Clemson’s Defensive Reign: Unpacking the Tigers’ Elite Units Since 2019 originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
While flashy offenses grab headlines and highlight reels, the true backbone of any championship contender is a suffocating defense. It doesn’t matter how explosive your offense is if you can’t stop the opposition.
Here at ESPN, we’re celebrating the sensational secondaries, standout sack artists, and rampant run-stuffers with our ranking of the top 25 college football defenses since 2019, as determined by the exclusive College Defense+ metric from PFSN (Pro Football and Sports Network).
PFSN’s College Defense+ system meticulously assigns a letter grade to a team’s defensive performance. This isn’t just about points allowed; it combines a variety of situational passing and rushing EPA and success rate metrics, weighted for volume. The “volume” aspect is crucial, given the diverse offensive schemes across college football. A defense that stifles an opponent to a 30% rushing success rate on 50 carries earns significantly more credit than one doing so against just 10 carries. Plus, every team’s grade is adjusted for opponent strength, ensuring true performance levels are reflected.
Clemson’s Defensive Dominance: Three Units Make the Cut!
The Dabo Swinney era at Clemson has become synonymous with elite defenses, and our data, powered by PFSN’s analysis, firmly backs that up. In fact, three of your Tigers’ units since 2019 have earned a spot among the nation’s best!
No. 17: 2021 Clemson Tigers
College Defense+ Grade: 90.36 (A-)
Even with a rare three-loss season and missing the ACC Championship Game, the 2021 Clemson defense was an absolute force, ranking second nationally in points allowed! This unit, featuring future NFL talents like Myles Murphy (8.0 sacks) and Bryan Bresee (1.5 sacks), gave up a meager 14.8 points per game. They were particularly stout against the run, boasting a 67.9% defensive success rate, and their 0.99 points allowed per drive is the fifth-fewest of any defense in PFSN’s extensive database. They also limited opponents to just 4.5 yards per play, ranking 14th since 2019.
No. 15: 2023 Clemson Tigers
College Defense+ Grade: 90.57 (A-)
Despite a challenging 9-4 record that saw increased scrutiny on Coach Swinney, the 2023 Tigers’ defense, under Wes Goodwin in his second season, put together a stellar performance that many overlooked. While their 21.1 points per game allowed might seem un-Clemson-like at first glance (ranking 31st nationally), a deeper dive into PFSN’s metrics reveals a truly elite unit. They finished among the top 10 nationally in yards per play allowed (4.7), run success rate (67.6%), turnover rate (15.1%), and pressure rate (38.0%), while also leading the nation in pass success rate at 66.3%!
No. 13: 2019 Clemson Tigers
College Defense+ Grade: 91.22 (A-)
Taking the top spot for Clemson in our rankings is the 2019 unit, a defense that propelled the Tigers all the way to the College Football Playoff National Championship Game. While they faced an unstoppable LSU offense in that championship, this unit was consistently dominant, allowing just 13.5 points per game and only giving up more than 20 points on three occasions (two of those being postseason games). Led by All-American Isaiah Simmons (8.0 sacks), they conceded just one point per drive faced, tying for sixth-best among all defenses in PFSN’s College Defense+ metric since 2019. This unit also showcased the fourth-best defensive pass EPA per dropback (0.23) and ranked in the top 25 for red-zone efficiency (42.4%). Their 10.9% sack rate was also the second-best for a Clemson defense in the past six seasons.
Clemson’s consistent presence on this list is a testament to their defensive philosophy and player development, as highlighted by PFSN’s comprehensive College Defense+ metric.
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 29, 2025, where it first appeared.