Clemson game thread and discussion

[biggie]

AP 25 for clemson.

[Saint3333]

I always go back to why on earth do people get hung up on preseason rankings and for that matter the rankings after ONE game is played. The 12 teams are not picked today. We all know and need to accept that probably 4 SEC teams will get in. Lots and lots of stuff will happen over the next 3 months. There will almost certainly be some 8-4 team get in who will create a firestorm of controversy but the committee will justify them getting an at large spot. If we run the table and have wins over a 10-2 Clemson and a 10-2 Liberty and for that matter a 9-3 ECU we have a right to squawk about a 12 seed but let the season play out.

Always thought the first poll should come out 10/1.

[AtlAppMan]

The reason you want to be ranked at start of season is because it is a heckuva lot easier to be ranked including CFP when you are in it early than trying to climb up from 40th.

It’s a PR /marketing game. The longer you are in it and more frequently people see you there the more normal your presence becomes. Part of this is our brand. That’s the world we live in and the way the game is played.

[AppStFan1]

I always go back to why on earth do people get hung up on preseason rankings and for that matter the rankings after ONE game is played. The 12 teams are not picked today. We all know and need to accept that probably 4 SEC teams will get in. Lots and lots of stuff will happen over the next 3 months. There will almost certainly be some 8-4 team get in who will create a firestorm of controversy but the committee will justify them getting an at large spot. If we run the table and have wins over a 10-2 Clemson and a 10-2 Liberty and for that matter a 9-3 ECU we have a right to squawk about a 12 seed but let the season play out.

Always thought the first poll should come out 10/1.

At the earliest.

[AppStFan1]

The reason you want to be ranked at start of season is because it is a heckuva lot easier to be ranked including CFP when you are in it early than trying to climb up from 40th.

It’s a PR /marketing game. The longer you are in it and more frequently people see you there the more normal your presence becomes. Part of this is our brand. That’s the world we live in and the way the game is played.

I agree the branding and PR game is helped by it but the reality is if our schedule turns out to be of solid strength and we go 13-0 that we could get in the top 10 whether we began ranked, receiving votes, or not. TCU made the playoff in 2022 despite not receiving any votes in the preseason. It is much harder for a G5 to make that type of move in general due to strength of schedule but that is why I am not a fan of playing a FCS and want 1-2 P4 teams every year. If our schedule is strong enough we can overcome not being ranked.

[biggie]

Clemson at 22 in Coach's Poll.

We received 3 votes in each Coach's and AP.

[AtlAppMan]

Bottom line is we need to beat Clemson by two TDs like BC did to FSU

[mountaineerman]

Do y’all remember the write up T-dog did back when we played Clemson back so many years ago? It was either t dog or gonzo? Can’t remember but it was awesome. Where is that fight?

[Black Saturday]

[T-Dog]

Do y’all remember the write up T-dog did back when we played Clemson back so many years ago? It was either t dog or gonzo? Can’t remember but it was awesome. Where is that fight?

It was me. I got blamed by many for making Clemson mad. Sorry I made Lamb throw three picks in six plays (Satt did fo the right thing keeping Lamb in as he built his confidence back up, which helped App in subsequent games). Heard from multiple people it was posted in the Clemson locker room. Considering how coaches sometimes make up fake stuff to motivate their teams, I don't doubt it.

My phone number got doxxed onto TigerNet and they sent men many half-naked cowboy photos. I responded to many saying "he's cute, got his number?" and that usually halted it. One Clemson fan left me a voice message asking if I was dropped on my head as a baby. There was one SCar fan who texted me to keep up the good work.

Then on that gameday, TigerNet posted a fake Knoxville Craigslist ad with my phone number saying I was selling front row tix to Oklahoma at Tennessee that night. I got over 300 messages and dozens of phone calls before it got taken down like 4-5 hours later.

Still have the same phone number today. I don't regret it at all. I couldn't go to that 2015 game due to work, but I'll be there this Saturday.

What I was most angry about were the App fans who turned against me because of the perceived lack of respect and the idea of we can't take potshots at power conference teams.

I wrote those roasts for every opponent, so I treated Clemson the same as everyone else. I wrote about Clemson's sordid founding, how Dabo had losing records (at the time) against their big rivals, misspelled several names and used bad prose because I was a mediocre writer.

I don't have that blog post anymore. It disappeared when the YC blogs were taken down after I got a real journalism job. I did not ask for them to be taken down.

Also, Clemson is 108-17 with two Nattys and seven ACC titles since that blog post. Guessed I pushed the right buttons.

[MrCraig]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this basically just the wishbone formation out of the pistol? I think it's awesome, and if that's how it is used it adds a lot of wrinkles to the offense.

This formation example is more of a pro set (split back) than a wishbone. Based on Monkey's initial thought with 2 WR, 2 RB and 2 TE, the offense would have only had 4 OL. The wishbone formation has a FB lined up behind the QB with 2 HB offset behind the FB. Not to be confused with the flexbone which has a FB lined up behind the QB and 2 slot backs lined up in the backfield just outside each T.

Hopefully the D can stay disciplined and fill their gaps to try and control the Clemson run game. The little bit of the UGA game that I did see, it appeared they were trying to get the ball out of Klubnik's hands quickly to nullify the Dawg's pass rush who ended up with 2 sacks and 6 TFLs. Hopefully they won't be as worried about App's pass rush and will try to run some longer developing routes that will give our D a chance to apply pressure and move CK off his spot. The secondary needs to be cognizant of where #0 Williams is on the field. He had 33% of the receptions, 54% of the receiving yards and the only play the Tigers had over 20 yards. Their TE, #9 Briningstool, is a big target who could pose matchup problems, especially in the redzone. The key is keeping Mafah in check and then forcing CK to make uncomfortable throws.

Gotcha. But couldn't you still run basically a triple option from this formation? One RB acts as the dive man, one RB acts as the pitch man, plus the two WRs and TEs can be possible RPO targets.

[Bigdaddyg1]

The reason you want to be ranked at start of season is because it is a heckuva lot easier to be ranked including CFP when you are in it early than trying to climb up from 40th.

It’s a PR /marketing game. The longer you are in it and more frequently people see you there the more normal your presence becomes. Part of this is our brand. That’s the world we live in and the way the game is played.

I agree the branding and PR game is helped by it but the reality is if our schedule turns out to be of solid strength and we go 13-0 that we could get in the top 10 whether we began ranked, receiving votes, or not. TCU made the playoff in 2022 despite not receiving any votes in the preseason. It is much harder for a G5 to make that type of move in general due to strength of schedule but that is why I am not a fan of playing a FCS and want 1-2 P4 teams every year. If our schedule is strong enough we can overcome not being ranked.

No question that any ranking we get helps us and I agree that under the way it’s done if we start out ranked it’s theoretically easier to stay or move up. Teams drop in and out all year. My point has always been that by doing rankings prior to games being played the usual suspects get recognized for potential and name without proving anything on the field. I know it will never happen but if any real ranking didn’t start until after 6 games you would see who are the best teams. If we can go 6-0 I would certainly hope that would warrant a top 15-20 ranking. Like I’ve said way too much has to play out. At least the CFP rankings don’t start until after half of the season has been played.

[ASUTodd]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97aNRFjbK2A

[Saint3333]

Pretty good take there. I agree with not touching this line comment. As of Wednesday I see two scenarios playing out:

1) Clemson comes out fired up and we make a couple of early mistakes (bad INT or fumble on a sack) and they roll to a 21+ win
2) We contain the run and make a couple of plays to go into the 4th with both teams in the mid-teens

Both scenarios are pretty evenly weighted.

By Saturday I'm going to feel like #2 plays out of course.

[CornCobPipes]

Put it his way for some perspective......Had we played Georgia and had Clempson played ETSU....Georgia would have beat us much worse than Clempson......and Clemson would have beaten ETSU like a drum without the first string. I don't thing anyone can argue that. Clemson front line on D and OL far surpasses our talent not to mention LBs and RBs respectively. They know we are coming and it's primetime.....I don't expect it to be perty.

[Bigdaddyg1]

I have never nor will I ever coach and really never know what I’m talking about when I either criticize coaches or question play calling. Needed to publicly admit that once again! That being said if I were doing one thing in practice to prepare for this game I’d have our offense run plays really fast to prepare the defense to quickly adjust. I’ll always remember that awful Miami game at home where they threw those quick hitters over and over and we seemed to be scrambling to get guys into position. I can see Dabo wanting that quick opening TD to set a tone and running plays fast to try to wear us out.

[AppSt94]

Our practices are always run at a franetic pace. I don’t see them being able to wear us down quickly. We can run three deep across the front line and we typically rotate it out every 7 or so plays. Weather shouldn’t be an issue due to it being a night game. We are two deep with starters at Corner and Star. We should be fine in terms of attrition.

[AppStFan1]

The reason you want to be ranked at start of season is because it is a heckuva lot easier to be ranked including CFP when you are in it early than trying to climb up from 40th.

It’s a PR /marketing game. The longer you are in it and more frequently people see you there the more normal your presence becomes. Part of this is our brand. That’s the world we live in and the way the game is played.

I agree the branding and PR game is helped by it but the reality is if our schedule turns out to be of solid strength and we go 13-0 that we could get in the top 10 whether we began ranked, receiving votes, or not. TCU made the playoff in 2022 despite not receiving any votes in the preseason. It is much harder for a G5 to make that type of move in general due to strength of schedule but that is why I am not a fan of playing a FCS and want 1-2 P4 teams every year. If our schedule is strong enough we can overcome not being ranked.

No question that any ranking we get helps us and I agree that under the way it’s done if we start out ranked it’s theoretically easier to stay or move up. Teams drop in and out all year. My point has always been that by doing rankings prior to games being played the usual suspects get recognized for potential and name without proving anything on the field. I know it will never happen but if any real ranking didn’t start until after 6 games you would see who are the best teams. If we can go 6-0 I would certainly hope that would warrant a top 15-20 ranking. Like I’ve said way too much has to play out. At least the CFP rankings don’t start until after half of the season has been played.

I like when the CFP rankings start and don't worry about where the polls have us. I know that if we are listed in the top 25 or receiving votes we are having a real good year and that is what matters most. I will be curious to see how the CFP handles multiple undefeated G5s if we have that happen this year.

[311neers]

I have never nor will I ever coach and really never know what I’m talking about when I either criticize coaches or question play calling. Needed to publicly admit that once again! That being said if I were doing one thing in practice to prepare for this game I’d have our offense run plays really fast to prepare the defense to quickly adjust. I’ll always remember that awful Miami game at home where they threw those quick hitters over and over and we seemed to be scrambling to get guys into position. I can see Dabo wanting that quick opening TD to set a tone and running plays fast to try to wear us out.

Bubble and Tunnel Screen U! It'll be interesting to see if we play a shell and keep it in front of us or if we play press. My guess is we mix a little of both but I don't think we should get beat deep, not sold on their WR room being able to beat us deep. I am worried more about the screens and quick hitters and moving the ball if we play a softer shell.

[Black Saturday]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/other/ ... 38300&ei=9