Impressions before looking at the film...37-14 victory

-Jacoby needs to catch passes that hit him in the hands, two big plays could've happened had he just done that. He made a few great ones, and dropped a few as well.

-Parker looks fine to me.

-Korn just dropped the damn ball, the guy had not yet touched him. Korn's INT in the 2nd half was more the WR's fault.

-The OL is doing ok given that there are 8-9 in the box, but play is generally sporadic, particularly at the goal line. I was not happy that Rendrick did not get in on those plays. Not impressed with goal line play whatsoever, but did like the playcaling on all but one time in the red zone. They just have to execute the plays.

-Where is that commitment to playing CJ Spiller? Guys like CJ dont leave the game with 7 touches. Was he injured? I can see taking him out early for next week.

-Special teams returns look outstanding, the missed long FGs were just long. I hope for 60-70% over 40yds. Jackson was very close on the 2nd but pushed it right.

-Defense is playing a few 3-3 fronts, and generally bringing at least one more when they play 3 down. I see several fire zone blitzes and 5-man pressures in front of a Cover 3. What they also seem to be doing is simply standing up Sapp or Branch and playing 3 down linemen, but sending the Bandit anyway.

-Anybody know where Jeff Scott, WoodyMac, and Pearman got those Block C hats?

Thoughts on last night....one day to go.

Pretty much everyone is talking about Oregon RB L. Blount, after he coldcocked a Boise State player last night, but I don't have much to say about it. He talked trash in the offseason, saying that Boise State "deserved an ass-whoopin" and then they got taken behind the woodshed last night.

The BSU player, #94 Hout, tapped him on the shoulder and said something he should not have said. Probably somethin about "hows that ass whoopin bitch?" or a use of the N word. He provoked it, and probably deserved to have his ass knocked out for doing that, thats still bad sportsmanship on HIS part.

That said, Blount should be suspended a minimum of 3 games for that punch, and considering that he's been in trouble this offseason, and that he let himself lose his cool by threatening a fan (though the fan was talkin shit too, clearly), I'd kick him off my team period.

UPDATE: Blount has been suspended for the rest of the year by Oregon. Hout has been "internally disciplined."


(courtesy EDSBS and LSUFreek)

Otherwise, the only surprise last night was Spurrier's commitment to an inside power running game, and the SLUGGISH NC State team. I suspect the Cluckers will have a pretty good defense, and give UGA a fight next week because they usually do and UGA overlooks them. They'll lose to UGA, unless the meteor strike I've been praying for happens, and then proclaim they'll not lose again til Florida.

When what really will happen is that they'll beat FAU, then crumble at midseason. Their young secondary will eventually give up alot of yards, and anyone with a brain who knows them will know that all you ever have to do to SC to win is POUND them up the middle.

NC State showed me that Russell Wilson really does have an NFL-quick release, his WRs cant catch and the TE, who was open the first half, is slower than molasses.
They were weak up front on BOTH sides, until late in the 3rd, and did alright to prevent SC from killing them when they lost field position in the 1st half. I suspect O'Brien will salvage this team and they'll be playing much better when we come on the schedule.

Links
-Scott Rhymer's best article, in my opinion. Just block somedamnbody and you'll win.

-Clemson pulled in its 3rd commit for 2011, Brandon Ellerbe (6'1 200, 4.5) from NC. Its nice to pull in players from NC, we used to own that state. He projects as a safety. He's been looked at by Duke, Vandy, and Virginia, and was very interested in UGA and Florida. His teammate is the top LB in NC, who we lead for, and another is a good OL recruit. We may pull in all three, but its too early to think about.

-The State has a video of Swinney and Parker previewing MTSU in the press conference earlier this week, coachspeak stuff.

-The AP writes about the season D. Bowers and Ricky Sapp should have, and an interview with Chris Chancellor.

-RichRod's troubles at West Virginia have been linked with Clemson booster Lamar Greene, whose name vaguely rings a bell with me, as well as Ron West.

-Sawchik points out the possibility of upset tomorrow.

-Several tidbits in this Strelow article, about the QB being a new dimension in Franklin's system, and mix & match of our WRs in different positions on the field. Also, the less-talked-about trip to Austin this offseason to meet with the Texas staff earlier in winter.

Season Opening Notes

Here are a few items that we will key on throughout this season.

Clemson's ability to dictate its own destiny. Under Tom Bowden, the offensive strategy was to react to what the defense put in front of our offense. This idea was evident in the TB era (though not the entire time), with Clemson lining up at the LOS then looking to the sideline for the actual play. While I am all for gathering all information before making a decision, I do not believe in this strategy. I think that overall trends, down and distance indicators, and overall team strengths (for both teams) should dictate a strategy. This should also dictate play calling decisions. Too many times I think Clemson has gotten into game situations and the coaches have tried to "out think" the opponents. IMO, this agenda ruins game rhythm and the fluidity of an offensive series. This criticism blends in with the previous blog (Swinney/Spence) on this issue.

I would also like to clarify my stance on adjustments--they are absolutely necessary. I just do not believe that (on a 24 second play rotation--this simplifies the "new" clock rules) a coach can get a team into a formation in 5 seconds, have the defense line up within that 5 seconds, make efficient calculations and signal in a new play in 15 seconds, and effectively run the play in 4 seconds--please excuse the roughness of these assumptions. In short, it is very rare in the college game of football that a group of coaches can digest all this information in such a short period of time, relay said information to players 40 yards away through hand signals, then expect the players to digest this information in a short period of time and gain a significant advantage.

I believe that the tempo and objective (run/pass/special play ratio) should be set by the play caller at the onset of the drive (i.e., the offensive coordinator should have a good idea of the layout of plays and how they will play out before the team begins a given drive). The offensive objective should also be set in pre-game preparation (study of game film). This plan should involve plays that the offense is capable of executing. When properly prepared, it is the play caller who pulls the right strings at the correct point in time and takes advantage of the preparation done throughout the week and throughout the game. The last portion of that sentence was the most important, as I honestly believe that Clemson under TB made the least game time adjustments of any team I can remember (see CU vs. UMd last year and CU vs Auburn in the Peach Bowl, as Clemson had no answer to the defensive adjustments these teams made). Bottom line...preparation is everything. Once the game starts, the war is broken down to individual battles for the offensive coordinator, with each battle being each individual offensive series.

Let me stop the digression...the coaches should have a good idea of the play call before the actual play. If there is a huge problem the qb can call a time out or (if the coaches allow) audible. Play calling is a chess game. Each coach knows his player and (through film study) should know the other players and other teams. Down and situation is the third variable to this situation (by knowing down and situation coupled with watching film and what the team has done in the game thus far, you should know the other team's tendencies). The items in parentheses dictate why a coach should be able to dictate plays from the sideline without much qualm.

The final point that I will make regarding controlling your own destiny is that this staff seems to be more proactive. Swinney has already said that all positions are up for grabs all the times. This is in direct opposition to TB's strategy of not changing until the system is broken beyond repair (or TB is about to get his ass fired, in Willie Simmon's case). Tom's strategy was to make a decision and never alleviate from this decision (particularly from a personnel standpoint). Swinney "hires and fires" on a daily basis. This increased competition will not only drive the players to practice and play better but will also ensure that the best and most prepared players on a weekly/daily basis will be utilized in game situations.

Thus, this long winded dictation says that Clemson cannot be a reactionary unit and must play to its strengths against its opponents weaknesses in game situations. We cannot wait for a player to fall into place, we must go out and find this person. By calling a play from the sidelines and running the play (or allowing the QB to audible at the LOS), you build rhythm and dictate the tempo of a drive. By creating competition weekly for all positions, you ensure that the best players will be on the field at all times.

Clemson's ability to maintain consistency. This issue is one that has peeved us over the years. One week the Tigers are world-beaters, the next we cannot beat Duke. Can the Tigers avoid the peaks and valleys that we have seen out of this team over the past 10 years? The big difference between this team and teams of the past is motivation by the coaching staff. This staff seems to have more of the "get after your ass" mentality than the previous group. I think that mistakes made this season will be more from lack of experience from a head coaching standpoint than a lackadaisical attitude by the team.

I also think that the simplification of the offense/reduction of the playbook coupled with more repetition in practice will allow the Tigers to execute more consistency. Repetition is the only way to drive home an idea/technique, and in turn gain consistency. You can bet Dabo will have the guys excited about playing football each week.

Physical Play that is Technically Sound. Nothing pisses me off worse than an arm tackle...and I have been regularly pissed off watching the Tigers the past few years. I will be interested to see the effect of the new coaches on this team. We are watching for mistakes all year long. You can bet your sweet ass that mistakes will be brought up on this blog, simply because they are avoidable and are often the difference between 3 pts and 6, getting the ball with 3 min left or 45 seconds left on the clock, winning and losing.

The new coaches (specifically Pearman, as a former TE here at CU) brings a fire for physical play. Swinney himself is committed to physical play. The effect of this commitment should be seen in goal line and short yardage situations. It should also be evident in the 4th quarter. The more physical team usually polishes off its opponent by wearing them down to nothing by the end of the game.

On a side note, congratulations to Coach Ford on being a member of the 2009 Football Championship Game Legends Class. Coach Ford is well deserving of such an honor and continues to contribute to Clemson University.

It is a travesty that Clemson University will not put the Block C on the side of the stadium...this is an issue that I am positive will be discussed in future blog.

Its about damn time he gets recognized

Danny Ford can be in the ACC Legends Class, but not in the Ring of Honor alone itself?

Ford, who now lives just outside of Clemson in Pendleton, S.C., began his head coaching career as the youngest head coach (30 years old) in Division I football with a win over Ohio State in the 1978 Gator Bowl. Three years later, he led the Tigers to the 1981 national championship and was named National Coach of the Year. In all, Ford compiled five ACC Football Championships in his 11 seasons as head coach of Clemson. His winning percentage of .760 is the third highest in ACC history and he ranks second only to FSU’s Bobby Bowden in most bowl victories while an ACC coach with six. His 96 victories, while Clemson’s head coach, are fourth-best in ACC history. At one stretch his Clemson teams were ranked among the Associated Press’ rankings for 41 consecutive weeks and his Tiger teams earned 18 wins over nationally-ranked opponents.

Make it happen Dabo.

Inside the Steele Curtain: Defending the spread with the Nickel defense

The first topic to address is the misconception that the spread offense is a system on its own, it isnt. The spread is a set of formations with 3 or more wide receivers, thats all. Steele comments in his press conference that he expects multiple formations from Tony Franklin's offense: wishbone, zone read, and read options. The 4-3 front is capable of defending the spread, and can handle anything another team throws at you, but there are a few things to go through each week to decide whether to take out that LB and put in another DB.

Vic Koenning ran a 4-2-5 here last year, as does TCU. But their schemes are very different. VK's we've covered, and its a more spot drop read-and-react zone scheme where the SAM LB was actually more like a SS. This week, you will see Clemson doing things on defense that you will likely see from TCU's in a couple weeks.

Why go to a Nickel look?
1. You are putting more speed on the field. Usually you recruit another safety and bulk him up to playing a hybrid SS/SLB role, like DeAndre McDaniel.

2. Its a one-gap defense. LBs only really watch one gap, and their alignment doesn't hardly change from formation to formation. However, should they miss their gap on a running play, you are toast. Depending on the reduction of the front, sometimes one or two LBs may have two gaps to cover in a 4-3.

A 4-4 scheme like VT is not all that dissimilar to teach. Their LBs are more like SS's, its just that they do different things with the front. It can be equally good against the spread.

3. Speaking of which, you can do different things with your free safety. A true FS is a deep player who is a sure tackler, but can cover alot of the field. Nickel is suited to more Cover 3, and he's more of a safety valve. In a 4-3, he has to be more of an attacking player, and a better tackler, and I would say more of a field general. In a 5DB look, you can take a smaller faster FS and put him deep, and recruit two SS's and put them in the game. As a result, the SS position becomes easier to play because his checks are simpler, and can be a real hitter or run-stopper (Hamlin) like a Linebacker. This would also mean the FS gets less exposure in run-support, something which makes them famous and gets headlines as a heavy hitter (Ronnie Lott).

4. Ask yourself 'Are they using the Spread formation to create problems in the running game?' Rich Rodriguez does this, as does Urban Meyer. His spread is not about the pass, its about spreading you out and creating running lanes. If you run a 4-3, it makes sense to play the spread with your base, if that is the case.

5. Particular formations are easier to cover, as in Twins, or Doubles.


This week, going to the Nickel, Sadat Chambers will be in the game more as the FS, with Gilchrist as the nickel corner. His position is not just like that of a true corner on the edge, but teaching him the things he needs to use as the FS in the base 4-3 will work at nickel.

The major problem to watch for is whether they decide to run 4 verticals, e.g. from doubles above, and you're stuck in Cover 3. The underneath zone defender is playing a matchup zone (tight man within his zone) and once two players release into the deep 3rd, a CB or S has to play two guys by himself. How do we deal with that?

The first adjustment, particularly if they play Twins or Trips, is to bring your FS over to the wide side (VK did this quite a bit) and play a 1/4, 1/4, half coverage. Its still cover 3 matchup, and the CB is playing one half the field with the boundary as his help. He must force his reciever outside or he could be toast.



This corner is not quite playing a deep Cover 3, as he has no underneath help, and its more of a matchup zone/man coverage now. The FS is rolled over onto a weaker receiver in the slot (since he usually has not-as-good man coverage skills), likely Gilchrist but perhaps McDaniel. A weak safety (probably Chambers this week for MTSU) will be playing deep middle.

Against an empty backfield, you simply have to matchup one-on-one. You can still play cover 3, and you can disguise who is actually going deep, but its likely to still be the safeties as their alignment will already be deeper pre-snap. Its more likely that this is when you'll see straight-man coverage and blitzing the LBs.

To take the problem of a CB/S having to play two guys in his deep 3rd, you can switch to Quarters coverage. This brings us back to boundary/field adjustments, which we ran last year under Koenning. The passing strength is set to the Field (wide) side, or the side with the most WRs. Usually the left side, since a RH QB throws to his right, which is the left from our perspective. I will mention more about Cover 4/Quarters and "Bronco" against Trips at some later time.

Pressuring the QB.
There are many things you can do from the Nickel, but I don't believe its as versatile as the 3-5-3 or even the 4-3 when it comes to crazy blitz angles. You will see some CB/S blitzing, and DL pressure is created through the use of stunts. Here is one particular blitz from Saban's playbook: a cover 1 CB blitz (star "*" is the nickel back, "$" is either a Sam or Will (now called Money), but sometimes another big safety). From Steele's comments this will be Scotty Cooper.

The dotted lines indicate who matches up on who in man coverage. If the TE blocks down, or the Back stays in to block, one of the two LBs becomes a Robber. The term "even" refers to the front reduction and the placement of the DL and LBs.

The DTs, in this front, each have 2-gap responsibilities. Everyone else has one. The
LBs, Mac and Money, key the OG and nearest RB. The Ends key the TE/NB/OT in that order.

Finally, a Cover 3 zone blitz. First you declare your front, in this case "Okie"


Notice the Nickel and SS switch responsibilities again, with the SS picking up the slot WR off the line and rolling down into his underneath zone opposite Money. There is a gap in the middle of the field to the TE side that Mac may not be able to cover from his hook zone. His responsibility will be more the RB than that TE.

In a Trey formation (3 WRs to one side, 1 RB, 1 TE) the adjustment is straightforward, with the CB shifting over top of the TE bracketed with the FS. Nickelback gets matched up on the inside slot man, with the SS rolling over the 2nd slot man. This generally can be given a double call and they'd check into a 1/4, 1/4, 1/2 setup with that CB ruling one whole side of the field. For Trips, shifted to the opposite side, the FS becomes the blitzer, with the nickel taking the flat and the SS dropping back in the middle.

I will save more on Nickel pressures for TCU game-week.

Just as an aside, I noticed Chris at Smartfootball wrote a blog on the scrape and defending the zone-read play using a 4-2-5, and since we'll see this play from our own offense many times, I think you should check it out. It'll also give a hint about TCU's philosophy.

Its almost time....

Napier Press Conference highlights:
-The Installation of the offense is done (actually most of this is done in about 2 weeks, and then they work on details and rep plays), and the call sheet (scripted plays) will be done tonight for MTSU. Napier is not the only one scripting the plan, the whole offensive staff is contributing, along with Swinney. This should certainly speed up the tempo of the offense, and give them confidence that they are dictating to the D, rather than reacting. You should see LOTS of formations, purposefully so, to show how they will react to certain formations and packages, then the coaches react off of that information the rest of the game.
-"A light has come on for Cory Lambert at RT" but he adds that Pearman has to keep his foot in his ass.
-MTSU plays good coverage (note we alluded to their experienced secondary) and tackled pretty well last season.
-He'd take the first 7 guys on the OL right now, after that, he's not so confident.
-Brandon Clear has advanced a bit in the last week, with Dye out (hammy). He believes its more a confidence thing than his skills that are lacking.

The rest is just coachspeak garbage.

Steele had a little more to say during his meeting with reporters that interested me.

Q. Could you talk about the difficulty of getting to Middle Tennessee's quarterback?

Steele. "They're taking the snap at about 6, 6 ½ yards, drifting to 10 or 11, sometimes 12 yards deep and getting it out of his hands. So there's a little more time there than what you think. But there's so much distance. I mean, it's an 11-yard sprint for the front four.

"The change in the offense to Tony's system is not that drastic. They had 12 games last year and gave up 15 sacks. Then Troy (where Franklin was before Auburn) gave up 18 sacks in 12 or 13 games. You've got to affect them, but it's hard to get them on the ground."

Q. Does Franklin use the quarterback as more of a running threat than Middle Tennessee has?

Steele. "That's really kind of new in his system. In the Kentucky days with (Hal) Mumme and (Mike) Leach, that was not a factor with the quarterback running. I think what's going on at Florida has kind of filtered into that system. There's the zone-read and the orbit option, where they motion the wide receiver in and create the split-back veer or sometimes even the wishbone concept with the pitchman. We have to look at all those, because really there's not a lot of tape on that at Troy. And then at Auburn, it was a two-headed monster. (Brandon) Cox didn't run any time, and (Kodi) Burns did. And the new guy who played at Auburn the early part of last season was not a runner.

Expect liberal substitution on the front due to that amount of sprinting, and more Robber with Maye playing Spy on the QB. When asked about Franklin's struggles at Auburn last year he mentioned the real reason why...."its sometimes tainted by higher powers."

As Dinich writes below and I expand on a little there and previously in reference to GT's option, Alexander will not play much SAM this week. Clemson will be in mostly a Nickel package, similar to what we ran last year in look (but more versatile in blitzing). I am thinking of a post on defending the spread, hopefully I'll get it out this week.

Q. Could you reflect on the decision to move Kevin Alexander to SAM linebacker?

Steele. "Obviously he's a big man, and he's very powerful and strong. That's really negated this week because the SAM linebacker is probably not going to be on the field at any time this game, unless they start putting two-back sets out there with a tight end. At this point in time, we'd probably pay them to do that."

-Himself, Brooks, and Rumph will be on the sideline. Harbison will be in the press box. He doesnt see it as a potential issue, since he and Harbison both worked for Dom Capers and Saban in the past.
-Some work was done in Camp on the first 6 opponents, similar to Saban and Capers' systems.

Links and news
-Ron Morris writes about his Clemson predictions.

Clemson is talented enough to defeat Middle Tennessee, Boston College, Maryland, Wake Forest, Miami, Coastal Carolina and Virginia. The only likely loss is at Georgia Tech, with toss-up games against TCU, Florida State, N.C. State and South Carolina.

Let's say Clemson wins one of the toss-up games, leaving the Tigers with an 8-4 regular-season record and an Atlantic Division championship. Then Clemson will find its match in the ACC title game, losing to BCS-bound Virginia Tech.

Clemson will head to the Chick-fil-A Bowl for the third time in the past seven seasons. No matter the outcome against Arkansas in Atlanta, the Tigers will have proven they are a championship-caliber club.

I think Ron has it all wrong, as usual. TCU is a toss-up? In any other year I might say yes, but if we can't score on a defense that lost most of what they had, considering its early in the season (I wouldnt want them in November), then the rest of those Ws he predicts are going in the toilet.

And the Cluckers? Gimme a damn break.

-Then his Clucker-article of the week, on Spurriers rise to fame at the hands of NC State.

-Martavis Bryant, the first verbal for next year's class, is now a soft commitment. He says theres a 90% chance he'll come to Clemson, but he wants to take his visits and look at whats around. Friday night his T.L. Hanna team will play Daniel, and he should match up with DeAndre Hopkins a little. I might make it to see T.L. Hanna play Gaffney in a couple weeks.

-I thought this article on SCsportssource was pretty good, on the idea that football is religious on the South.

-The genius Heather Dinich talks about Kevin Alexander's role in some defensive packages, which is not quite a platoon with Scotty Cooper as some might believe.

When the Tigers' defense lines up in their nickel and dime packages, Alexander will be used as a defensive end, the position he's played most of his career at Clemson. But when they're in regular calls, Alexander will morph into another bandit end that's used exactly like a strongside linebacker. The new responsibilities Alexander had to learn were only about 20 percent more than he was used to, Steele said. The bandit end is an outside linebacker/defensive end depending on the call.

Prior to Steele's arrival, Clemson's defense had been heavily a nickel package defense, using five defensive backs and two linebackers. Because of that, the linebackers were good athletes, but didn't have much size. In some of Steele's calls, he said he needs a strongside linebacker to "create a telephone post on the end of the line of scrimmage."

"Obviously a 220-pound telephone post is not quite as effective as a 265-pound telephone post," Steele said. "If the tight end blocks down and you've got to take a pulling guard on, obviously he's a pretty massive fellow running in there."

While this quote might make you think its going to be only Cooper in Nickel/Dime packages, as a MAC/MONEY backer (the two LBs in most Nickel/Dime schemes are renamed Mac(MIKE) and MONEY($) usually) with Brandon Maye, it is not going to be Alexander in at SAM in most pass-definite situations even with 3 LBs in the game, he's just not used to playing coverage yet.

It also gives you a hint that we won't line up in a true 4-3 everytime, note the mention of "hybrid end/OLB"...this means we will see 3-4 looks from the front, this is an NFL-like multiple scheme.

-Brad Scott said Cloy tended to wear down during the course of a game last season, so Freeman, who pushed for the starting job the first two weeks of preseason camp, should see regular playing time.

“Cloy doesn't have the ability to play 60 snaps. He gets washed out a little bit so therefore I need to get Freeman in there a little bit,” Scott said. “I'm going to definitely rotate centers.”

-Top 10 ACC games to see, via ESPN.

6. Florida State at Clemson, Nov. 7: The talent and speed on the field in this game will be impressive, as will the matchup between FSU offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher and Clemson first-year defensive coordinator Kevin Steele. This game will feature two frontrunners for the Atlantic Division.
10. Clemson at NC State, Nov. 14: Both programs should be in contention for the Atlantic Division this season, and this game could push one ahead of the other. At this point in the season, Clemson quarterback Kyle Parker should be playing like a veteran, and it could be a great matchup of quarterbacks with Russell Wilson.

I really think the GT/CU game should be on here instead of either FSU or NCSU. This game will show us how good we are, and how polished the 'Bone is running in Atlanta.

-Trevor Booker has a low-grade stress fracture and a contusion, but should be just fine, if he doesnt aggravate or make it worse, for the season opener.

-Geathers gets a "modified" one-game suspension at Sakerlina, imagine that.

Swinney Press Conference: MTSU

Transcript from CUTigers is edited from the audio version on TNet. For the most part, I thought the press conference was much better than a Tammy we're-one-play-away/they-have-85-schollies-too presser.

Highlights in his opening statement on MTSU:

Defensively, it always has to be stop the run. I know Coach Franklin is their coordinator and he'll spread you out and run the football. He did against us after only taking over 10 days beforehand. Us being able to stop the run is critical. They want to be able to run the ball if they can.

Their quarterback has played running back for them. He wasn't the starting quarterback last year but he's played it before. We have to contain him defensively. We can't let their quarterback do what he wants to do.

They don't give up a lot of sacks because they throw the ball so quickly...You look at how they beat Maryland last year they created a lot of turnovers and had a big play with a fake punt.

It's going to be a big test for us.

Some things I thought were notable:

Have you determined when and how Willy will play Saturday?
Swinney: No. That's not something we are going to pin down, its based on the flow of the game.

Which you would expect, I wouldnt tell the other team when he's going to play either. He didnt give any hints whether it would be for every 3rd series or the 2nd half or anything. But, I still think he could be in the game anywhere from a quarter to a whole half.

Looking at Middle Tennessee, they run a high-risk, high-reward defensive package. Do you expect to see some of your guys, especially Jacoby Ford in one-on-one matchups as they try to stack the box?
Swinney: They bring all that stuff. They have a lot blitzes. that's easy to figure out. If I'm going against C.J. Spiller I'm putting 10 men in there and seeing who else can make a play. But that's what football is about. That's why it's important to be a balanced football team. No question, everybody is going to challenge us- our quarterbacks and wide receivers and tight ends early. The beautiful thing about C.J. is there are a lot of ways to get him the football without lining up and turning around and handing it to him. That's all the game within the game. Certainly they are going to try and stop the run and make Kyle make plays with our wide outs.

The questioner also referred to Gut-X, which is an inside pressure from a 3-3 or other Stack defensive look where the Nose and Weakside End shoot to their right, and the strongside end shoots toward the TE. That leaves the inside free for both MIKE and SAM to double-blitz the strongside Guard. Its a Cover 1 blitz, and usually a WILL becomes the Robber.

Are you worried about Jacoby Ford? Are you being cautious with him at practice with that hamstring?
Swinney: He hasn't been cautious. I guess in the back of your mind you always worry about it skill wise but he's practiced well. He's making all the cuts. I was leaving last night and him and Chancellor and Butler were working hard on him getting extra release work.

Thank God.

-Richard Jackson is kicking FGs, Benton on Kickoffs.

How do you know Coach Stockstill?
Swinney: I used to see him all the time on the road recruiting. He's one of the good guys recruiting. Met him for the first time in Augusta recruiting in 95-96, but he had been to Alabama before, he knew Woody (McCorvey). Really really good guy. We had a lot in common. A good family guy and I'm proud of what he's accomplished. He did a really good job here for a long time. When he moved on to East Carolina it gave me an opportunity. It was a good situation for him and me. He energized his career. I'm sorry he ended up at South Carolina for a couple of years after that. He's done a great job with that program, from an APR standpoint and generating excitement.

NICE Dabo.

How much do you need Xavier Dye and Brandon Clear to step up for you on offense?
Swinney: Well we need them. Dye has had a good preseason. We had him back yesterday after a tweaked hamstring. Brandon Clear has had a really really ... the light has gone on for him. He's positioned himself to be a factor now. Brandon Ford has great ball skills but still a little bit away from being a complete ball player. Dye and Clear need to come through. You won't get all answers to all questions in one ball game. You could see us with a lot of different combinations at receiver this year. Guys could be anywhere. Jaron Brown is a guy before this season is over - people are going to be talking about him. Same thing with Marquan [Jones].

Napier went on to say that Clear is really gaining on Dye, now that Dye is out. I really believe Marquan and J. Brown will be great receivers before they leave Clemson, maybe surprise players this year.