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.

C.J. Spiller=Amazingness

Best Clemson representative ever??

At the Half: N. Texas

I have been reserving judgement on this team and refraining from pre-season babble because I wanted to see the team with my own eyes.

Offense

My fear after losing Spiller and Ford was three-fold. Field position, explosiveness(big plays), and speed especially as receivers. Gilchrist has done well thus far and we have had some big plays from Ellington and Clear on a blown coverage. Harper has played tough. So we looked better towards the half and hopefully some of KP's rust has come off. We have been pathetic on third down conversions and sustaining any kind of drive. The O-line has been decent but not dominant and the WR's aren't separating or running crisp routes. It was good to see Nuke though. Allen needs to be more involved.

Defense

Disappointing...you can kiss that rushing defense goal goodbye Hawkins if this half is indicative of how our defense will handle draw plays and running QB's. The D-line is still having trouble with contain, LB's out of position and bad tackling and angles from McDaniel and Hall on a couple of big plays. We are getting penetration and pressuring the QB but looked like we were in slow motion on some plays.

Special Teams

Zimmerman has the punt of his career! After averaging what seems like a constant 39 yrd punt he goes for 78!! I like it. Kickoff coverage has been a little shaky.

Overall I think North Texas was tough to gameplan for with the new OC, who is doing a good job of mixing it up. Dunbar is legit so I will be happy with a 2 touchdown win that doesn't ever feel close. For all of you who wanted to play a 'real' team I'm glad you aren't in charge of the schedule--Clemson would have gotten smoked with that first half performance against a top 15 team.

A Word On Schedules

Every year a portion of the Clemson fan-base starts whining about playing a few cupcakes. For some reason they have it in their heads that playing 2 all-mighty SEC schools is not enough and that we should be playing like 4 top 25 teams(if not top 10 teams) with our Out Of Conference schedule.

For some reason Shamecocks like to get in on this conversation as well. So here you go--this year we play Auburn(top 25, no. 22), USuCk, North Texas, and Presbyterian. South Carolina will play Clemson, Southern Miss(7-6 last year), Furman!, and Troy. Clearly we have the tougher OOC. So the Cocks aren't a good barometer for anything so why don't we look at the Natl Champs Alabama--they should have an ideal OOC schedule. Alabama kicks off against San Jose St!! They play no. 19 Penn State, Duke!, and Georgia State (a team that just recently formed a Div 1 football team). Again, we have the tougher OOC.

How about Georgia? They start with Louisiana Lafayette, a Colorado team that was 3-9 last year, Idaho State!, and GT. We have the tougher schedule again. In fact, we could do this with the majority of the ACC and really the country. We have probably the 3rd or 4th toughest OOC in the ACC. Even VT who plays Boise St then plays James Madison, East Carolina, and Central Michigan. The 12th game added by the NCAA essentially scheduled a creampuff for the entire country.

12 games is a long season and you need those easy games for player development. We need Tajh Boyd to get meaningful minutes, the linebackers to get experience(especially with Cooper and Maye going down), the receivers to get a clue, and to build O-Line depth. You could easily argue that if we hadn't had the TCU game then we wouldn't have lost to Maryland. Take away those two losses and you have a shiny record and a top 15-10 finish, and a better bowl game at season's end. With the stupid Sun Bowl replacing the Gator Bowl that win will become even more important. I know everyone wants to pay to watch an amazing game and we want to play the best competition, it makes you better but every year its not always in the best interest of the team. If you want it for yourself then it becomes borderline selfish--and OOC games can impact your entire season (and your career) like Alabama did. So lets keep 2 SEC teams and then we'll have a schedule better than 80% of the teams in College Football. So quit whining...

A New Recruiting Anthem for Jeff Scott

There is nothing better for recruiting than having 2 of our newest members, Martin Jenkins and Darius Robinson, create a rap song about how much they love their school. This should be sent to all possible recruits. 21,000 viewings isn't shabby either. The season is finally coming. I don't think I can stand another puffy spring piece. Yeah we 'all in', ballin' or something to that effect...Go Tigers! (Oh and Haha!(Nelson voice) to UNC--thats what you get)(Oh and 11 walk-ons, I know Dabo you love the underdog and all but come on...)(Oh and we suck as bloggers but if anyone still reads this we will be posting again regularly now that the season is here)

Dabo Does It Again: Kyle Parker is Staying

Last year the addition of CJ Spiller added at least 2-3 wins for us and put us in the ACC Champs game. This year I think Kyle Parker does the same. We go from a mid tier ACC team to challenging for the BCS birth. I'm really excited about this so I am in trouble of going overboard here but I think the QB is the most important single player on the field offensively. Tajh will be good but would have struggled early and we were one hit away from Wade being our starter. Not that encouraging.

KP has been there and has already played very well. Spiller coming back was huge but we had RB depth and some young guys step up. I really think we can win 10 games this season and take the ACC champs. If we can get some of these WR's to step up and we don't have any injuries along the offensive line then we are solid offensively. Put that together with a stout defense and you have a recipe for championships. Granted we need Kyle to learn to put a bit more touch on some balls and go deeper in his progressions and reads but as a freshman qb he was an asset and not many freshman qb's can say that.

I tip my hat to Dabo. This was, of course, the decision of the Parker family (I think they handled it brilliantly by the way) but something tells me that Dabo was in somebodies ear and lobbying hard for the Tigers. He is certainly a great recruiter. I'm finally excited about this season. Spot the ball!!

Martavis Bryant

I have got to say that I really don't understand this ruling by the NCAA and I think that kids in this situation need someone to stand up for them. Obviously I am not that person but I wish someone in the Clemson media or family had more clout to change this situation.

So Bryant wasn't going to qualify but he hunkered down and studied and got all the grades and scores he needed to just barely cross the finish line and qualify. But as this article points out he ends up a half credit short because they can't find the grades for an online math class he took during summer school. Its not TL Hanna's fault because Bryant came from the failed school Calhoun Falls and apparently the records of that class were destroyed by mistake.

First off that is extremely negligent, almost criminally. I was once a high school teacher and I know that the teacher and school are required to keep records for a certain amount of years--usually 5-10 before they can be destroyed. What I want to know is who was the teacher of the class. Even if it was an online class someone is assigned to oversee the section. Why can't the teacher vouch for the completion?? He must have a report card somewhere saying that he took the class and the grade received, right?

This is another example of how little priority South Carolina gives to educating its students. Clemson is getting even less from the state in financial support this year and the entire education system is a joke. From a football perspective a strong public school system is in Clemson's best interest so that more recruits are eligible (especially with our stupid 'standards'--who wouldn't want Dwight Jones to beef up our receivers this year).

In the end he is going to Hargrave and will hopefully be fine but he put in the effort so I don't think a school's (and a state's) negligence should keep him out of Clemson. It also would have been nice to know this before the summer so he could have taken the online class then. I guess this was hard to foresee but it could have been flagged and ultimately remedied. See you midseason Martavis!