How good is Clemson and what do we have to look for?

[dinosaurbbq]

Wins and Losses:
@ Georgia L 45-21
South Car. State W 73-7
@ FSU L 23-17 OT
UNC W 50-35
NC State W 41-0
Louisville W 23-17
@ BC W 17-13 Clemson held the No. 3 rushing team in the nation to 130 yards.

Offense: Different team without ACC best rated QB Watson (yes his numbers were better than those of Jameis Winston), who is out for at least a month. WRs Mike Williams and Artavis Scott are both in the top 7 in the ACC, but again someone has to get them the ball. Clemson has the 3rd worst rushing attack in the ACC with no particular main back and 3 RBs who each have roughly 200 yards on the year. QB Watson's backup is Cole Stoudt, whose QB rating is about the same as Hunt's was with 1 TD and 4 INTs. Over the season, they've averaged 440 ypg, 303passing, 137 rushing, and 34.6 ppg, but throw that out the window. After Watson got injured against Louisville, Cole Stoudt went 20 of 33 for 162, 0 TD, 1 INT and Clemson kicked 3 FGs and got a defensive TD. Against BC Stoudt went 29 of 45 for 285 yards, 0TD, 0 INT and Clemson ran for 2 TD and kicked a FG. For the last two games with Watson out, Clemson has averaged 246 ypg, 150 passing and 96 rushing and has scored only 17 ppg. Like I said, huge drop off. Stoudt is also playing through a sprained non-throwing shoulder and got a shot before the game and another at half-time to be able to play.

Defense: DE Vic Beasley leads the ACC with 8 sacks. Safety Jadar Johnson has 1 sack, 2 INTs returned for 84 yards and a TD. As a team, they've given up an avg. of 20 ppg, 283 ypg. They've gotten 25 sacks, which is 3rd in the ACC. Clemson is 4th best against the run, giving up 104 ypg and 3rd best against the pass at 179 ypg. At this point, they are giving up more yards passing and rushing than they are gaining on offense, which we need to continue next week. They have no choice but lean heavy on their defense to win games. Sounds familiar.

Want to win? Start by knocking Stoudt out of the game like they did Woolford this week. Stoudt is not mobile anyway. We need to pressure and hit him hard while trying to contain Williams and Scott. The third string QB is Nick Schuessler, a RS Soph. who was a 2 star who committed to Mississippi State then left and walked on at Clemson. He's never played a minute in college. If they can't get the ball to their WRs, they can't move the ball at all.

 

[CousCuse]

The thing we have to look for is will a Scott Shafer team come out with fire and poise against a big time opponent , on a big stage , or will they come out and act like frightened children again. He talks hardnosed , but in big games , his team plays spaghetti legs. Also he needs to learn the difference between a moral victory and a morale victory.

 

[IthacaBarrel]

The thing we have to look for is will a Scott Shafer team come out with fire and poise against a big time opponent , on a big stage , or will they come out and act like frightened children again. He talks hardnosed , but in big games , his team plays spaghetti legs. Also he needs to learn the difference between a moral victory and a morale victory.

WOW. "Frightened children" Bad post

 

[CousCuse]

WOW. "Frightened children" Bad post

Lot's of terms that might be used to show lack of mental toughness are derogatory towards certain segments of the population. But , everyone knows how easily children can lose their resolve when faced with "scary" situations.

 

[chakka3421]

If the program were to ever start to turn the proverbial corner, this is the game to do it for this season and beyond. It would be a lesser signature win because Clemson (unlike a ND or FSU win this year) is having a down year plus having their starting QB being out, but still it would be a huge positive step forward for the program to get back to 4-4 and a great chance to go bowling again this year. Plus the fan base would show up in numbers for the NC State game.

BC should have beat them last week...they are vulnerable right now...Go Cuse!

 

[rrlbees]

The thing we have to look for is will a Scott Shafer team come out with fire and poise against a big time opponent , on a big stage , or will they come out and act like frightened children again. He talks hardnosed , but in big games , his team plays spaghetti legs. Also he needs to learn the difference between a moral victory and a morale victory.

We did not play like frightened children vs FSU.

 

[007]

The thing we have to look for is will a Scott Shafer team come out with fire and poise against a big time opponent , on a big stage , or will they come out and act like frightened children again. He talks hardnosed , but in big games , his team plays spaghetti legs. Also he needs to learn the difference between a moral victory and a morale victory.

Are you CousCuse's evil twin?

You morph from SU/SS can do no wrong and anybody that doesn't think so sucks as a fan; to spaghetti legged frighttened children?

 

[SmilinBob]

Clemson should attack SU's defense much like Louisville did only with more bubble screens. How the SU defense reacts and adjusts to that will determine that battles success. Win the turnover numbers and don't have stupid foolish penalties. Offensively Long can't stare at receivers and the receivers have to catch all the balls thrown their way they can. Better use of the tight ends by SU as Parris catches everything so let's not have him basically out of bounds each time he has the ball thrown to him (Parris fault or Longs I don't know).

 

[CousCuse]

We did not play like frightened children vs FSU.

FSU didn't play their A-game that day either , as they had bigger fish to fry the next game. AJ and Austin did well , given the circumstances , but , that dropped gimme interception at a crucial point of the game falls into the category of ...

 

[IthacaBarrel]

FSU didn't play their A-game that day either , as they had bigger fish to fry the next game. AJ and Austin did well , given the circumstances , but , that dropped gimme interception at a crucial point of the game falls into the category of ...

Falls into the scared child category? Please

 

[CousCuse]

Are you CousCuse's evil twin?

You morph from SU/SS can do no wrong and anybody that doesn't think so sucks as a fan; to spaghetti legged frighttened?

Well , I support him, and know that the 4 game stretch was as hard of 4 games that you can schedule. But , when you add that together with the 4 big games last year that were a disaster , I have to say , show me something. This shouldn't be hard for Scott after last years game when Dabo slighted him ( I could use more colorful terms, but again , don't want to offend anyone) and made him come unglued . If Scott can't get his team riled up enough to go down there and leave it on the field , then , he has a while to go .

 

[IthacaBarrel]

Well , I support him, and know that the 4 game stretch was as hard of 4 games that you can schedule. But , when you add that together with the 4 big games last year that were a disaster , I have to say , show me something. This shouldn't be hard for Scott after last years game when Dabo slighted him ( I could use more colorful terms, but again , don't want to offend anyone) and made him come unglued . If Scott can't get his team riled up enough to go down there and leave it on the field , then , he has a while to go .

You are a walking cliché.

 

[CousCuse]

Falls into the scared child category? Please

Falls into the category of " I am or am not going to make the big plays today which will help my team win this game". There wasn't but 5 - 10 plays in those 4 games that would have greatly changed the outcomes. They beat themselves.

 

[IthacaBarrel]

Falls into the category of " I am or am not going to make the big plays today which will help my team win this game". There wasn't but 5 - 10 plays in those 4 games that would have greatly changed the outcomes. They beat themselves.

You speak as if they aren't trying to make plays out of fear of the opponent which is just crazy and makes no sense. Makes for good internet banter but doesn't hold much weight really

 

[Millhouse]

You speak as if they aren't trying to make plays out of fear of the opponent which is just crazy and makes no sense. Makes for good internet banter but doesn't hold much weight really

i thought their playcalling against clemson was pretty scared last year. bubble screens over and over. they were terrified of hunt. can't blame them

 

[Millhouse]

might not mean much but Clemson's drop off in offensive yards is smaller than their improvement in defensive yards if you look at all their games. 5 yards better combined per game

but if you look at p5/BCS, they lost 112 yards of offense per game and picked up 62 yards on defense. 50 yards worse combined per game

 

[orange79]

The thing we have to look for is will a Scott Shafer team come out with fire and poise against a big time opponent , on a big stage , or will they come out and act like frightened children again. He talks hardnosed , but in big games , his team plays spaghetti legs. Also he needs to learn the difference between a moral victory and a morale victory.

They acted like frightened children against FSU? Really? Over the top much?

 

[Finwad32]

I think this is a game where we have a sneaky opportunity to make some noise. Clemson has us outmatched at the skill positions, but, this is the type of scenario where you can outscheme that. Reserve QB, who is getting his feet underneath him. Don't give him any easy reads and try to get some pressure. I don't think you need to send 6 every play, or even 5 for that matter. Make him uncomfortable enough to rush his judgement, which at this point has been less than stellar.

If defense holds Clemson under 21 we have a puncher's chance IMO. If we ask AJ and/or Wilson to deliver 30 + for us, our chances of winning this game become severely inhibited.

I really do think we have a good opportunity this weekend. I know most people have written this off as an L, and percentage wise that is definitely the most likely scenario, but this isn't a game that's out of reach. We should've beat ND and Maryland and would've if we had a somewhat competent offense. Clemson does not scare me.

 

[Chip]

First thing I'd work on for this game is to actually cover Adam Humphries. He had 2 TDs all last year, both against us, both times not covered by a human.

I hear he returns a punt for a TD in this game.

 

[TheCusian]

My favorite moment in Clemson (The ACC's most thinned-skinned fan base™) fandom in 2014, is when Petrino said that the dome was louder than Clemson, and the Clemson fans had a volcanic uproar.

Hey guys, a building with a roof on it is going to be louder than one without. It's science.

 

[Pyle]

Are you guys really trolling Clemson fans? When was the last time we were ranked in the top 25? Fact is we have less than 10% chance to win this game. They will beat us soundly on both sides of the LOS and control the game. It's in one of the toughest places to play in the country. Please stop acting like Rutgers.

 

[Finwad32]

Internet Rule #1: Don't feed the trolls... There is no logic or sense behind their posts, just mindless inflammatory statements.

Example 1: Your mother is a 14th Century Strumpet... Reply: My mother is a saint and a scholar... Inflammatory Reply: Your mother's a scholar at Harlot U... And the wheel continues to spin.

But... It can be fun.

 

[NKR1978]

Are you guys really trolling Clemson fans? When was the last time we were ranked in the top 25? Fact is we have less than 10% chance to win this game. They will beat us soundly on both sides of the LOS and control the game. It's in one of the toughest places to play in the country. Please stop acting like Rutgers.

Who cares? If any of our fans were stupid enough to troll them during basketball season on THEIR MESSAGE BOARD, I'd hope they'd troll those morons right back.

 

[milerock]

I would participate in this thread if I were not so thin skinned...

 

[gbo]

Example 1: Your mother is a 14th Century Strumpet... Reply: My mother is a saint and a scholar... Inflammatory Reply: Your mother's a scholar at Harlot U... And the wheel continues to spin.

But... It can be fun.

Well played sir.