Hope everyone out there is doing well on this Tuesday. Let's get to a few themes we're following this week:
-- Still trying to get a read on this Miami team by watching a few of their recent games, but I do think Dabo Swinney is onto something when he says he thinks the Hurricanes have sort of found themselves recently. They went toe-to-toe with Florida State in Tallahassee and you really couldn't tell a whole heck of a lot of difference between the two teams -- except, well, the Seminoles possess maybe the best player in college football (Dalvin Cook) and the Hurricanes don't.
That said, this Miami team doesn't strike me as boasting the type of talent we've seen from the Hurricanes traditionally. Remember, they lost seven NFL Draft picks from a 6-7 team last year, including first-rounders Ereck Flowers (OT) and Phillip Dorsett (receiver). That kind of attrition is going to hurt, and it goes a long way toward explaining why it's taken this team a while to get going.
-- The Hurricanes' passing game should be feared, because Brad Kaaya is a super quarterback and he has some nice weapons on the outside. The most dangerous threat is Stacy Coley, who has elite speed. They have moved Coley around and put him in the slot to get advantageous matchups in man coverage, so it will be interesting to see how Clemson handles this. One logical thought would be sticking Mackensie Alexander on Coley wherever he goes, similar to what happened against Will Fuller and Notre Dame.
-- The problem for the Hurricanes is they haven't been able to run it. And this isn't the defense you want to face when you're trying to develop a running game. Though Joseph Yearby is averaging 5.62 yards a carry, the Hurricanes' highest rushing totals this year came against Florida-Atlantic (226 yards) and Bethune-Cookman (195 yards). Otherwise, it's been a struggle. The Hurricanes had 20 yards on 19 carries at Florida State, and 99 yards on 39 carries last week against Virginia Tech. Not saying the Hurricanes shouldn't be feared for their ability to throw it, but it's hard to envision a one-dimensional offense scoring a bunch of points against this defense.
-- On the other side of the ball, losing Raphael Kirby was a huge blow for Miami's defense. The senior linebacker ha a team-high 44 tackles, 15 more than the next guy on the list (linebacker Jermaine Grace).
-- Covering running backs in the passing game has been a bit of an issue for Clemson's defense, and the Hurricanes have done a great job of getting it to Yearby. He is second on the team in receptions with 14 for 177 yards, so certainly this is something Brent Venables is hammering in practice this week.
-- So it's 14 wins in the last 15 games for Clemson, and that hasn't happened since the 1940s. A win at Miami would give the Tigers their first 10-game winning streak since the 1983-84 seasons.
-- It wasn't a good night for Mitch Hyatt and Joe Gore against Boston College. Both of them made mistakes to allow some of the frequent pressures of Deshaun Watson. I asked Hyatt for his reflections today and he said it's definitely fair to say they struggled. Gore had some trouble on the stunts and twists, and Hyatt's technique broke down on several occasions.
"You always have it in the back of your head that they might be doing this, this or this on this play," Hyatt said. "But if you just put all that aside and trust your technique and take your steps properly, it'll take care of it all. But you kind of have that worry in the back of your head, and it'll kind of interrupt you sometimes."
-- Big week for Deon Cain, who goes down to the Sunshine State after two really impressive performances against Georgia Tech and Boston College. We sat down with Cain recently to get his take on various topics:
I remember seeing you the first week of camp, sort of swimming mentally. Can you put me inside the helmet and tell me what you were going through?
"Going into camp, it was all a mind thing basically because you've got a lot of things coming at you -- new formations, new signals, new plays and all that stuff. Just being in that atmosphere for me as a freshman, it was tough at first but I just managed it. As things began to get more compact, I got more of a good feeling going into the season. Because in game week, you don't have every play call that you get in camp. You only have certain things that are going into the game plan. So that kind of slows everything down to me.
"But during camp, it was just so much new information every day, every day. So you're just trying to keep up, and also you're trying to perform on the practice field. That was kind of a twist for me, but I managed to pick it up throughout the season."
Was it frustrating?
"I wasn't that much frustrated. It was just, I was just trying to do the right things so I could see myself on the field. But things are going to happen. My emotions are out there on the field, so anything I'm doing I'm trying to put 100 percent into it. But like I said, just being in that type of environment those first two weeks I was just trying to get the installment and know the plays and get myself comfortable. But I also realized there was more things I needed to work on technique-wise as a receiver. There were a lot of things coming at me during camp."
Do you remember when the light came on and you started to play fast?
"Probably towards the end of camp when we were game-planning for Wofford. That's when things started to dial down for me. I saw the little bit of plays I had to focus on, and then it just came natural to me. It made me play faster, and I just got more into the game."
I know you were a quarterback in high school, but had you ever played receiver?
"In high school I played a little bit of snaps at receiver, but mostly during 7-on-7 periods and stuff like that because I had a 7-on-7 team I played for. I worked a lot during that, and plus in my offseason I would work on my own on my receiver techniques. But when I got here, I got coached up on a lot of little things that I didn't know."
What's the hardest part of transitioning to receiver at the college level?
"The hardest part was probably just trying to pick up all the little things, just really trying to maintain focus and staying on the game plan. Just trying to stay focused the whole time, really."
Over the summer after you get here, what is your average day like?
"Throughout the week you have school and stuff like that. So I just try to manage it, try to give myself like 30 minutes to an hour a day to go over my playbook and stuff like that so I can always have my mind fresh so I can know, 'Boom, when I get to practice this is what we're going to be on.'"
The roar of the crowds the past few weeks when you've caught those balls, what does that feel like?
"It was actually a good thing, because you make a play and everyone is into it. It was a fun moment for our team. It was exciting, but I'm looking forward to make more plays like that and even better, try to take one to the house."
High-pointing the ball and making back-shoulder catches, is that something that isn't really learned or coached?
"Those are just things I try to work on on my own. We work on those a lot in practice too, but there are certain times after practice I'll stay and try to work on high-pointing passes and back-shoulders, trying to catch passes in weird, awkward positions that you're not used to catching."
Clemson's had a lot of exceptional receivers in recent years who have specialized in those kinds of catches. Did that play a big role in your coming here?
"Yes, because I realized if I come here then I'll probably be like one of those receivers making plays like that and stuff. I wanted to get better. I wanted to be one of those receivers like Calvin Johnson, just making big catches."
How remarkable is it to have a succession of so many receivers with such elite ball skills?
"That's a good thing. When I go back and look at some of the film when Nuk and Sammy were here, you see they always made plays like that in practice -- just one-hand catches, leaping over people making catches. They're doing that even in practice, so you know in the came it came easier to them. So I'm just trying to really get my practice habits better, just do certain things like that in practice and trying to stay consistent."
-- Still trying to get a read on this Miami team by watching a few of their recent games, but I do think Dabo Swinney is onto something when he says he thinks the Hurricanes have sort of found themselves recently. They went toe-to-toe with Florida State in Tallahassee and you really couldn't tell a whole heck of a lot of difference between the two teams -- except, well, the Seminoles possess maybe the best player in college football (Dalvin Cook) and the Hurricanes don't.
That said, this Miami team doesn't strike me as boasting the type of talent we've seen from the Hurricanes traditionally. Remember, they lost seven NFL Draft picks from a 6-7 team last year, including first-rounders Ereck Flowers (OT) and Phillip Dorsett (receiver). That kind of attrition is going to hurt, and it goes a long way toward explaining why it's taken this team a while to get going.
-- The Hurricanes' passing game should be feared, because Brad Kaaya is a super quarterback and he has some nice weapons on the outside. The most dangerous threat is Stacy Coley, who has elite speed. They have moved Coley around and put him in the slot to get advantageous matchups in man coverage, so it will be interesting to see how Clemson handles this. One logical thought would be sticking Mackensie Alexander on Coley wherever he goes, similar to what happened against Will Fuller and Notre Dame.
-- The problem for the Hurricanes is they haven't been able to run it. And this isn't the defense you want to face when you're trying to develop a running game. Though Joseph Yearby is averaging 5.62 yards a carry, the Hurricanes' highest rushing totals this year came against Florida-Atlantic (226 yards) and Bethune-Cookman (195 yards). Otherwise, it's been a struggle. The Hurricanes had 20 yards on 19 carries at Florida State, and 99 yards on 39 carries last week against Virginia Tech. Not saying the Hurricanes shouldn't be feared for their ability to throw it, but it's hard to envision a one-dimensional offense scoring a bunch of points against this defense.
-- On the other side of the ball, losing Raphael Kirby was a huge blow for Miami's defense. The senior linebacker ha a team-high 44 tackles, 15 more than the next guy on the list (linebacker Jermaine Grace).
-- Covering running backs in the passing game has been a bit of an issue for Clemson's defense, and the Hurricanes have done a great job of getting it to Yearby. He is second on the team in receptions with 14 for 177 yards, so certainly this is something Brent Venables is hammering in practice this week.
-- So it's 14 wins in the last 15 games for Clemson, and that hasn't happened since the 1940s. A win at Miami would give the Tigers their first 10-game winning streak since the 1983-84 seasons.
-- It wasn't a good night for Mitch Hyatt and Joe Gore against Boston College. Both of them made mistakes to allow some of the frequent pressures of Deshaun Watson. I asked Hyatt for his reflections today and he said it's definitely fair to say they struggled. Gore had some trouble on the stunts and twists, and Hyatt's technique broke down on several occasions.
"You always have it in the back of your head that they might be doing this, this or this on this play," Hyatt said. "But if you just put all that aside and trust your technique and take your steps properly, it'll take care of it all. But you kind of have that worry in the back of your head, and it'll kind of interrupt you sometimes."
-- Big week for Deon Cain, who goes down to the Sunshine State after two really impressive performances against Georgia Tech and Boston College. We sat down with Cain recently to get his take on various topics:
I remember seeing you the first week of camp, sort of swimming mentally. Can you put me inside the helmet and tell me what you were going through?
"Going into camp, it was all a mind thing basically because you've got a lot of things coming at you -- new formations, new signals, new plays and all that stuff. Just being in that atmosphere for me as a freshman, it was tough at first but I just managed it. As things began to get more compact, I got more of a good feeling going into the season. Because in game week, you don't have every play call that you get in camp. You only have certain things that are going into the game plan. So that kind of slows everything down to me.
"But during camp, it was just so much new information every day, every day. So you're just trying to keep up, and also you're trying to perform on the practice field. That was kind of a twist for me, but I managed to pick it up throughout the season."
Was it frustrating?
"I wasn't that much frustrated. It was just, I was just trying to do the right things so I could see myself on the field. But things are going to happen. My emotions are out there on the field, so anything I'm doing I'm trying to put 100 percent into it. But like I said, just being in that type of environment those first two weeks I was just trying to get the installment and know the plays and get myself comfortable. But I also realized there was more things I needed to work on technique-wise as a receiver. There were a lot of things coming at me during camp."
Do you remember when the light came on and you started to play fast?
"Probably towards the end of camp when we were game-planning for Wofford. That's when things started to dial down for me. I saw the little bit of plays I had to focus on, and then it just came natural to me. It made me play faster, and I just got more into the game."
I know you were a quarterback in high school, but had you ever played receiver?
"In high school I played a little bit of snaps at receiver, but mostly during 7-on-7 periods and stuff like that because I had a 7-on-7 team I played for. I worked a lot during that, and plus in my offseason I would work on my own on my receiver techniques. But when I got here, I got coached up on a lot of little things that I didn't know."
What's the hardest part of transitioning to receiver at the college level?
"The hardest part was probably just trying to pick up all the little things, just really trying to maintain focus and staying on the game plan. Just trying to stay focused the whole time, really."
Over the summer after you get here, what is your average day like?
"Throughout the week you have school and stuff like that. So I just try to manage it, try to give myself like 30 minutes to an hour a day to go over my playbook and stuff like that so I can always have my mind fresh so I can know, 'Boom, when I get to practice this is what we're going to be on.'"
The roar of the crowds the past few weeks when you've caught those balls, what does that feel like?
"It was actually a good thing, because you make a play and everyone is into it. It was a fun moment for our team. It was exciting, but I'm looking forward to make more plays like that and even better, try to take one to the house."
High-pointing the ball and making back-shoulder catches, is that something that isn't really learned or coached?
"Those are just things I try to work on on my own. We work on those a lot in practice too, but there are certain times after practice I'll stay and try to work on high-pointing passes and back-shoulders, trying to catch passes in weird, awkward positions that you're not used to catching."
Clemson's had a lot of exceptional receivers in recent years who have specialized in those kinds of catches. Did that play a big role in your coming here?
"Yes, because I realized if I come here then I'll probably be like one of those receivers making plays like that and stuff. I wanted to get better. I wanted to be one of those receivers like Calvin Johnson, just making big catches."
How remarkable is it to have a succession of so many receivers with such elite ball skills?
"That's a good thing. When I go back and look at some of the film when Nuk and Sammy were here, you see they always made plays like that in practice -- just one-hand catches, leaping over people making catches. They're doing that even in practice, so you know in the came it came easier to them. So I'm just trying to really get my practice habits better, just do certain things like that in practice and trying to stay consistent."
