Edit: Posted on Saturday....
Didn't think I was going to make it this week, but I managed to watch the last 3 GT games (ignored the 1st two).
My conclusions are about the same as they always are vs. GT. Clemson should win this game. And yet history shows us that GT finds a way to make Clemson work for a win or they just flat out beat us. That's hard to ignore and if Clemson comes out flat or DW gets hurt, all bets are off. But that being said, it's hard to be scared of this team coming off 3 losses (the last two at home against Duke and UNC). I get the "wounded animal" argument as well, but didn't that apply to the UNC game as well? Two losses in a row and one of them a coastal loss... I'd think that GT would have been a LOT more pumped for UNC last week than Clemson this week. Maybe not, but I would have thought so.
Observations:
ND, Duke, and even UNC clearly won the LOS battle on both sides of the ball. Clemson's defensive line is better than ND's and miles ahead of Duke and UNC. While ND's offensive line is better than ours, I'm not sure that we are not as good as Duke and UNC across the OL. I think that Clemson should expect to win the LOS for the most part. Penetration kills the option game and our DTs should make things pretty hard on GTs dive plays.
GT gets NO pass rush without blizting and very little even when they do. They seemed to blitz a bit more vs. ND, but Duke and UNC had ALL DAY to throw the ball. I'm not even talking about a really good pocket to throw out of. I'm saying that Duke and UNC stonewalled GT's front four pretty much at the LOS. With 7 - 8 seconds to throw (or run) DW should be able to do some damage.
GT looks really slow getting to the edges this year. They can get there with some quick pitches, but their standard triple option takes a while and there have been a ton of defenders waiting on it when it did get there.
GT doesn't look good blocking this year. They aren't able to sustain their blocks and simply aren't getting people on the ground as they have in the past.
Running QBs (especially off the read option) have GOUGED GT in the last 3 games. UNC and Duke made several 1st downs off 3rd and long with a QB scramble as well.
While I'm not ready to predict a blowout, there are a bunch of things going on here that are definite advantages for Clemson. If Clemson comes in focus'd and ready to play, this game could get ugly for GT. A lot of things have to go right for GT to stay in this one (get turnovers, not make any themselves, hope for some special teams plays, you get the picture).
While I'm HOPING to see the passing game hit high gear today (and with GT's pass rush, this seems a good time to do that), it wouldn't surprise me in the least given the wet weather to keep the ball on the ground a bunch. Unless the game is super close and the pass isn't working, I simply can't go along with that. It's dangerous being one dimensional (especially running the ball) and we've been pretty anemic passing the ball this year. This is the game to either get Peake and Hopper rolling or get Ray Ray and Cain some substantial snaps. At some point, we have to become a threat to get the ball downfield or we are going to get stuffed by a team that sells out to stop the short game (a la VT to us in the 2000s).
Didn't think I was going to make it this week, but I managed to watch the last 3 GT games (ignored the 1st two).
My conclusions are about the same as they always are vs. GT. Clemson should win this game. And yet history shows us that GT finds a way to make Clemson work for a win or they just flat out beat us. That's hard to ignore and if Clemson comes out flat or DW gets hurt, all bets are off. But that being said, it's hard to be scared of this team coming off 3 losses (the last two at home against Duke and UNC). I get the "wounded animal" argument as well, but didn't that apply to the UNC game as well? Two losses in a row and one of them a coastal loss... I'd think that GT would have been a LOT more pumped for UNC last week than Clemson this week. Maybe not, but I would have thought so.
Observations:
ND, Duke, and even UNC clearly won the LOS battle on both sides of the ball. Clemson's defensive line is better than ND's and miles ahead of Duke and UNC. While ND's offensive line is better than ours, I'm not sure that we are not as good as Duke and UNC across the OL. I think that Clemson should expect to win the LOS for the most part. Penetration kills the option game and our DTs should make things pretty hard on GTs dive plays.
GT gets NO pass rush without blizting and very little even when they do. They seemed to blitz a bit more vs. ND, but Duke and UNC had ALL DAY to throw the ball. I'm not even talking about a really good pocket to throw out of. I'm saying that Duke and UNC stonewalled GT's front four pretty much at the LOS. With 7 - 8 seconds to throw (or run) DW should be able to do some damage.
GT looks really slow getting to the edges this year. They can get there with some quick pitches, but their standard triple option takes a while and there have been a ton of defenders waiting on it when it did get there.
GT doesn't look good blocking this year. They aren't able to sustain their blocks and simply aren't getting people on the ground as they have in the past.
Running QBs (especially off the read option) have GOUGED GT in the last 3 games. UNC and Duke made several 1st downs off 3rd and long with a QB scramble as well.
While I'm not ready to predict a blowout, there are a bunch of things going on here that are definite advantages for Clemson. If Clemson comes in focus'd and ready to play, this game could get ugly for GT. A lot of things have to go right for GT to stay in this one (get turnovers, not make any themselves, hope for some special teams plays, you get the picture).
While I'm HOPING to see the passing game hit high gear today (and with GT's pass rush, this seems a good time to do that), it wouldn't surprise me in the least given the wet weather to keep the ball on the ground a bunch. Unless the game is super close and the pass isn't working, I simply can't go along with that. It's dangerous being one dimensional (especially running the ball) and we've been pretty anemic passing the ball this year. This is the game to either get Peake and Hopper rolling or get Ray Ray and Cain some substantial snaps. At some point, we have to become a threat to get the ball downfield or we are going to get stuffed by a team that sells out to stop the short game (a la VT to us in the 2000s).
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