws, mess with timing and shrink the window for the secondary.
So if Allen sends four defensive ends onto the field Friday night, Merritt says the reason should be obvious.
We're not just in there just to be in there,” Merritt said. “We're in there to rush and impact the quarterback.”
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