Where the Problems might lie: DE Edition

Every year I like to think about problem areas we are not focusing on and try to predict where potential breakdowns might exist on the team. Last year I think the area we were weakest at but no one was talking about was the Safety position, which culminated with our spanking by WV.

So where could it be this year? We know that the offensive line will be a question mark especially depth along the offensive line. So that isn't very interesting. Timothy Gifford seems to be stepping up potentially in the RT spot and as I predicted Thomas has moved to LT because you can't start two freshman tackles and not be really worried. Right now we need Kalon Davis and a tackle to step up but we really lack any proven quality depth. Remember last year we had two back-ups in Cloy and Smith who had played a lot of quality snaps in their careers. Can Norton step up? He has been less than stellar as a back-up center so far. Will guys get into shape?

What are we overlooking? I was going to write this last week but Coach Venables beat me to the punch (which is really encouraging because I think he has made some great personnel and coaching decisions already), by saying that the DE's need to improve. Last year we were not playing at the same level as in the past with the departure of Bowers to the NFL. Branch did a great job and was at times dominant but was not as strong against the run. Goodman was not very good. He didn't set the edge with any authority and had virtually no pass rush. A Batson victim, he has gotten to big and lost some of his speed and agility while at Clemson. As a Sophomore he was one of the first flying down the field making tackles on special teams. Now as the only returning starter he has a lot to prove.

Corey Crawford is going to start on his other side. In a back-up role Crawford did fine last year, especially as a true freshman but he needs to take the proverbial next step and has yet to show he is an every down kind of player. Our back-ups haven't really played yet. Very little competition to push the top guys. Vic Beasley is an athletic specimen who was on the offensive side of the ball his red-shirt year and was on the DE depth chart last year. He still has to learn to play the position. The reports say he is fine athletically and is developing technique but needs to get the defensive mentality. This is understandable since he never grew up playing the position. Byers and Dodd are are a red-shirt frosh and a true freshman. They need time to develop into back-ups.

What is the theme here? Lack of depth and susceptibility to injury. DE recruiting (and DLine) needs to be a serious priority in this cycle. It should have been more of a priority last cycle. I think we are looking good with TE's and WR's...We are bringing in Shaq Lawson and Martin Aiken this year who will be fine players but will need a year or two. We will probably end up burning one of their redshirts to provide depth. We need a top flight 4* recruit badly. Its the first time in probably 8 years we will not have a borderline 4/5 star DE on campus. Sapp, Bowers, and Goodman were all in this area with Merling, Branch, Gaines Adams, and others being low rated recruits who got drafted in the 1st/2nd rounds.

Other potential pitfall areas we aren't thinking about:

• Punter: Benton has positive reviews so far with Pinion a quality recruit to back-up
• Safety: Can Hall recover from the injury to return to at least his Soph year productivity, will Meeks learn how to take better angles. Do we have any depth after wasting Robert Smith's redshirt?
• CB: How much does the departure of Sensabaugh hurt our secondary. He was an every down player. Breeland was decent last year but Robinson took a step back. Blanks training at the Nickel is a big positive because Brewer statistically last year was picked on and below average. The Football Scientist uses Yards Per Attempt as a metric and according to YPA Brewer gave up 10.3 YPA which is horrid. Jenkins improved last year but it will be interesting to see how the types of players Venables uses in his scheme. More SAM backer with Lateek or a smaller Nickel back like Jenkins.

 A quick note on Venables: I love the move of Hawkins to WILL! Seems like Steele was worried about playing favorites or guys transferring because this should have been done long ago. Hawkins was never suited to play MLB and hopefully will benefit from the change. Anthony will be the most important player on defense this year. As he goes I think our defense goes. Not having a stellar line will put more pressure on our LB play. I love hearing Lateek Townsend's name being put in the mix. He is the kind of athlete that needs to see the field and it is positive to hear Justin Parker's career could still have some legs.

I like Venables decision to stick Blanks in the Nickel spot. If he can lock that spot down and perform well he gives us the flexibility to adjust to any offensive scheme. It is encouraging to hear the interior DLine coming along but I am always worried that it is more about our poor OLine play than DLine talent. Gotta love spring ball!

Apparently I am The Devil!!

Its official I am one of the monkey bars in the Devil's Playground! But don't worry because Dabo has been anointed to purify this spawn of Satan himself...

So I crawled out of my cave in time to see Bullard and Todd Gurley not come to Clemson and then have Darby and Goldman not visit. When I poked my head out I got criticized by our head coach for not being ok with a 70 point loss and then realized that the demonic sounds of my playground were actually all of America laughing at me. Yeah we made it on Leno. I loved this season up until the Orange Bowl and I agree with Dabo that the sky is not falling and that the future can be bright. We had a good season but Dabo also needs to be sensitive to poking his finger in a bullet wound. This was painful.

We are soft. I am convinced that we have been soft since the HATFIELD era because of out Strength and Conditioning coach.  WV players said we gave up and were begging for mercy. If this were just one player I would disregard it but when you go back its also been said by South Carolina and NC State players. Joey Batson must go. He doesn't need to leave Clemson--I think he can be a great asset in the Athletic Dept. We need new, fresh blood and more accountability. We are soft. About three years ago USC started bearing us. That is the time they got a new S&C coach--if you want to beat USC and toughen up we need a new direction in S&C. We have as good of recruits as anyone in the ACC and certainly USC, but if we aren't developing strength, agility, and quickness--if we aren't keeping players from getting fat and lazy, then we won't win. 

We redshirt just as many players as other programs but our player development during the redshirt year is pathetic. Its frankly embarrassing. No stupid 'Power Hour' that gets thrown together because someone finally said--hey wait, the redshirt players are all standing around getting fatter and lazy is going to cut it for a Natl Championship contending program.
Compare out players, our 5th year players to other schools. Its not even close. Now of course, some of this is on the players but that excuse is tiresome. Its ultimately on the coaches and it sits with Batson.

Tiger Nation, its time to exorcise the demons.

And I don't mean the Internet because we aren't the problem. ShakinintheSouthland is not the problem. In fact, we (but more accurately Dr. B and FigureFour) might be the holy water that you drink and that turns you into beast mode but like a Christian beast mode that defeats you while saving you--plus you win all your football games.

Still I got my list of can't miss recommendations for the offseason that come certified by the Debil.

1. Retain the services of Coach Brooks. See I am no negative nancy--there is a positive that you can accentuate (or something).
2. Mediate between Coach Caldwell and Coach Morris. Morris gets paid the 1.3 big bucks and its his show on offense but see if we can't try to keep everyone together.
3. We need a great LB coach. I would prefer that we hired a DC that coaches LB's to keep the staff continuity but we need not just a good LB coach but a great one. 
4. Lets not go the Venables route. High energy, great recruiter, boatloads of talent that underperform. Sound familiar? Kevin Steele Part 2. This is Dabo's hire though and I will give it the benefit of the doubt (how truly evil of me--giving Dabs the rope to hang himself with--hahaha(insert Mr. Burns or Dr. Claw laugh)).
5. Last but not least--graduate Batson to the athletic dept and hire a Hatch disciple for S&C.

 Thats it. See we on the playground aren't that demanding. Keep things the same and get rid of, errr, graduate Batson. You will have appeased the masses.

For the record I think Dabo did a good job this year. He lost his composure in the Orange Bowl and couldn't rally the troops. He will learn from that and its not the end of the world. Would like to win a few of these recruiting battles here at the end though.

For the record I have always been Steele supporter but can agree with his mutual termination/firing/parting ways/getting out of Dodge. When you lose to South Carolina 3 years in a row and get 70 points put up on you in the Orange Bowl it may be time for a change. For whatever reason the scheme wasn't clicking with guys and the D line looked lost and soft at times. The defense was not young and that isn't a good enough excuse for me. I wish him well and think he is a good coach but I am fine with the desire for change. My instincts say Randy Shannon would be a solid hire but I'm still too depressed to do any real research to back that up. 

The crowned prince MonkeyBar of Satan will now go crawl back in his cave until the Spring game.

Beamer Ball Exposed, Coach Gives Game To Michigan

Way to go Frank. Sure, everyone thought Coale made the catch but Beamer was such a stupid coach during this game. The dumb fake punt (which led to the field goal for Michigan but also lost them a timeout to manage the clock at the end) and then going all conservative at the end before regulation. Not to mention going for that 4th down in the first half and not taking the points. At least everyone knows that VT belonged in the bowl and probably should have won. They certainly weren't outplayed by Michigan.

How does a replay official make that kind of call?? You have conclusive evidence to overturn the call on the field and change the outcome of the game? If the booth had been consistent all night with their calls then I wouldn't have a problem with it but at least two of their 'catches' were with much less 'conclusive' video evidence. If I am being honest I thought one angle looked incomplete but another angle where the left elbow comes down looks like a catch. I think if you can find a catch and it was called a catch then you can't overturn it. Sucks for the Hokies. What in the world possessed Wilson to backpedal 30 yards?? Logan Thomas looks like a great QB and I think its awesome that we beat them twice (then I remember that Mike O'Cain is calling the offensive plays). Bud Foster must give a horrible interview because his defense is amazing and if he wants to be a head coach he should be one.

Final note: The Man of Steele to Tennessee?? There recruits are evaporating as we speak (or transferring) and the ship is burning. We have oodles of talent and consensus 5* Linebackers, chance to repeat as ACC Champs, outside Natl Champs contenders? I'm not too worried. As I have said before I like Coach Steele, although the defense took a step back this year, and this continuity will help the team next year. The offense needed a change and that worked out well but I love the defensive staff and want to keep our current recruits in place. What I think this becomes is leverage for Steele to get a raise. This might become tricky if we are done with coaching raises after Morris gets 1.3 million. If I'm the defensive guy I wouldn't be thrilled about that since I'm sure Clemson has never appeared to have such deep pockets before. The only way I see Steele leaving is if things go south in that negotiation over contracts.

You must remember the story of DeAndre McDaniel coming to Steele's office to find out if the rumors about Steele leaving were true and helping to convince the coach to stay. Steele likes Tennessee and may want a change of scenery after the negativity this year--its a possibility. He has never been much for staying in the same place for too many years.

Defending Billy Napier

I'm going to swim against the current a bit here and try to explain why I don't think Billy Napier should be thrown to the wolves. That's not a particularly bold defense, I know, but this also isn't a contrarian post for the sake of being contrarian. (As an aside, I can't stand those kinds of posts, don't make a case unless you're being sincere.)

Let me start with the irrational stuff that I can't defend with numbers but more with the experience bought with each soul-crushing Clemson loss I endure. I like having the youngest offensive coordinator in the ACC. I like walking up to a fan from another team and saying, "Our offensive attack just torched your team and, oh by the way, our offensive coordinator is 30 years old." I like that Clemson and Swinney have the guts to hire a 30 year old in a league dominated by experience-laden coordinators. There's something brash and brassy about that, and it contributes just a hint to the swagger in my Clemson fandom. I largely like how Napier carries himself with the media, there's less of the Bowden-esque tendency (too often shared by Swinney) to frame disappointments as resulting from events beyond his control, there's a measure of accountability in his words.

But it doesn't stop here, there are actual areas of his job performance that I like, too. He has demonstrated, not always but reasonably often, the ability to identify weaknesses in an opposing team and develop a concerted plan of attack at the start of the game to exploit those weaknesses. It isn't always spectacularly successful, but it can put points on the board. He also seems capable of stockpiling a pool of plays often consisting of slight tweaks to existing designs that he judiciously and sometimes appropriately sprinkles into his play calling. On occasion, he strings together series of plays in-game that in retrospect seem inspired.

There are of course counter-arguments, good counter-arguments, to the above (for example, given a playbook and an infinite number of offensive series a moderately trained monkey will seem inspired over the course of 6-7 plays at least once or twice) and then there are counters to the counter-arguments (for example, there is still some question over how often Dabo overrides Napier during the course of a game). But these belabor the real point: Napier has shortcomings. In my mind, they are as follows: 1) while he has designed some reasonably effective plays, it doesn't balance the shit variants he also develops and employs in a game. He needs an playcall editor to blow up his more ridiculous notions, preferably this would involve a cannon of some kind. 2) He falls in love with the passing game far too often. 3) Finally, and this is the most problematic, he cannot identify quickly enough, and thus cannot counter the adjustments made by opposing defenses.

The third point above can be overcome with years of experience, but forgiveness for this defect is not granted in BCS-caliber conferences. Therein lies the conundrum, while I think Billy Napier has a future coordinating offenses in the NCAA, he is not a boy-genius that can think circles around men twice his age. He requires what 99% of all coordinators require: experience forged in the leagues at the fringes of the BCS or during dedicated study at the feet of a master playcaller. Laugh at the imagery, but this is still very much a "trade" in the classical sense.

Billy Napier is not a fool and I am not a fool. If this season goes south quickly, and with a looming loss at UNC on Saturday this could happen much sooner than I'd like to entertain, someone will take a fall. Maybe its Swinney, but more probably Swinney is forced into deciding who takes the fall. And Napier is the fall guy Swinney built into his agreement to take the reins, the guy who was set up the second the university "busted the budget" (note the quotations, they didn't really bust the budget) to sign Kevin Steele. Napier will in all likelihood be vanquished to the fringes. In that event I sincerely hope is he finds his experience, and he takes Jeff Scott with him.

On Defense

I have been thinking a lot about the dynamics of our defense post-NT. I thought at the beginning of the season that LB wouldn't be the most glaring weakness on the team. I thought WR would be the problem and then questionable Special Teams play(I am still shocked from that 78 yrd punt). After the first couple of series for the offense the WR's looked somewhat better and if Cat is perfect from the 40 yrd line in, like Dabo says, and Zim punts beyond 39 yards then its the LB's that are the dead weight once again this year.

We need this Preb. game, we need the creampuff. We need the defense to learn the calls and be able to adjust to reading the offensive formations. Too often players were pointing and confused pre-snap, not getting adequately set and directing others. We need to build depth--its beyond me why Quandon Christian played 8 plays. Unless we are going to be playing Nickel (2 LB's) and Dime(1 LB) all stinking year, every play, this makes no sense. He looked better than most of the guys out there in his limited time, which included 3 tackles.

The main problems I was seeing included poor tackling (nothing new for Clemson, especially those weak arm tackles) but also bad angles being taken to ball carriers. The safeties McDaniel and Hall had some horrendous moments/whiffs as a result of taking poor lines to the ball. Corners played average and gave away too much to inferior WR's.

D-Line saw its two starters hobbled, Chavis with an ankle sprain and Jenkins hurt his knee--it was swelling after the game. I am actually worried about it and hope it's not serious. Bowers thought his knee was nothing but it limited him most of last year. I do like that the back-ups will see substantial playing time because we will be thin next year at D tackle. Shatley and Moore looked good during their playing time last week.

So I've been thinking that our problems stopping the run are less about talent and more about scheme. Playing Nickel and Dime means you have less beef in the box and fewer players close to the line. Steele doesnt want a LB matched up against a WR in a 4-Wide set--he just won't do it. I'm sure he also thinks that getting Brewer, Gilchrist, or Sensabaugh as the 5th DB puts more talent on the field and he is probably right. The problem I think we are having right now though, is that this defensive alignment puts too much pressure on Tig and Hawk. They have very little room for error and are often outnumbered at the point of attack by the offense.

Now when I saw Hawkins literally jump past the QB Tune and blow a QB sack I rolled my eyes and worried that I had judged too much from his impressive Kent. bowl performance. I like Tig and Hawk--they look the part and will take their lumps because of inexperience but the tackling, technique--everything was poor to average the last game. Maybe they just need some help and should stick to the 4-3. I really want to see Steele use Shuey(who I think can be another solid player for us) and Christian at least a third of the game. They deserve the chance to show us what they got.

This season literally hinges on our ability to shut down the zone read. Auburn will use it, Maryland, GT, USC to name a few...if we have to gameplan around taking away that single play then I think we should do it. Against running QB's play the 4-3 and take your chances with the LB on a WR--its the reason you trust your stellar Safeties!! Play Nickel and Dime to your heart's content against QB's that can really burn you.

Stop Cam Newton running and you win the game. At the very least I want to see some crazy blitzing come Auburn.

Ellis Johnson to Tennessee?

So South Carolina started a rumor that Steele was still going to go to Tennessee and this guy named Keith Allsep who is supposedly a former Rivals employee goes and messages on Facebook Justin Parker.

From the Rivals board someone was nice enough to take this screen shot of Parker's page. Ladies he is single. First, that is awesome to catch the guy lying like that. Here is what I think should happen.

1. Everyone who is a Tiger go add Justin Parker as a friend and tell him to come to Clemson, welcome to the family, looking forward to you starting at MLB next year, etc.
2. Everyone add Keith Allsep as a friend and firebomb his page. Then take a picture and share.

I think its equally creepy to Facebook stalk these recruits but on the other hand if opposing fans, especially coots, are having an impact then we need to be dominating that space. ( For the record, however Renee Sloand Thompson is--she is fighting hard for Clemson, social media style jutsu) So now an opposing rumor is that Ellis Johnson is going to leave to Tenn. which probably isn't true since South Carolina is offering him a pay raise now. It was probably just leverage but as Ard said, something about where there is smoke there is fire?? Great scoop guys!!

Steele Could Be Gone?

I'm going to hold off for something official because I really like Coach Steele and I hope he does not leave us coming down the stretch run in recruiting, take Coach Brooks with him and then steal all of our players. I have nothing against Tennessee (I don't mean to offend any resident Tennessee fans) but you guys hired Lane Kiffin who made a mockery of your institution. That is your bed and when you play in the mud with pigs you get dirty or something. I made fun of the UT Wildboys and all that recruiting garbage but this picture is enough for me...it puts me over the edge...

http://www.bittenandbound.com/2010/01/17/lane-kiffin-scandal-and-cover-up-rumors/

Yeah that is right, Lane and his brother-in-law and Mike Tomlin 'hanging out' with some co-eds. So the man is obviously scum and that picture is enough but the 'rendez-vous' place was paid for by a booster. Yep a Tennessee booster--the same people and institution that are going to steal Steele. Now I am ticked off...Oh and Lane also crashed his car (whoops, not his car--it was from Lexus of Knoxville??) while drinking with a bunch of co-eds in said car. He then proceeded to abandon them for the cops. Is that the Tennessee program you want to go to? I want an NCAA investigation and quick--one that keeps Steele from heading up there.

Steele, say it ain't so!!

Edit: Ok he is gone, but Dan Brooks is supposed to stay. 600,000 to go back to your alma mater. Please don't hire Blackwell...Thanks a lot Kiffin...

ReEdit: Thank you Dabo! The Head Coach earns his stripes again. The "Man of Steele" shows what he is made of and stays with the Tigers! Really glad to hear it and I hope the admin ponies up and gives him a generous pay raise. For all you Steele haters, give him a LB who will play his assignments and a second year to coach some of these younger Defensive players. I think we improve a lot next year and it is a lot better than starting from scratch again.

TCU Preview

TCU vs. Clemson, 9/26, 3:30pm, Death Valley

Always feels good to type "Death Valley".

Tigermax:

I find the circumstances surrounding this game intriguing for several reasons:

1) It's a battle between a top three Mountain West team and, well...I think its pretty fair to say Clemson is top five in the ACC right now. But just how good is a top three Mountain West team relative to a top five ACC team? Sure, TCU crushed Virginia. But this is the same Virginia that lost to William & Mary the week before. I can't believe I just wrote that. (As an aside, I had a relative that attended William & Mary law school a while back. I happened to be living in the area at the time and paid a couple of visits. I was shown the campus and I immediately mistook the football "stadium" for a practice field. I even caught a couple of their games on a local channel that would broadcast Colonial League Football. It was a lot like high school football. What if Clemson lost in week one to that William & Mary team I saw on those Saturday afternoons not so long ago? I think my head would explode.) Anyways, TCU went on to struggle against Texas State the next week before pulling away in the fourth quarter. In the process, they gave up 21 points to a Division II team while playing their starters. All this is to say, while TCU has a reputation for a dominant defense, it hasn't exactly shown up yet this year.

2) Related to #1. FSU is coming off a trouncing of a different top three Mountain West team, on the road. A strong showing at home against TCU is necessary to show the Clemson program is moving in the right direction, too.

3) USuCk just beat the #4 team in the country in Columbia. We have the #15 team tomorrow.

4) Depending on how many "I can't believe they just lost" games FSU has between now and November 7th, this could be the highest ranked team to visit Death Valley this year.

5) Swine flu. How many players have it? How many will be affected by it? Don't give me that "its been contained to five players and no new names have been added to the list crap." You don't "contain" swine flu. And you don't let the other team (or even your own players) know how badly you are hurting going into the game.

Lots of factors coning together before the game, combining to make this the biggest question mark on the schedule. As for the game itself, despite not being totally convinced of TCU's defensive abilities, I'm expecting a low-scoring struggle. Clemson's best strategy to win the game might be to emulate last week and turn the game into a field goal shootout, using special teams to exert control on field position. If TCU shows up and starts driving the ball on possession #1 though, we're in for an ugly afternoon. I don't think its gonna happen, though. Call me crazy and full of this unexpected confidence, but Kevin Steele has made a believer out of me. At least for one week.

Clemben:

I have a slightly different take on TCU than TigerMax for this reason. I think Gary Patterson is a good coach and his entire season is riding on beating Clemson. His BCS chances hinge on this game. He didnt have to show much offensively or defensively these past two weeks so we may see TCU light years ahead of there last two performances show. That being said I think our D is as stout as theirs and we have Mr. Spiller. I think its going to be a tough match-up and a lot depends on if and how much Chris Hairston plays. If he is unable to go I think we win by one point 17-16 and if he is in and plays well then 4 points 17-13. Hows that? We need Parker to be on his A game for sure.

Look for TCU to give us all they got but its time to get fired up--we get another chance at a top 15 team and hopefully Miami can beat VT and Oklahoma so we can go and beat them at home on route to our second national championship. Oh did I mention the ALL IN, ALL ORANGE food fast has begun. Oh yeah, I'm drinking the orange kool-aid already....

Go Tigers!! Beat those horned frogs!!

Potential Pitfalls??

After what happened last year with all the expectations that came crashing down, I have spent a lot of this offseason contemplating what could be the top potential positional deficiencies that we may not be seeing right now. Last year it was O-Line but also the QB play and the inability of the D-Line to get any sacks. So what could it be this year and how could it be improved before the start of the season.

1. Back-up Tackles--This is the most obvious and has been discussed at length that our starting O-Line cant get injured. I think we now have a serviceable line, meaning it wont outright loose us any games but its going to be up and down with few dominant performances when healthy. When you go from the starters to the back-ups we go from serviceable to awful. Grant and Lambert have had disappointing careers and with Jay out with surgery the coaches are stretching for anything. Brandon Thomas as a true freshman is getting a look and now the coaches are exploring David Smith as a potential back-up as well. I scratch my head bc we havent been recruiting too poorly on the O-Line lately--Dalton Freeman is giving some depth but David Smith, Wilson Norris(remember when he was 'coming on' and had that tenacious mean streak??), Page, Medlin(medical), along with others havent yet panned out. Basically one more injury and we are toast--the depth isnt there and that will hurt when some of these guys need a breather and are worn down.

2. WR--This is another obvious position so I wont go into great detail but Jacoby Ford has a hammy that he has re-aggravated, meaning its a recurring injury and one that could easily be tweaked again--doesnt inspire a ton of confidence for a receiver whose hallmark is incredible speed. Behind him is a cast of potential--Dye, Jones, Clear, Brown, etc. are all unproven. I still groan when I think of the dropped passes to Ashe last year, while McNeal should be headed for a redshirt. Early indications are positive but still unproven.

3. FS--Digging a little deeper is this safety spot that we all thought Gilchrist would man but Sadat Chambers is still the man to beat. That inspires zero confidence in me, Sadat has always been a tools guy who cant mentally put it all together. Marcus is a phenom and is being trained to man all the back-up positions and play in nickel packages--not a bad deal since he will see a lot of time on the field and provide needed depth but we are left with Chambers and a bunch of youth for the FS spot.

4. Kickers--None of the kickers on the squad have seen significant playing time and none have had any measure of consistency to their games. Kickers are head cases so even if you have an excellent Jad Dean one yr it doesnt necessarily translate automatically. It would be a shame if this becomes the Tigers achilles heel but punting seems to be going well but I'm afraid the fg's and extra points might be an adventure again.

5. Offensive Coaches--From the games we saw last year this is an area of concern for me. Its not so much scheme(anything will be better than Spence) but the experience to know how to make in-game adjustments. We havent seen this in a long time at Clemson. Spence was one of the most stubborn OC's I have ever seen and once opposing ACC defenses figured it out, he seemed to never have the counterpunch we needed. I like that we are upping the tempo and seem to understand that Spiller should see the ball as much as is possible but I have a level of trust in the Defensive staff to know how to adjust the gameplan that the Offensive coaches may be lacking. Also I'm worried about our end game coaching, clock management, and time-out use. I always thought Bowden was a fool in those situations and the Nebraska game wasnt much better. That comes with experience so we are going to take some lumps down the road.

I dont think the QB play will be a huge problem with two guys that the coaching staff can go to. Boyd seems like he could even play and be successful. D-Line and Linebackers should be better with the blitz packages as well as the coaching of Steele and Brooks. ST's coverage and blocking improved last year and the TE will be used more by Napier. One last cause for concern is the CB's. I know they are supposed to be the best in the ACC but it will be interesting to see how they adjust to the man and increased blitzing. Hopefully that will help utilize their talents more fully, we have some good back-ups there as well with Maxwell and Gilchrist.

At any rate we wont know until the season starts, just passing the time before gameday!!