Maryland Preview

Ralph's Dream Stadium

Clemson @ Maryland (1-3)
Lost to Cal 52-13
Beat James Madison 38-35 in OT.
Lost to MTSU 32-31
Lost to Rutgers 34-13
HC: Friedgen, at least til the end of this year.
ESPNU/360-12PM

As FF mentioned below, Fridge started 31-8 at MD and has since gone 34-31. Maryland fans, of course, don't go to the games anymore to help support the team, so I suspect this will be the last time we go to Maryland with the Doughboy as HC.

Maryland is good at...nothing. They can't stop anyone on defense and turn the ball over at the 4th worst rate in the country on offense. So, basically, if we dont obliterate this team, I'm gonna go screaming in the streets and begin my killin' spree sooner than I planned.

Offense-
Fridge has always run a very pro-style offense. He picks about 10 plays and runs them from 50 formations, and it has always given Clemson fits. His OC, James Franklin, is the HC-in-waiting...until they lose about 5 more games in which case they both might get tossed. Franklin now calls the plays and the offense's flavor has changed to a more West-Coast style of play, but for the most part has been very vanilla.

West Coast offenses have emphasis on balanced football from traditional pro-sets (2 WR-1TE-2RB usually). In general, passing in the 1st half for quick scores sets up the run in the 2nd to protect an early lead, but the run game is still important. Overall it's a very detail-oriented approach to the game that emphasizes technique, execution, planning, and strategy over raw talent. Instead of "take what the defense gives you," the overriding philosophy is closer to "make the defense give you what you want by outsmarting and outplaying them." Its a difficult and verbose offense to teach unless its very distilled down and simplified, which is why it doesnt always succeed in college.

According to Bill Walsh, the quick passing of the WCO was only a suppliment to the running game and 5-7 step drop passing game. It didn't "replace" the running game nor was it the base of the offense. It was there to take advantage of bad defensive adjustments and work as a "constraint" to spread the field horizontally, like how spread teams do a variety of things (like bubble screens) to make you respect their spread out WRs.

Maryland returns leading rusher Dorell Scott (209 car, 1,113 yards, 8 TDs) for what seems like his 15th year, WR Torrey Smith can put up big numbers, along the Chia Pet at QB. The biggest problem for Turner and Scott is the OL: they are bad bad (like worse than us). They lost 3 starters off last year's team and Turner has been sacked 14 times already. Ricky Sapp and Bowers will have a field day.

The offense has turned the ball over 13 times, and Clemson should force at least a couple, but if they can run the zone read or a QB Keep and control the clock, they have a shot.

Defense-Maryland has just changed defensive philosophy this year, and it has contributed to their inability to stop anybody so far. They've allowed on average 465 yards per and only forced 2 turnovers. With Chris Cosh (former DC at SC before Nix) they were an even-front 4-3 stack that ran 80% zone coverage, now under Don Brown (former HC at UMASS, best D in 1-AA the last few years) they are a more-attacking style like Clemson's that plays more of a 4-3 Under front with 80% man/man coverage and blitzes quite often.

Alot of their problems have been due to injuries and graduation. They lost 35 seniors last year. Their best Corner fell to a broken tibia, and best Safety only returned for a few plays against Rutgers. Two LBs are playing in the NFL, and 3 DL left for the pros, and their other best CB was drafted by the Redskins.

Clemson should push this defensive front around on the rush and put up good yardage in the air.

The only thing that worries me is Fridge's proven ability to give us fits, but this game should be a blowout and should not come into question at halftime like the shit we saw last year nor be anywhere near as close as in years past.

TCU preview

#15 TCU (2-0) with wins over UVA and Texas State.
Head Coach: Gary Patterson

TI Preview

Offense-A spread/pro-style, not all that disimilar from our own in some respects. Its quite balanced and RB J. Turner is quite good, as are the freshmen behind him through 2 games. QB Andy Dalton threw for 2500 yards last year and yet TCU is primarily a running team, so he's the type that doesnt lose a game for you. Dalton is a very consistent game manager who doesnt turn the ball over much or take big risks, which I would expect from a defensive-minded coach. Dalton is capable of scrambling, but in the several games I saw, he's mostly a statue in the pocket. TCU tends to use alot of 3/4 wide sets in shotgun with a TE and RB, and then also quite a bit of power-running formations to get good matchups. Its what I call an offense that spreads you out just to run on you. TCU also brought back their leading receiver. Their OL is tough and well-coached, but they have never faced a DL as talented as ours. Not even Oklahoma was as talented up front last year.

I do not expect TCU to cause tremendous problems for us, they do not have the same skill talent on offense.....assuming we didnt forget how to tackle.

Defense-Patterson does what Danny Ford once did: he gets speedy athletes and puts them all on defense, then coaches them up to play. Future NFL 1/2nd Rd pick Jerry Hughes (4.5 sacks already) came in as a RB.

We've written the article on the 4-2-5 TCU runs, but this defense loses 7 starters off last year's team, and thats the only reason I think Clemson can have an edge on them. If this was 2008, I'd predict loss, because no way our OL could handle the pressure. The unit has had at least one sack in 26 consecutive games. Their secondary is good at CB, but weaker at safety. They lose 3 of 4 DL starters, only Hughes returned, so we should "in theory" be able to do something with the other side of the line.

But TCU plays pressure, and have been susceptible to big plays. OU beat them on long plays last season, not sustained drives. Virginia had some success with their new spread in the running game, due to the very large splits on their OL. Generally Cover 2 teams dont zone blitz as much (recall Tampa 2 is actually Cover 3) because with two playing deep and one underneath zone being vacated by a blitzer, it creates an extra seam or a mismatch with a DL on a receiver over the middle. However with 5 DBs, and split coverage, TCU has fared better with it.

As of right now, Hairston is still leaning to "no-go" but its a gametime decision. IF we cannot have him in, then Plan B must be to run directly at Hughes and wear him out, as well as keep the TE in to block. If I were Napier, I would try to take advantage of overpursuit by running HB screens to Spiller, but since he didnt do it against Morgan, who the hell knows.

BC Preview

Record: 2-0, defeated Northeastern and Kent State handily.
Head Coach: Frank Spaziani, longtime DC at Boston College and a former assistant under George Welsh at UVA.

AthlonSports Preview

Offense-Jagz and OC Steve Logan are gone, as is much of their pass-happy West Coast flavor. They are attempting to transition back to a balanced offense with former NFL coordinator Gary Tranquill (also a coach for UVA under Welsh, and OC at UNC in the early '00s) and the offense had a difficult time adjusting to the new scheme in spring ball.

They return their 2008 receptions leader Rich Gunnell and their top RB Montel Harris (900 yards in '08) and Josh Haden (479yds), but their other WRs are very tall guys. All but one OL is back, and its a mammoth OL. This is the only thing that worries me about BC: their OL has always given us fits.

For the most part, they are a pro-style 1-2 back offense, with some no-huddle. There are similarities with their offense and Clemson's in that respect. Its not a mystery, as Kevin Steele says he has faced Tranquill before and its pretty conventional. Steele says both backs are small and tend to hide behind the big OL, and yet are able to break tackles well in film.

How would you describe a Gary Tranquill offense?

"NFL, traditional. He's going power running game, he's going to formation you to death. Every game there's going to be a wrinkle or two in there formation-wise, something out of unbalanced or motioning or shifting or something that's going to get you discombobulated. You've got to refocus and get it corrected quick. There will be something."

I watched about half of their game against Kent State, and was surprised at their OL play, they were having fits. Steele was asked about that:

What did you make of Kent State's defensive line against Boston College? It looked like they gave B.C. a little trouble.

"There's more in their portfolio than Gary has shown. They were pretty basic in the first two games. I think they were trying to establish themselves physically and take care of the ball. Gary, the guy has coached a bunch of snaps. You've got two freshman quarterbacks. Maybe he held it back because he didn't need it. And being early in the season with two young quarterbacks, you probably don't need to put that much on their plate. I'm sure that's part of it. I mean, those guys are brand new - brand new.

Defense
-BC has really lost a great deal of what made them so good against us the last few years. They lost more of their front-7 talent than anyone in the conference. BJ Raji was a 1st rd pick at DT, and Ron Brace was a 2nd rounder. At MIKE, last year’s ACC defensive player of the year Mark Herzlich was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer and will miss the season. Mike McLaughlin, who finished 2nd in tackles last year with 89 (and 10.5 TFL), ruptured his Achilles tendon during spring conditioning. The 3rd LB graduated. They lose only the starting safety from last season's squad that was tied with Florida for INTs at #1.

Schemewise, its pretty traditional like Georgia Tech. A base 4-3 that zone blitzes mostly on early downs and plays a safe 3-5-3 on definite passing situations. They dont trick you, but they do generally tackle well and play good coverage without having the best recruits in the country.

Clemson finally got the BC monkey off our back last year (27-20) in what was likely Dabo's most pivotal win as HC, and recall it was a game Bowden would've lost. Then they turned around and won their last 3 games and the Atlantic Division. Its hard to think that they will have success against our defense with a RS Fr. QB running the show. They will be able to run the ball, but if we stack the box that wont continue. Similarly, with them losing two NFL DTs and LB Mark Herzlich (ACC Def. POY), I dont see their defense posing a terrible amount of trouble for us. Clemson should be able to pound the ball inside and use that to open up the passing game.

GT Preview

GT Record: 1-0 after handling Jacksonville State last week.
Returning starters: 9 offense, 8 defense
Head Coach: Paul Johnson, 10-4 at GT, 117-43 overall
Won two Div. 1-AA National Titles at Georgia Southern in 1999 and 2000, and played for another in 1998. Went 45-29 at Navy.....NAVY! Only one losing season while he was there.

GT Offense: Well we all know its the Flexbone by now. We've covered in detail how to defend against the option attack and the passing attack he utilizes within his system as well. In addition, the Birddog (Navy fan site) has gone over the same things in this post on defensing the option, as well as the myths about it...pay close attention to the last one.

Yes, teams will find ways to defend it, but, GT will get better at running it. Johnson points out that nearly everyone runs a pro-style offense of some kind, and have for the last 10-15 years, but nobody is better at defending it now schemewise than they were before. The team with the better players wins, you dont win with just scheme. Hell, look at the Gamecocks.

However, its not a well-oiled machine early in the season and we are lucky to catch them now instead of later. Indeed, though GT ran the score up in the 1st half of the Jax State game, I noticed they were not very sharp at the QB position. Dwyer is Dwyer, but Nesbitt was careless with the football with some late pitches and bad decisions. Thats correctable, but lets hope he's that careless this week.

If they can pass the ball however, watch out. I was surprised they did not work on this wrinkle as much in the game last week, simply because they were new things put in during this spring to expand the "Flex" part of the bone. Demaryius Thomas is a great WR, along the lines of those who have killed us in the past. If he was in a passing offense, he'd be talked about more than Dwyer.

That said, Clemson has the best DE tandem in this league and we are capable of slowing down this attack. Recall the key player in defending the option is the DE. Jenkins and Thompson are whoppers and can plug the middle.

Brandon Maye and D. McDaniel had great games last week, and either they will again this week, or Dwyer will. Expect Alexander in at SAM quite a bit, and McDaniel to play in the box.

Kevin Steele was interviewed tuesday afternoon by reporters and had a few things to say about defending GT. He mentioned that the staff had worked on GT in the preseason and he had caught part of the Navy-Ohio State game, and noted that Florida's offense is more option than people realize. He has never faced the Bone as a coordinator, but obviously having worked at Nebraska and Tennessee back in the day, he has faced it as an assistant. He had an opinion on why the option is no longer prevalent as a total system anymore:

Steele. "I just talked to the guys at ESPN about that. Their question was, can this (option) offense work (in college football today)? And the answer is yes. It can. It was working when people stopped doing it. What happen was a recruiting thing. Everybody wanted to go to the NFL, so quarterbacks wanted to be at schools where they were throwing it around and that's why you walk out here in the summer time or any other college campus and they've got 50 teams in a passing camp. You go to any high school and they're out there throwing it around out there. That had been the case for years in California and it sort of swept through the rest of the nation. So there's just not a lot of people running the option today. You just don't see it a lot in high school games. You can go to high school games now and at times barely see a running back. A lot of people are shotgun snapping. There are coaches who sign quarterbacks who have never spent any time under center. That transition has affected why people went away from the option. It wasn't because it wasn't working."

Then on Thomas

How do they work Thomas into their option game?

Steele. "You could put him in any offense and he would run a hitch and a slant. But that's not where the scary part is. The scary part is they arc the back out to take the corner and crack Thomas to take the safety, then here goes the pitch and you have to make the tackle and the next time Thomas goes to crack the safety, the corner goes off of him a little bit quick with his eyes. Chris Chancellor and Crezdon Butler have covered a lot of good wideouts. But there's not a load back coming at them with a pitch man and the ball on the line of scrimmage, and now they've got to change their eyes."

GT Defense
GT's defensive line did little against Jax State and Clemson averages about 30 lbs more up front. Jax State had success with their RB running up the A-gap against those DTs. GT's defensive ends play well, particularly Morgan (#94). Most of the time they played a strongside-shifted and occasionally stack 4-3 and some Nickel (Jax runs the spread). Pressure came from the LBs on blitzes around the outside and up the B-gap mostly. I expect them to blitz on 3rd downs, with the young Dline, to get pressure.

Clemson SHOULD be able to run the ball inside, even though their LBs are fairly quick and the SS Bennett is very good. Also, our Tackles are big enough to slow down their DEs.

Injuries of note
GT's Speedy Wingback Roddy Jones will play Thursday, while backup B-back (Fullback) Preston Lyons will miss the game. Should Nesbitt go down, GT is short-handed at QB with backup Jaybo Shaw having broken his collarbone a few weeks ago, however their backup did play considerable snaps in the opener.

MTSU Preview

Sept. 5, 6pm ESPN360

Head coach: Rick Stockstill
4th year: 17-20
Last season: 5-7, with a win over Maryland 24-14 in Week 2, and were barely beaten by Kentucky (tackled at the 1 yd line for the winning score as time expired). Stock won the Sun Belt in 2007.

Coach Stockstill is hurting in the numbers department, suffering scholarship losses because of the APR numbers years ago.

"We've really played with one hand tied behind our back, so to speak. We've been playing more as a I-AA team, in the numbers department"

But Stock believes his greatest accomplishment has been the increase in the APR performance, which has risen 43 points since they were ranked at the bottom of the NCAA scores in 03-04. Last February was the first time he's been able to sign a full class.

Returning Lettermen:
Off. 20, Def. 22, ST 4. 16 starters returning along with 2007 QB Dwight Dasher (2600yds in 07) who has the speed and quickness to be lethal in a spread offense. Like Dantzler, his arm is not particularly strong, but he is quite elusive.

"Dwight (Dasher) has great natural talent and a good feel as a runner and thrower with the potential to be dynamic," said OC Tony Franklin. "Dwight is still learning to be a leader but if he continues to improve he could be a special player

from, Local MTSU preview

From the CFN preview

The receiving corps should be the best in the Sun Belt, the O-line is fantastic, the backfield is loaded with speed, the secondary will be among the league’s best, and the pass rush will be improved. It’s all there to go on the best run in the Rick Stockstill era, but that also means the program has to fight its past.

The most notable addition to the staff this offseason has been Offensive Coordinator Tony Franklin, he who was fired at Auburn midseason (I strongly suggest reading this article). This team ran the spread under Stock previously, but Franklin is regarded as a spread guru (he learned under Hal Mumme and Mike Leach) and the changes wont be significant to their scheme. After a fallout with the coaches at Kentucky (Mumme) he started his own coaching clinic site. He later was hired and won at Troy, which is in the same conference as MTSU. His offense is run by Hoover High in Alabama, of the MTV show. The Hoover playbook is available for download here.

Other notable Clemson connections are Les Herrin, LB/DL coach here under Ford, Hatfield, and West, as well as former QB Willie Simmons (RB Coach) and Justin Watts (WR Coach). Roderic Blunt, son of Rodney, is expected to be in the LB rotation as a freshman.

Offensive Preview from CFN
Best Offensive Player: Senior RB Phillip Tanner (6' 211), who has had injury issues over his career, but who should be healthy and ready to go for Clemson. He ran for 714 yards with 15 TDs as well as 13 receptions for 135 and a TD. The rest of their RB corps is built of speedy scatback types, not bruisers like Tanner. All 5 starters return on the OL, and 10 starters overall on O.

Receivers for MTSU are fairly short speedy types similar to Airese Currie or Jacoby Ford, but they return E. King (51rec. 598-4TD), Honeycutt (51rec. 513-3), Beyah (33-550-5). Beyah is the gamebreaker threat to stay with. Only one receiver is 6'4" and he's the 4th man.

Defensive Preview from CFN
Best Defensive Player: Junior FS Jeremy Kellem, leader of a veteran secondary thats the best in their conference. The LB corps returns its best tackler Dan Carmichael as well. Its not expected to be the best D in the Sun Belt, particularly against the run, but has the speed and veterans to stop Clemson should our offense decide to play like the Wake Forest debacle.

The defensive front is rather light, one end is 252, the other is 228, the two tackles are 312 and 263. Only one starting End is over 6'2." The reserves are hardly any different. Clemson should not have an issue pushing this line around, their speed and quickness is the only worry.

The LB corps brings Carmichael, and little else. Freshmen are expected to contribute, they have speed but little experience. Also, while the Secondary is experienced, they are very inconsistent, and Clemson should put up 250 yards or so against them. The defense brings back 6 starters overall.

Thoughts? Predictions?