Miami Preview

Clemson vs. Miami, Oct. 25, 3:30pm, Land Shark Stadium (formerly Dolphin Stadium)

First of all, "Land Shark Stadium"? Second, weren't they supposed to get a new stadium or something?

Tigermax:

This is a game where Clemson has some good matchups, and if they execute well and get a couple of bounces, lucky calls, etc., I have no doubt they could pull off the upset.

For the defense, DrB went over Miami's take on the West Coast offense a couple of days ago at their new site, as always, an excellent read. Traditionally, the best way to slow down a West-Coast style offense is two disrupt the timing between the QB and the receivers. Two ways to do this: 1) jam the receivers hard right at the line and 2) pressure, pressure, pressure the QB. #1 is a bit dicey, because refs tend to throw the flag on offensive holding more often these days and if the receiver comes off more or less clean a good QB can hit him for a big gain. It'll be interesting to see how Steele calls this game, we'll definitely be playing man-to-man so we could see Clemson DBs playing more right up on the line. We've got talent (particularly first-string) in the position; these guys aren't likely to get burned too badly over the course of the game. This could have the added benefit of slowing down the deep routes; the Miami WRs have a height advantage that I want to see Steele try and blunt. On the other hand, he could drop the CBs few yards back and bring the blitzes. Should be fun to watch the back and forth between Whipple and Steele.

Realistically, though, Clemson's best chance to slow down Jacory Harris & crew is probably through generating pressure. I think Clemson's odds of winning will live and die by the amount of consistent pressure we apply to Harris. If Miami is picking up blitzes and we can't generate anything with our front four, we're going to give up more points than we can get back on offense. I'm confident the speed and improved tackling in our LB corps and secondary will help blunt the big play and keep Miami from scoring at will, but they will get 20-28 points without us getting in the Harris' face. Expect to see more roll-outs from Harris than we did last week from Skinner as he tries to escape whatever pressure we generate, but with Clemson's speed on the ends I'm not sure this necessarily helps Miami all that much. Something to keep an eye on.

On offense, yeah...Miami's line play has improved since giving up a bushel of points to FSU. Virginia Tech beat Miami in part by having Tyrod Taylor going deep. Both of these above two points do not bode well for Clemson. Parker has struggled to throw any ball, let alone the deep ball with consistency. I expect we'll throw underneath a lot, but Miami has the speed at LB to partially neutralize the advantage we have over most of the other ACC teams. We're going to need holes up front to get a running game going, or else we could be sitting around relying on the big play from Ford/Spiller again.

Or, we can hope for help from Special Teams. By now, we don't even need to execute much--teams are just kicking it away from our returners. Looks like Matt Bosher's been struggling a bit with the punting duties this year. Here's hoping we pick up some cheap field goals from a short field or two.

This is the kind of game where one of two outcomes will be apparent in the first ten minutes. If we're getting pressure on Harris, its going to be close. If we're not, we'll probably lose by 10-14 points.

Clemben:

Well the Wake game changed the season but with BC beating NC State and NC not looking great against FSU we cant bank on BC losing another game to either Virginia, Mary, or NC. So this Miami game is the pivotal match-up that can bring us not only respect but also the drivers seat for the ACC champs. I am salivating at the chance to beat GT--I think in round 2 against GT we spank them on a neutral field.

First we need to look at 1st Year OC Whipple who has really done wonders with Jacory Harris. Coming into the season I thought they were crazy running off all their competent QBs and putting all their eggs in the proverbial Jacory basket. But he has kept healthy and really blossomed in their system. I am worried most about our LB's getting burned by their plethora of tall speedy wideouts. I think the LB play has been improving and I will be interested if Steele busts out some Dime against Harris.

Let me take this opportunity to just say that the single best hire of the offseason, in my humble opinion, was Dan Brooks. Hats off to the man for teaching some technique and leverage to our talent. He has improved our talent across the board. We are now a solid two or three deep along the line whereas at the beginning of the season we needed DT as an urgent recruiting need. I have loved watching Branch, Moore, Cumbie, Chavis, and others come alive.

Back on subject, I am worried about our LBs covering the slot and RB screens, the dink and dunk stuff they run effectively. Maye still needs to take better angles and not get burned.

Offense--this is a tall order for KP. I have been thinking about the Maryland game and thinking that KP just got rattled playing on the road. He was thrown off of the gameplan and couldnt find himself. I really like the tight end screen, the fullback dive, and the QB draw we saw that kept the defense honest and helped KP settle. Spiller is so fast that the Miami team D still cant catch up--haha, take that Miami.

Enough Bubbles--we win 24-21. Their special teams will blow it and we will eek out a crucial win on the road to the Orange bowl. Spectacles anyone?