Must....have....football

The QB situation from their own perspective.

So if you've looked at the various articles about the QB situation following the interviews with Napier and Swinney, you see neither of them have tipped their hand really, and this of course forces guys like Strelow and LW to interview the guys themselves to get some information.

Lets look at the facts first. Dabo has stated that BOTH will play, practice is NOT like a live game. Practice can be harder, and in Ford's days it was, but its still not showtime. ONE will win the job in practice, but he has to perform. Even if he does, the other guy will still see the field. I wouldnt be surprised, assuming we get a lead early, to see them play as much as a half each.

Both are going to make freshman-like mistakes. I don't care if you tell me theyre not true freshmen, they still will. Game experience is a different thing.

You heard last year, at this time, how our OL needed time to "gel" and half of TNet said it was retarded to say that. Well, you saw how smart that half of Tardnet was in the end. They didnt gel til after GT, injuries and coaching changes notwithstanding. We're bringing back the starters for the most part in the same places, so that will (HOPEFULLY) be ok.

The thing is, the QB and the WRs have to do the same thing. Timing is built between them, and a WR may not be able to catch a bullet from Parker but have no problem catching a lob touch-pass from Korn. Dye, Ford, and Ashe need to know who their #1 QB will be and form some rhythm together. They aren't getting that now. This is why a starter should be named soon. I'm all for giving each guy the shot, but you should name one for the sake of naming him, and then if things change during a game situation or game-week practice, then just change it. But you should at least give them a shot to form some rhythm on day 1 against MTSU.

Coach Swinney said this about it.

I think it’s best for the team and everyone involved to know who’s going to be starting against Middle Tennessee. You want to have the opportunity to really prepare as the starter. And that way, whoever has to prepare as the backup, prepares as the backup. At some point, that will have to work itself out. After one scrimmage, (I’m) just not ready to say this guy is a little bit ahead.

Willy Korn and Kyle Parker have also talked about it in interviews. Korn came into camp worried about mechanics and by Day 3 decided to change his outlook:

"I was like, 'Screw that,'" Korn said. "If I'm going to make mistakes, they're going to be mistakes from being aggressive."

"I'm not a guy to toot my own horn, but I've been practicing really well," he said. "I've just got to stay consistent and keep that aggressive mindset."

"It's just mindset and attitude, and trying to have that gunslinger mindset," he said. "I'm taking care of the ball, but I'm not afraid to make mistakes."

"The ball is coming out really well right now," he said. "I'm throwing really tight spirals. I feel like I've got a lot more pop on it these past few practices. I'm locating everything really well. I'm really happy with where I am right now. I've just got to keep it going."

"It's kind of difficult when you're kind of going with a different set of receivers every time we line up out there, different tight ends," he said after the spring game. "Because everybody has their strengths and weaknesses as far as running routes and how they run it.

"So it'd be nice to start jelling with a group of receivers you know you're going to be with. … I guess we'll see how it plays out. I'd like for a decision to be made sooner rather than later, just so you can work on your timing with the guys you're going to be playing with and not have to play musical chairs with centers so much."

Remember Dabo's comment about the botched snaps? This is why. The coaches are also screwing with the rotation to give all 4 QBs equal reps if possible.

"We've been battling back and forth," he said. "And it's not just me and Kyle. Mike (Wade) is throwing the crap out of the ball. Tajh (Boyd) is throwing the crap out of the ball. We've got a really, really talented unit at the quarterback position.

"We're all competing, and we're all playing well. If it takes me and Kyle both playing to win an ACC championship, me and Kyle both want that. We want what's best for the team. We both want to play and contribute, but the main goal is to win ballgames."

"Sometimes I'll get into a bind," he said. "Most of the times there's a pass broken up, it's because I'll throw a ball a fraction of a second late and it'll get broken up. I just want to make sure I've got perfect footwork and I'm throwing everything on time."

"I knew I had put the time in, and I knew I had been throwing really well the second half of the summer," he said. "I felt confident going into it; I was just trying to be a little too fine, a little too perfect, instead of just gripping it and ripping it and letting the chips fall."

Now Parker:

"I would like for a decision to be made, but I don't see one coming pretty soon," he said.

"The biggest thing is just getting reps with a different group of guys every time, and you don't really get to settle down," he said. "You don't know which lineman is going to be where, which receiver is going to be where. It's kind of different, but it's something we have to deal with. And Willy has to deal with it, too. The better we handle it, the better we'll be."

Parker says his rhythm is disrupted when he's "just going out and then having to come back in every time."

"It's not like you know you're going to be in with the same group for eight plays," he said. "It's kind of hard to get in a rhythm and get used to the speed of the game when you're getting thrown back and forth. That's probably the toughest thing.

Parker commented that he doesnt believe a starter will be named until MTSU game-week.

"Of course we're both wanting to start, and we both need to know the decision (soon), ideally," he said. "But if they can't make their decisions, then we can't press them to make them. We're just going to have to go in and handle what they throw at us. … It's pretty tough coming home and not knowing: 'Man, what's going to happen tomorrow? How many reps am I going to get with this group and that group?'

"But it's something I'm not really worried about. I'm just going to worry about the little things that I can do to make myself better. I guess as long as I focus on that, I feel like I'm on a good route."

Parker completed eight of 18 passes for 97 yards and a TD Tuesday. Korn went 4-of-9 for 41 yards with an INT, and Tajh Boyd drew praise from Billy Napier after passing for 70 yards on a 7-of-10 clip with an interception.

Clemson possibly losing best baseball recruit

The State ran the story today of Madison Younginer, our best pitching prospect to sign for next year's team, and it seems that the Red Sox are going to pull him away.

Younginer’s father, John, said this week that chances of Younginer playing for Clemson are “50-50.”

“We don’t really know anything one way or another yet,” John Younginer said.

Draftees have through late Monday night to sign. Boston’s late communication is a curious tactic, as most teams planning to sign pricey players make an offer by mid-summer at the latest.

The Red Sox could be trying to pressure Younginer off his $1 million price tag.

Younginer is slated to attend freshman orientation Friday. His father said the price tag will rise once Younginer moves into campus housing Thursday.

With us losing Chris Dwyer, we really need to have Younginer on the team. He might not pitch as much as Dwyer since he's a freshman, but the depth is needed. This is the only recruit we would lose though, thankfully.

EDIT: Clemson lost Younginer on Friday to the Sox.

Swinney Press Conference

Dabo had this to say in his presser before Napier's interview with the media.

"We did some good things in the scrimmage in spots but as I told the team afterwards, it was real obvious we've got a long way to go. There's a lot of work that's got to be done. We're plyaing a lot of people and there's not a lot of continuity yet because we've got a lot of competition going on. That's what today was about - personnel. We wanted to focus in on who's our first and second group. We play three weeks from this Saturday, so we still have three and a half weeks to go.

"We're pleased with a bunch of things that I saw. I thought effort was good for the most part. We did get a little tired at the end and I thought it was sloppy. But we had some flashes of some good things on both sides of the ball, but the biggest thing that was most evident is that we've got a lot of work to do, no doubt about it.

"The defense is definitely ahead of the offense, which isn't that surprising this time of year. This could be a pretty salty bunch. You put the attack defense out there and the swarm defense out there and sometimes I can't tell the difference between the two. And that's a good thing. There's not a lot of drop-off with whomever's going out there first and second. I was scratching my head a couple of times. We've got good personnel on the defensive side.

Remember ATTACK and SWARM are the names he has given the 1s and 2s respectively.

"I think they've bought in to what we're trying to do defensively. Coach Steele and the rest of the defensive coaches have done a great, great job of coaching details and effort and getting those guys to pursue the ball. I just think they're a little bit ahead right now. They've got an expansive package from a blitz standpoint and so forth. We saw a lot today and I thought the defense looked like they were a little further along.

"Offensively we mixed and matched the personnel a little bit. At all positions we had some guys take some reps with the first and second-team offensive line and same thing at quarterback and running back. We didn't have the continuity we wanted but did show some flashes. Kyle Parker made a good TD pass earlier in the scrimmage to Durrell Barry off of play action.

"I'm pleased with C.J. and what we got out of him today. The same thing with Rendrick. He ran hard today and did some good things at tight end. The effort was great. Jamie Harper, again, I think he's going to be a special player. Those are the guys who kind of jumped out at me. And Thomas Austin and Chris Hairston, those two guys are pretty good football players for us up front.

This seems to indicate that Hairston is having a much better august than his spring.

"I'm still a little disappointed in our snapping. We had a bad snap in the red zone area where you just can't have things like that happen. We had some really poor penalities and misalignments and off-sides. I think guys got tired and got sloppy towards the end. We'll have to definitely improve from that.

Nothing pisses us off like a F'd up snap. Its fundamental.

"At wideout, first of all I'd say Michael Palmer - and I know he's a tight end - had several good catches today, really nice catches. Durrell Barry had a couple. The guy that jumped out at me at wideout was Jaron Brown. He's just getting more confident every day. He looks like the guy we thought he'd be when we recruited him. I'm really excited about him. Brandon Ford made some good catches today. Now we did have some drops, unfortunately. We've not been having a lot of those in practice. That was disappointing.

"Overall, a lot of work to do. It was our first scrimmage. We'll grade the film right now. We've got a lot of mistakes to correct. If we'll come back Saturday and improve upon what we did today, we've got a chance.

"Richard Jackson kicked the ball well today. I think he was four or five, but he missed an extra point. That's very frustrating. Spencer Benton did not have a very good day, so it has kind of been up and down with our kickers. I'm just looking for someone to be consistent day in and day out. Right now we're not quite there. Richard had the better day today. Tomorrow it may be Spencer.

"Kyle executed with the ones and twos when he was in there. Tajh Boyd came in and did a really good job with our third group. He's still got a lot to be able to process to where he can play faster as far as managing the game, but man, he's really got some tools. And I think all those freshmen - as I look at them - I think we hit on every one of them. Obviously we didn't sign but 12 guys, but I think we hit on all 12 of those guys. All of them have bright futures here at Clemson. I'm excited about that whole group."

Q. Talk about the lack of focus you're referring to.

Dabo. "Pure mental mistakes. Early in the scrimmage we were okay, but we're playing a lot of guys. We've got to give guys an opportunity to compete this year. Some guys can handle more and some can handle less. All of a sudden penalties start mounting up when you have three different units that are playing. From a head coaching standpoint, heck, it's hard to ever be happy. If the defense plays really good, you feel good about that, but then your offense didn't play well. Toward the end we mixed it up a little bit. We went with the attack defense against the purple offense. The biggest thing I would say is mistakes, stupid penalties. We had a couple of guys with their heads not in the game, a tackle line up in the backfield, a young player, a couple of off-sides, we had a couple of holds, we had a penalty in the kicking game, just some things like that. Defensively I think we were off-sides twice but did a good job with the pressure today. I've got a quick whistle out there when it comes to blowing it on sacks, but some of those you take away. We've got to cut down on mistakes and be more efficient on both sides of the ball and try to start focusing in on our personnel a little bit more.

Q. Did any of your quarterbacks move ahead?

Dabo. "We've got to watch the film. We've got 114 snaps of football to watch. I've got to get in there and see reads and checks at the line and progressions and decision making and all that stuff. I really can't answer that right now."

Q. What were your overall impressions of the offensive line?

Dabo. "At times really good. At times, really poor. There were a couple of tackles for losses on first down where guys were not cutting off the backside, and that's just technique and effort. That was disappointing. And again, we did sub some guys with our first group just to see how some guys would respond in that environment. But I think we're going to be ok. I like the competition at center. I think we've got a good competitive situation there. Dalton got some reps with the ones today and he didn't respond well early but then came back and did a pretty good job at times. Antoine McClain is what you're looking for. I think he has had a very good camp. The same thing with Austin and Hairston. I'm just excited about that group of guys. I'm still a little concerned at right tackle. Landon is doing some good things and then Cory does some good things, so it's a competitive situation there, but overall we're getting better up front. We're trying to get that next unit a little bit better and we have a ways to go there."

Q. Did you see any big collisions or anything that really stood out to you?

Dabo. "Oh man, we had some big hits in the secondary. Sadat (Chambers) early in the scrimmage really rocked Terrance Ashe and knocked one loose. It would have been a heck of a catch but it was a better hit. He ran through him well. Kavell Conner in short yardage broke through and hit Rendrick right in the mouth and I mean it was a great, great hit. And that was a real competitive situation. We finished with short yardage today. Kavell Conner has had an outstanding camp. He has been the best linebacker over there as far as being consistent and just doing a great job for us defensively.

"All those defensive linemen caught my eye today at some point. Two or three of them caught my eye for the wrong thing too at some point, whether it was Da'Quan coming inside when he should have contained. But most of the time when I saw No. 93 it was something good happening. The same thing with No. 7. His get-off is unbelievable. There's not many wideouts who can get down in that stance he can get in and get off the ball with that explosiveness. He is set to have a great year. Kevin caught my eye a couple of times, Jarvis Jenkins made some explosive moves at times and Brandon Thompson is a load. He's a neck player. You just put him in there and then bad snaps start happening after you put him on the neck of that center. Miguel Chavis showed up. Rennie Moore showed up. I didn't know who was the first or second group. They had them playing and mixing and matching them and I couldn't see any drop-off in production. That's pretty exciting right there, but there were also some boneheaded things they did we can improve on. I didn't see a lot of loafs from the naked eye.

Q. You said that a good test for Ricky would be when you put the pads on. Sounds like you don't have any reservations about him given his performance today.

Dabo. "A+. He passed. A+. There aren't many guys in the country better than him as far as being able to rush the passer and the speed and quickness he can play with, along with the leverage he knows how to play with. He is a cat out there."

Q. Did Alexander play at linebacker today?

Dabo. "No. He played mostly all in.

"We've got a couple of packages where we'll stand him up. He has stood up at times in some of our odd-packages, but not necessarily playing linebacker. You can call it what you want, a 3-4 scheme or whatever. He's still been at the bandit. But we'll have a couple of packages as we continue our installation."

Q. You must think that each quarterback has a higher celing and you're trying to push each to that, so how and when will you know?

"That's what we get paid to do. We evaluate every drill, come in at night and watch every practice tape and we're keeping a scorecard. Everything is evaluated. Every group period. Every team period. Every scrimmage. You have to look at the big picture. You don't want to make a decision based on one setting. You're trying to give them ample opportunities to compete but I do think at some point we have to start establishing more continuity and get ready to play, but we're not quite there yet. It's still been pretty competitive. I'm anxious to see the film. But when we know, that's when we'll know.

"Instincts is a big part of this game. No doubt about it from a coaching standpoint. But I think this is a situation that's very measurable based on a lot of information, video, precise data. I think we'll be able to make a good decision. Whatever decision we make won't be a final decision. Whomever runs out there first, you still have to produce. Whomever is still on the sidelines is a pretty good player. It's just the nature of it. You can name a starter, but then that guy has to be productive and lead the team to wins."

Q. Is it in the best interest of either one of them to name one the starter now? Could they handle that?

Dabo. "I think it's best for the team and for everybody involved to know who's going to be starting versus Middle Tennessee. You want to have the opportunity to prepare as the starter and whomever is the backup has to prepare as the backup. At some point, that will have to work itself out. After one scrimmage and having not seen the tape, I'm just not ready to say this guy is ahead."

A starter really does need to be named sooner rather than later, for the sake of continuity at the position and gel-time with the 1's.

The QB situation from Napier's perspective

Napier had this to say in the presser today.

How would you grade your quarterbacks?

Napier. "I think KP had a pretty good day. I think Willy did some good things too. It's hard to remember everything that happened, but I know that there were some mistakes in there from a read standpoint - which side of the field to work, those things. But that's to be expected. Neither of those guys is really a proven guy, and our defense is extremely talented.

"For the most part, I think the problems came from the negative plays and the protection issues. But we came out here today and ran plays that we were all going to have to execute. We're going to find out which direction we want to go at what positions.

"I'm pleased with the flashes that I saw, but also it's pretty obvious that we've got some work to do."

With the quarterbacks' decision-making, what specifically are you talking about?

Napier. "I think the decision-making was pretty good. I think for the most part, the young OL and that second tier really is where we struggled to some degree. But that's expected. I think our defensive line is pretty deep, a pretty good group. From top to bottom, maybe a little bit better group than our offensive front, a little more experienced.

"We didn't move the pocket much. We wanted to see who could protect, who couldn't protect. We tried to execute plays that were going to demand 11 guys executing. Not a lot of sprint-out, not a lot of nakeds - really just football plays, where they have to block somebody and protect."

What's your assessment of Korn at this point after his mechanical overhaul? How does he look to you?

Napier. "He had a great summer. That's pretty evident, and you guys can see the same things I see, that his motion is shortened up. He's getting the ball out of his hand quicker. He's a competitor. He's a kid who really relishes the opportunity to compete, just an unbelievable person to be around day-in and day-out. He has a great attitude and has improved. He's better than he was in the spring, and that's a tribute to his work ethic in the summer."

Is it presumptuous to assume it's a two-man race at QB?

Napier. "I think what you've got is four guys that can play. I really think that. I think it's a pretty strong group from top to bottom. They're at different places in their career. Willy's obviously a little bit older guy who's been around. KP is a guy who hasn't played a lot of snaps. He hasn't played a snap yet, he redshirted, and he's been playing baseball. So mentally, we try to give him a few more snaps maybe than the rest of the group to get him up to speed. And Mike Wade is a guy who's an excellent athlete, who kind of made a transition from safety back to quarterback. And from where he was at maybe midseason last year, it's really surprising. He's come on, and he's had a good camp so far.

"Tajh Boyd, he was lights-out today. I gave him a menu of plays to get ready to run with the threes. He got all those reps, and really when given the opportunity in a simplified environment from an offense standpoint, he threw strikes. He was really impressive. He's at a different place in his career mentally, but he's really, really talented."

Dont we just love our conference?

The ACC has decided to trim our number of sanctioned practices by two after "GirdleGate."

”We’ve got what I’m calling Girdle Gate going on around here,” Swinney said after the practice. “The pants that were under our shorts, something we’ve always worn around here, for whatever reason has become an issue this year. On the first two days of practice the ACC ruled that this was ruled improper attire, to have that girdle on with the little built-in padding. Obviously, we didn’t know that. If you’re robbing a bank, you wouldn’t invite the media to come cover it.”

As a result of the ACC ruling, the Tigers will not hold their first of two-a-days on Monday, and instead will hold their first double practice on Wednesday. Tuesday is a scheduled scrimmage.

Obviously, there was no intent to break the rule,” Swinney said. “But someone turned us in and the ACC said it was improper attire. I think you can get on the internet or on the TV and find a lot of high-profile universities that had on the same exact attire that we had on the first two days of practice. But I’m not going to argue the ruling.”

What a crock of shit. A girdle on top of the usual strap....EXTRA PADDING....is illegal? FSU and Duke wear the same things and get nothing. The official rule is here. FGF just deleted pics of the first 3 days of SC practice.

EVENING UPDATE: NCAA has reversed the ruling, we dont have to give up the practices.

Rendrick Taylor really hopes to stay healthy this year, its really a shame how his vast potential was lost to injuries and wasted by Spence. The rest of the WR corps is still in the air, jockeying for position. Right now it appears to be Dye, Ford, and T. Ashe leading the way.

>"I just want to go out and catch as many balls as I can," said Dye. "Being the go-to guy, everybody is counting on you to do the job. I'm trying not to let them down, and I'm trying not to let myself down. So I'm going out and doing everything I can to help us win and help me become a better player."

Practice notes:
-Over the weekend, Brandon Clear got whacked really hard and cracked a rib.
-J.K. Jay is headed for surgery. Swinney says he's out for the season, another big blow at LT. Phillip Prince has been moved over from TE to Tackle to help in the rotation, but if Hairston goes down, we're screwed. With Brandon Thomas still recovering from knee surgery, we wont be able to use either of the tackles we signed in the last class.
-Jacoby won't be able to take off the yellow jersey until around the end of this week.
-Danny's former OL Coach, Larry Van der Hayden, lives around Clemson and is helping at practice as a referee.
-Coach Steele is quite pleased with how the defense is absorbing the new coverage packages and says they're "almost pro-like" in their adaptation to it. He also says the reason Alexander and Gilchrist aren't being seen at LB and Safety, respectively, is because they just havent installed that part of the package yet.
-Walk-ons Caleb Simmons, Chris Richardson, Ronald Watson, and John Wright have been put on scholarship for this season.

Alabama RB Desmond Buice committed last weekend, and though this article mentions him choosing us over the likes of Louisville, Alabama had been interested as well. The bonus is that he is friends with another LB target we are going against Saban for as well, Victor Beasley. The biggest recruit that would be a big claim for Clemson is MLB Justin Parker, #6 nationally by Rivals, who recently visited and claims we are his co-leaders with SC.

Could the Gator Bowl be looking elsewhere?

Take a look at this article in the Birmingham news about the Gator Bowl shopping its services.

The Gator Bowl is "very interested" in joining the SEC bowl lineup from 2010 to '13 if the game can secure a time slot during the Capital One Bowl and a top-five pick of the league's teams, Gator Bowl President Rick Catlett said Tuesday.

What would it do to the ACC, with us already failing to fill seats in bowl games, our Conference champ game, or even attendance around the league, to lose a marquee bowl like the Gator? LW discusses it here.

If they think they got a demotion by being slotted below the Peach, they're in for a bit of a surprise I think. Outback won't give up its slot, nor will the Citrus (CapOne, which I fucking refuse to call that, its still the Citrus), and the Peach isnt about to lower it's pick either. Cotton has the 2nd pick in the West, equivalent to the Outback roughly. The Pups might indicate here that the Gator is shopping for a replacement of the Big XII, but I don't think another SEC/ACC tie-in is going to happen. Really their only shot is to boot out the Outback because picking the 6th SEC team is no guarantee of a sellout either.....7-5 doesnt fill seats in the South unless youre retarded Cockfan.

Heather Dinich doesnt miss much does she? Do writers just sit down and do this 3-5 question thing from training, or imitation of better writers?

DeAndre McDaniel is evolving into a defensive leader, but Swinney has commented that he wishes for more leadership from Alexander. The guys up front need to set the tone, and he's well respected on the team, but is too quiet.

Cory Lambert....again. Why wont they write an article on how much wasted talent this guy has.

Conner-Willard-Rollins-C. Hawkins are playing WILL. Cooper, Andrews, Christian at SAM. Maye, Campbell, Shuey at MIKE. Hawkins might avoid a redshirt with Hunter gone now, but dont expect Shuey to.

Bryce McNeal....not so much. He might end up all-world, but it looks like he's just too skinny and has too much to grasp.

Barry Humphries reportedly is transferring to SC State.