McDonald's to go: DT leads defensive surge August 23, 2014 9:13pm 
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- The Bucs defense is so focused on getting takeaways and turning them into points that defensive tackle Clinton McDonald said the key to his fumble recovery for a touchdown Saturday was ... beating his teammates to the loose ball. "I happened to beat Lavonte (David) to the ball for the first time, so I decided to go get it," McDonald said after the Bucs' 27-14 win against the Bills. "Lavonte ran up on me and said 'Get up! Get up! Go!' so I got up and went and scored a touchdown."Defensive ends Adrian Clayborn and Michael Johnson had gotten to Bills quarterback E.J. Manuel for a sack and stripped the ball loose, and McDonald picked up the loose ball and rumbled 17 yards for a touchdown and a 17-0 lead in the second quarter.It's just preseason, yes, but 297-pound players don't get to score touchdowns often -- his last came at Jacksonville High School in Arkansas, where he was a linebacker and tight end."I was just a small part of what was going on out there," McDonald said. "This is a great dress rehearsal for us all to see on defense what we're doing right, what we're doing wrong and how we can get better as a defense."First-year Bucs coach Lovie Smith has preached the supreme importance of defensive takeaways -- and whenever possible, scoring off those turnovers -- and he was pleased to see the Bucs force three in the first half, most notably on McDonald's touchdown."Clinton McDonald is a great football player. He shows great leadership," Smith said. "He was our (defensive) captain for the day. We talk about stripping the ball. Heads-up play for him. The ball was out, he saw it and you can't just be satisfied with getting the takeaway. Of course, you want to score. So heads-up for him to get it in the end zone."McDonald, signed this spring from the Super Bowl champion Seahawks to be the team's starting nose tackle, was very active early, getting two tackles in the Bills' first seven plays and finishing with five total as part of a defensive effort that held the Bills to 82 total yards and zero points in the first half."It's 11 guys out there playing defense as one -- that's how you get balls back and that's how you become a dominant defense," he said.McDonald gave Bucs rookie receiver Mike Evans grief Saturday because while Evans was able to get his first touchdown, it came minutes after McDonald found the end zone first."It's not just taking the ball away for them, it's about scoring the football and they preach that," quarterback Josh McCown said. "For us, it was like 'Man, we can't let these guys outscore us.' ... But that's a good thing, a good problem to have to feel where you need to match your defense. Hats off to those guys. They played lights-out tonight."http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/bucs/mcdonalds-to-go-dt-leads-defensive-surge/2194388 /" class="bbcode_url">link
