SWC75
Bored Historian
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2011
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- This season feels more and more like 1987, another season when we had a premature breakthrough. I asked Dino Babers if he finally had the roster he really needed to compete in the ACC and he said it would take another year and a half. But the waves seem to be parting. Western Michigan was average and Florida State below average. Wagner and Connecticut were Wagner and Connecticut. Clemson is suddenly down a bunch of freshmen quarterbacks, the primary one a pocket passer. Our d-line has to be salivating. Our problem in recent years is that we’ve been rebuilding. So have many of our opponents in the league but they started rebuilding before we did and were farther along: Wake Forest, NC State, Duke, Boston College, Miami, Louisville. Those schools have now lost key players from the group that pulled them up through the rebuilding process and we are beginning to peak. Those five games after Clemson are all against teams that, to some extent, have taken a step back while we’ve taken one forward. Notre Dame is Notre Dame but hasn’t looked like world-beaters vs. Ball State and Vanderbilt. Boston College got handled by an 0-3 Purdue team. I recall that when we were 5-0 in ’87 and about to play Penn State someone called into to a local radio show and predicted we’d beat the defending national champs and go 11-0. He was politely scoffed at and I agreed that it just wasn’t realistic point of view. But this isn’t reality: It’s football.
- Another thing I remember about 30 years ago is that after that famous victory over Penn State in the Dome in ’87, everyone, Including me) assumed that mighty Penn State would get it’s revenge down in happy Valley the next year. In a much less famous but just as significant game, we beat them down there, 24-10. It proved we were not a fluke and we went on to that 15 year streak of winning seasons. Just because the big, bad national power wants revenge, it doesn’t mean they are going to get it.
- Our guys have been reading for weeks, even months that they have no chance. (So has Clemson.) They can see that Vegas has a 25 point spread on this game. (So can Clemson.)
- Who has Syracuse played? Who has Clemson played? A 2-2 Texas A&M team that they barely beat, a 1-3 Georgia Tech team whose only win was over Alcorn State, Furman and Georgia Southern. Nobody really knows how good they are this time of year.
- Underdogs looking to upset national powers usually hope to do so because of who they have in their backfield. Where they come up short is in their lines. Our lines are the strength of our team, (besides Dungey). They may not be as good as Clemson’s lines but they may be good enough to compete with them and give their backs a chance to make a difference, as they did last year.
- The fact that Trevor Lawrence is a pocket passer, not a scrambler or a dual threat guy, will play right into the arms of our aggressive defensive line.
- Lawrence may be at the beginning of a great career but is he as good as a true freshman as Eric Dungey is as an experienced senior? Yes, he can see the field and make all the throws but does he know what he is looking at? Does he have the trust of his teammates? Is he a leader? Are there going to be guys who resent what happened to Bryant?
- Our kicker has made 10 of 11 field goals, theirs only 3 of 5. If it comes down to a late kick, I like our chances.
- We are #1 in the nation in average field position, (per Matt Park: I couldn’t find Clemson’s ranking on the web). That’s a combination of offensive production, defensive play, (three and outs and turnovers), and the kicking game. The kicking game includes kick-offs, punting, kick returns and average kick returns surrendered.
We are +6 in turnover margin. Clemson is +1.
We are #7 in the country in net punting with 43.6 yard per punt. Clemson is ##93 at 35.4.
We are #15 in punt returns with 19.7 per return and 2 scores, (one on a block). They are #26 at 16.25. We are#16 in punt rerun defense, (1.0 yard per game). They are #71, (8.7 ypg)
We are #80 in kick-off returns with 19.8. They are #11 with 29.25.
The two teams are #4 and #3 respectively in defending kick-off returns, (14.2 vs. 14.0).
We can again win the field position battle and that can make a huge difference.
4-0 with 8+ to go!
LET’S GO ORANGE!!!
- Another thing I remember about 30 years ago is that after that famous victory over Penn State in the Dome in ’87, everyone, Including me) assumed that mighty Penn State would get it’s revenge down in happy Valley the next year. In a much less famous but just as significant game, we beat them down there, 24-10. It proved we were not a fluke and we went on to that 15 year streak of winning seasons. Just because the big, bad national power wants revenge, it doesn’t mean they are going to get it.
- Our guys have been reading for weeks, even months that they have no chance. (So has Clemson.) They can see that Vegas has a 25 point spread on this game. (So can Clemson.)
- Who has Syracuse played? Who has Clemson played? A 2-2 Texas A&M team that they barely beat, a 1-3 Georgia Tech team whose only win was over Alcorn State, Furman and Georgia Southern. Nobody really knows how good they are this time of year.
- Underdogs looking to upset national powers usually hope to do so because of who they have in their backfield. Where they come up short is in their lines. Our lines are the strength of our team, (besides Dungey). They may not be as good as Clemson’s lines but they may be good enough to compete with them and give their backs a chance to make a difference, as they did last year.
- The fact that Trevor Lawrence is a pocket passer, not a scrambler or a dual threat guy, will play right into the arms of our aggressive defensive line.
- Lawrence may be at the beginning of a great career but is he as good as a true freshman as Eric Dungey is as an experienced senior? Yes, he can see the field and make all the throws but does he know what he is looking at? Does he have the trust of his teammates? Is he a leader? Are there going to be guys who resent what happened to Bryant?
- Our kicker has made 10 of 11 field goals, theirs only 3 of 5. If it comes down to a late kick, I like our chances.
- We are #1 in the nation in average field position, (per Matt Park: I couldn’t find Clemson’s ranking on the web). That’s a combination of offensive production, defensive play, (three and outs and turnovers), and the kicking game. The kicking game includes kick-offs, punting, kick returns and average kick returns surrendered.
We are +6 in turnover margin. Clemson is +1.
We are #7 in the country in net punting with 43.6 yard per punt. Clemson is ##93 at 35.4.
We are #15 in punt returns with 19.7 per return and 2 scores, (one on a block). They are #26 at 16.25. We are#16 in punt rerun defense, (1.0 yard per game). They are #71, (8.7 ypg)
We are #80 in kick-off returns with 19.8. They are #11 with 29.25.
The two teams are #4 and #3 respectively in defending kick-off returns, (14.2 vs. 14.0).
We can again win the field position battle and that can make a huge difference.
4-0 with 8+ to go!
LET’S GO ORANGE!!!
