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re: Upon watching Clemson's spring game...
Posted on 4/23/19 at 3:51 pm to CrimsonDynasty
Posted on 4/23/19 at 3:51 pm to CrimsonDynasty
quote:
Aggie does scare me a bit though.
TexAM is on the come up, but they won like 6 games by 4 points or less last year, or some crazy stat like that. On a neutral field, I think LSU should be favored over TexAM if the game was played today. LSU is a good football team and is quickly righting their wrongs.
And I think part of this conversation is that I believe that defenses have caught up to the whole Spread-turned-HUNH-turned-RPO stuff that's revolutionized offensive football in the last decade. And a lot of the Xs and Os stuff that's catching the defenses up is coming out of the big 12, notably from Matt Campbell/Jon Heacock at Iowa State as well as the coaches at TCU. They are dong simple, but revolutionary, things with the Star position.
I also think that Clemson showed the blueprint for defending certain things in the pass game/RPO game, by really disguising coverage well into the development of the play post-snap. This is why in the spring game, Todd Blackledge kept talking about us going hard on disguising our own coverages. (Honestly, the most info from spring games comes form the announcers conveying what the coaches told them in practice only days before. Blackledge really gave out a TON of info, if you understand why he's saying it.) Granted, teams will continue to put up yards, but defenses are learning how to get stops and turnovers, and the balance if shifting back a little bit. Also, calling illegal man downfield as played a huge part.
My point is that LSU will have a defense as good as anybody's, and I think that still matters in bigtime CFB. I think it matters a lot.
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Posted on 4/23/19 at 3:56 pm to prevatt33
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OSU was a mediocre football team who played one great game in beating their rival. I'm not arguing against you point about offense and defense - I'm just saying that OSU wasn't close to being a top 5 team last year in football reality.
I agree they weren’t. Or at least shouldn’t have been. Everyone you could argue for spots 4 and 5 were seriously flawed football teams.
You’ve gotta be able to score to win the Championship and Michigan, LSU, UW, Notre Dame either don’t have the horses or the scheme to enough score on Clemson or Bama on a normal day
On the flip side Bama and Clemson would score whenever they needed to against UCF, Ohio State, Oklahoma etc. Just like the whenever the Orange Bowl got close
Last year there was only 2 teams that Bama doesn’t take 8 out of 10 games against on a neutral field
This post was edited on 4/23/19 at 3:57 pm
Posted on 4/23/19 at 4:00 pm to Glorious
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Last year there was only 2 teams that Bama doesn’t take 8 out of 10 games against on a neutral field
True, and with our worst defense since 2007.
Posted on 4/23/19 at 4:12 pm to prevatt33
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and with our worst defense since 2007.
I seem to remember a 2013 defense that heavily depended on Pagan and Belue
Posted on 4/23/19 at 8:07 pm to Tider95
Yeah, and fat Trey Depriest due to him missing fall camp with an injury and Cyrus Jones right after he moved from WR. But still, the 2013 defense finished the year ranked 12th in the S&P defense, while 2018 finished the year 16th.
Posted on 4/24/19 at 12:16 am to 4quartaBamaball
4quart, you need to watch the game again but sober. Trevor had a good game but much of his success was due to bad dbs and his wrs had lots of yac.
Posted on 4/24/19 at 7:09 am to prevatt33
You are off on the secondary... We return everyone, but Trayvon Mullen from the back end. This will be a very good group with a five star coming in the summer to add quality depth. Isaiah Simmons is a hybrid safety/lb that is a beast.
DE is loaded, DT may take some time to develop into something good. LB should be solid.
OL should be a strength. LT will have some growing pains, but this kid is more talented than Hyatt was and has a year in the system. Other positions have depth and experience... All former starters at other positions.
RB - if you don't know who Etienne is then you don't pay enough attention to FB. He is easily a top 10 rb nationally.
Defense won't be as dominant as last year, but look for the offense to take that next step and consistently put up 40.
Not saying Clemson will definitely win a Natty next year, but this team is loaded. If they get past A&M unscathed they will make the playoffs.
DE is loaded, DT may take some time to develop into something good. LB should be solid.
OL should be a strength. LT will have some growing pains, but this kid is more talented than Hyatt was and has a year in the system. Other positions have depth and experience... All former starters at other positions.
RB - if you don't know who Etienne is then you don't pay enough attention to FB. He is easily a top 10 rb nationally.
Defense won't be as dominant as last year, but look for the offense to take that next step and consistently put up 40.
Not saying Clemson will definitely win a Natty next year, but this team is loaded. If they get past A&M unscathed they will make the playoffs.
Posted on 4/24/19 at 12:07 pm to CivilTiger83
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You are off on the secondary
Fair enough, and thank you for the added info.
quote:
if you don't know who Etienne is then you don't pay enough attention to FB
If you didn't see where I mentioned Etienne by name, then you don't know how to read.
Posted on 4/24/19 at 12:42 pm to CivilTiger83
You should, you don't play anyone with a pulse til the playoffs unless you count South Carolina. Lose a game with that schedule, you don't deserve a spot.
This post was edited on 4/24/19 at 12:43 pm
Posted on 4/24/19 at 12:42 pm to CivilTiger83
quote:
You are off on the secondary... We return everyone, but Trayvon Mullen from the back end. This will be a very good group with a five star coming in the summer to add quality depth. Isaiah Simmons is a hybrid safety/lb that is a beast.
I may have gotten one thing wrong, that you lose 1 guy instead of 2, but see the following paragraphs:
quote:
Clemson returns its most experience in the secondary with three starters coming back, but there is an opening at cornerback after Mullen left early for the NFL draft. It sounds as if Clemson is a long ways away from finding clarity at cornerback. Safeties Denzel Johnson and K’Von Wallace have been getting some work opposite returner A.J. Terrell as the Tigers try to add depth at corner.
“(Mario) Goodrich and (Kyler) McMichael are out with injuries ... LeAnthony (Williams) has gotten better. Sheridan (Jones) has flashed... and that’s it,” Venables said. “We’re about done after that.”
From this article:
https://www.thestate.com/sports/college/acc/clemson-university/article227218199.html
...and in the end, I think I ended up characterizing your secondary pretty well. Returning starters an likely fine at Safety, Corner is a bit of an issue. These facts are simply true.
Posted on 4/24/19 at 2:21 pm to CivilTiger83
Last thing about your secondary, if your DC is lamenting your depth at corner in spring after a couple of injuries, this does not bode well. Nickle is the default secondary in modern college football, and if you are having issues at corner with depth/experience/numbers, you could end up having bigger issues than you think. What, do you think you can beat playoff teams from base defense? You can't. No one can. Except maybe Notre Dame, but that's because they are a joke.
Posted on 4/24/19 at 5:46 pm to prevatt33
quote:
Last thing about your secondary, if your DC is lamenting your depth at corner in spring after a couple of injuries, this does not bode well. Nickle is the default secondary in modern college football, and if you are having issues at corner with depth/experience/numbers, you could end up having bigger issues than you think. What, do you think you can beat playoff teams from base defense? You can't. No one can. Except maybe Notre Dame, but that's because they are a joke.
Good discussion overall...
Isaiah Simmons plays the nickel/hybrid linebacker role full time. He has very good coverage skills and elite speed at 6'2" and 220 lb. He did it last year and will do it again this year. He is one of those freak athletes that has just started to put it all together last year.
Last year we had similar depth at corner... We were not deep, but our starters were very good and fortunately stayed healthy.
We actually have more depth this year than last year at CB. We have a stud junior who will hold down the one CB position, 2 pretty good sophomores, and two true freshman - one which is a five star coming in the summer and another that balled out in the spring game and is a stud as well. And one of our five star WRs from last year is vying for a starter spot and may play both ways... All that to say, depth at corner is actually pretty good for the fall with everyone expected to be healthy before fall camp.
We are very good, but not elite at S. A couple injuries at S would test our depth there.
DT will likely be the spot that A&M will try to exploit against our D, and possibly run at our DEs. There will be some growing pains in the first half of the season for our D, but I expect them to be very good in the last half of the season.
Posted on 4/24/19 at 6:01 pm to CivilTiger83
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fortunately stayed healthy.
It's easy to stay healthy when you play 3 decent teams and Vandy nine times for your 12 game schedule. I know it's not Clemson's fault, and kudos for scheduling 2 respectable SEC teams, by God almighty in heaven, your schedule is pathetic. It's honestly so bad that you might be left out of the playoffs if you drop one, if it comes down to deciding between 1-loss conference winners - because Clemson's resume would be laughable if has a loss on it.
I expect you guys to be completely healthy by December, given that you will have played a G5 schedule while everyone else had to get up for big games in October and November. I honestly think the ACC is the worst conference in CFB at the moment. The Pac12 and Big12 have more potentially good teams than the ACC. Hell, the AAC is probbly better - they have Houston, Memphis, UCF, who are all good teams, and USF, Temple, and Cincy are as good as many teams in the ACC.
Wow. The ACC is worse than the AAC. That's a shocking realization.
This post was edited on 4/24/19 at 6:09 pm
Posted on 4/24/19 at 6:08 pm to CivilTiger83
quote:
Good discussion overall...
Speaking of overall, my overall point was that your offense would be nasty if you sort out the Oline and pivot away from the TE schematically, and that your defense would take somewhere between a small step back and a large one - don't know which. Granted, you may think a large step back defensively is extremely unlikely, but you have to admit that this is an accurate representation.
I expect Alabama to be improve a bit offensively and improve dramatically on defense, and so if you guys take a step back on defense, then that's noteworthy - particularly in a year when Bama can play the "they're doubting us" card in the locker room and Clemson has to fight the complacency bug.
It'll be an interesting year to say the least.
But don't misread my words. I very much expect Clemson to make the playoffs and legitimately be one of the 4 best teams in the game next year. I also think that can be true, and your 2018 squad still be better overall than your 2019 one. Just my 2 cents.
Posted on 4/24/19 at 6:11 pm to CivilTiger83
CivilTiger83, thanks for discussing this with us. If there's anything else you'd like to discuss related to Clemson or Alabama, throw it out there and let's talk about it. 
Posted on 4/24/19 at 6:12 pm to prevatt33
Posted on 4/24/19 at 7:22 pm to prevatt33
quote:
Speaking of overall, my overall point was that your offense would be nasty if you sort out the Oline and pivot away from the TE schematically, and that your defense would take somewhere between a small step back and a large one - don't know which. Granted, you may think a large step back defensively is extremely unlikely, but you have to admit that this is an accurate representation.
Yes I agree the defense will not be better than last year. How much of a drop-off there is will determine our shot at winning another Natty.
It's a good point about the TE position. We don't have depth and our most talented guy is a freshman or a suspended sophomore. We like to show balanced looks that we can run or throw out of, so I am not sure what the staff will do there.
Overall I expect Bama to have that extra motivation and fire this next year. Y'all return a lot of critical pieces. You never know until you get into the season how both teams will come together, so I can't say at this point who I would expect to win in a rematch.
Posted on 4/24/19 at 7:30 pm to prevatt33
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Feaster's in the portal:
Yep hurts us if Etienne gets injured. Lynn J will be a good player, but he isn't the every down back that Feaster is.
Posted on 4/24/19 at 7:37 pm to prevatt33
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It's easy to stay healthy when you play 3 decent teams and Vandy nine times for your 12 game schedule. I know it's not Clemson's fault, and kudos for scheduling 2 respectable SEC teams, by God almighty in heaven, your schedule is pathetic. It's honestly so bad that you might be left out of the playoffs if you drop one, if it comes down to deciding between 1-loss conference winners - because Clemson's resume would be laughable if has a loss on it.
The ACC was bad last year and will probably be down this year, but let's be real... None of us know how good each conference is until we get several games into the season.
You talk about SEC teams making our schedule better, but one of those SEC teams you just referenced got embarrassed by UVA in the bowl game.
Prior to last year Clemson had a top 15 schedule for several years.
Posted on 4/24/19 at 7:41 pm to prevatt33
quote:
CivilTiger83, thanks for discussing this with us. If there's anything else you'd like to discuss related to Clemson or Alabama, throw it out there and let's talk about it. ?
Always good to talk with other knowledgeable CFB fans!
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