Welcome
to the Homecoming edition of What We Are Hearing!
In the interest of economy, I’m going to include my grades for
the Virginia Tech game here. Before I dive into that, I just want to remind you
that the #5 Men’s Soccer team hosts #9 Notre Dame in another top-10 ACC
showdown 7:00 Friday night at Riggs! There will be a scarf giveaway for those
who get there early, and there will also be a photo opportunity with the 1987
National Championship Trophy for soccer as well as the 2016 National
Championship Trophy for football. Fans can have their pictures taken with the
trophies beginning at 6:30. There will be a halftime tribute to the 1987
National Champions, and a new championship flag will be raised at that time.
The Tigers suffered a heartbreaking double overtime loss at #2 Wake Forest last
Friday and look to rebound with a huge conference win this week. So if you’re
in the area or in Tiger Town for Homecoming this weekend, stop by and root on
the Tigers! If you can't make it to Riggs, you can watch the game on your
computer via WatchESPN or on your phone via the ESPN app. And if soccer simply
isn't your thing, drop by Death Valley for Tigerama, the traditional Clemson
Homecoming pep rally! It begins at 7:00 on Friday as well.
I also wanted to let you know that we are entering a period of
transition for the site, so you will notice some significant changes in the
coming days, but not to worry! We will keep trucking along here at CUTigers.com
and continue to bring you great, comprehensive coverage of all things Clemson.
I do appreciate your patience with our growing pains as we work through this
transition. Finally, I plan to post a big photo gallery over the next week with
game shots, cheerleaders and more, as well as some good video I’ve been holding
onto from the first half of the season. So stay tuned right here!
On to the grades…..
Last week’s game in Blacksburg was rightfully billed as the game
of the week in all of college football, as the Tigers faced possibly their most
daunting test of the season—a night game in Lane Stadium against the undefeated
#12 Hokies. The game started about as well as the Tigers could have hoped, as
the defense forced 3 straight three-and-outs to start the game, and the offense
jumped out to a 10-0 lead before the Hokies even mustered a first down. The
Hokies punted on their first 5 possessions. The Tigers took the raucous
Blacksburg crowd out of the game early and never really gave them a chance to
get reinvigorated. The 31-17 was not nearly indicative of As much of a
domination as it was, it could have even been worse, but the Tigers made some
mistakes and missed some opportunities to put more points on the scoreboard.
Here are the grades….
OFFENSE: B
Player of the Game: Kelly Bryant
The offense only ran 64 plays for 332 yards, and they have been
averaging around 80 plays and 500 yards for over two years. They also only
scored 24 points, as the defense scored on a pick-six. However, some of that is
attributed to the fact that they got out to such a big early lead and got
conservative with the play calling. The Tigers actually possessed the ball for
a minute and a half longer than the Hokies despite running 9 less plays,
converting 3 less first downs and gaining 10 less yards. On the plus side, the
Tigers were 6 of 16 on 3rd down—not as good as they have been this season, but
respectable—and 1 of 1 on 4th down. They continued their outstanding red zone
efficiency, going 3-3 with 2 touchdowns and a field goal. More importantly than
all of that, they did not turn the ball over. As I noted in last week’s WWAH,
the winner of the turnover margin had won the last 6 meetings between these two
programs. Now make it 7. The Tigers had 2 unfortunate interceptions against BC
and fumbled twice, but they recovered both. So it was nice to see them protect
the football in such a big game on the road. They did the same thing at
Louisville, and that game was a blowout as well.
Kelly Bryant was average at best in the passing game, but he was
sensational in the running game, netting 94 yards on 4.9 yards per carry. The
Houdini act he pulled near the goal line, in which he evaded 3 or 4 tacklers to
turn a would be sack for a 15-yard loss into a one-yard gain, was the stuff of
legends. It’s just too bad he couldn’t make it into the end zone! He was sacked
3 times in the game. One was on him, another was on the offensive line and the
other was just a good blitz by Bud Foster that caught them off guard. If you
had told me before the game that Bud Foster’s exotic blitzes would only get to
Kelly 3 times, I would have taken that all day. Bryant’s only 2 road games in
his career were in hostile environments at night in front of an ESPN College
GameDay crowd, and he has performed magnificently in both. He did miss a couple
of passes that should have been touchdowns—one to Higgins and one to Cain—but
he made a couple of spectacular passes as well. One was dropped by Hunter
Renfrow in tight coverage—a tough catch, but one we’ve seen him make countless
times—and the other was a 30-yard fade to Ray-Ray on a critical 3rd down that
led to the field goal on the Tigers’ opening possession. I was also impressed
with Kelly’s poise on the touchdown pass to Feaster. It was an easy throw, and
he couldn’t have been more wide open, but Kelly demonstrated his maturity in
going through his progressions and finding Feaster on his third read. That
touchdown really set the tone for the rest of the game after the Tigers had to
settle for 3 on their first scoring drive. Overall, Bryant was 12-21 for 186
yards through the air with no interceptions and one TD.
The rushing yards were harder to come by for the backs than they
were for Bryant. Again, part of that was attributable to the big lead and
predictability in the Tigers’ play calling. The Hokies were also committed to
stopping the run going into the game after what the Tigers did to Boston
College. Feaster rushed for 29 yards on 9 carries, but he added another
touchdown to the one he caught. Freshman Travis Etienne finally resembled a
human, rushing for 19 yards on 8 carries, and Fuller added 10 yards but scored
a huge touchdown on a 4th and goal from the one. I thought Dabo and the coaches
showed a tremendous amount of confidence in calling Fuller’s number in that
situation. He fumbled on his first carry of the game against Boston College—his
second fumble of the season—and sat the rest of the game. Yet the coaches put
him in there to receive his first carry in a critical 4th down, goal line
situation in one of the biggest games of the season in one of the most hostile
environments in the nation! Thank goodness Fuller was equal to the task and
rewarded the coaches for their confidence in him. That was big for the Tigers
moving forward because they will need Fuller to be confident and right
psychologically. He made some big plays in some big games last year, and they
will surely need him again.
Kelly did a good job of spreading the ball around to the
receivers, but there were only 12 receptions to be had. Several of them were
for big plays, however. Ray-Ray led the team with 3 catches for 35 yards. Milan
Richard had 3 for 14 yards, Cain went 2 for 55 and Renfrow had 2 for 19. His
first catch was a big one that put the Tigers near the goal line and set up the
chip-shot field goal for Spence.
Finally, the offensive line did a decent job, considering the
Hokies were loading the box to stop the run. They also only accounted for one
sack, which is outstanding in an environment like that against a Bud Foster
defense. However, they false started 4 times—3 of them in the 1st quarter.
Hearn and Falcinelli false started on back-to-back plays, and they had the big
one on Wilkins on 3rd and goal when he and Dex were brought in for the jumbo
package. That false start likely cost the Tigers 4 points early in the game.
Hyatt added another one later in the game. Other than the false starts, the
Tigers didn’t have any penalties on offense.
DEFENSE: A
Players of the Game:
Dorian O’Daniel and Austin Bryant
Once again, the defense was suffocating, stingy and spectacular.
For the second game in a row, the Tigers did not allow a touchdown in the first
half, and for the second consecutive night road game against a top-15 team,
Dorian O’Daniel came up with a big pick-six. The one at Louisville completely
swung momentum in the Tigers’ direction to begin the rout, and the one at VT
essentially sealed the game. Folks, he is the first Clemson player in history
with a sack, fumble recovery, pick-six and double-digit tackles! And we all
know how many countless incredible defensive players have come out of this
program over the years. Austin Bryant also exhibited his ball skills with
another interception that you will rarely see NFL defensive linemen make. He
nearly had another one shortly before that as well.
The Tigers’ front four were able to get good pressure on Josh
Jackson all night, and the secondary was outstanding in coverage, not
committing a single pass interference, despite the absence of starting corners
Marcus Edmond and Trayvon Mullen, who played sparingly coming off a concussion.
Ryan Carter played an outstanding game and had a couple big pass breakups.
Isaiah Simmons had a good game as well, recording one of the Tigers’ 2 sacks.
The Tigers held the Hokies to 342 total yards and just 90 yards
rushing. 72 of their total yards and one of their two touchdowns came on their
final possession, when the game was well over. The other touchdown came after a
line drive punt and a return inside the 10, so it’s amazing how close the
Tigers were to holding the Hokies to just 3 points—same as their last trip to
Blacksburg in 2011! The Tigers only recorded 2 sacks and 8 tackles-for-loss,
but they forced 7 three-and-outs in the game—a category in which the Tigers
lead the nation over the last 3 years. The Hokies were just 4 of 15 on 3rd down
and 3 of 5 on 4th down. They scored on 1 of their 2 trips to the red zone. The
defense didn’t commit a single penalty and created two turnovers, scoring on
one. That’s a good day at the office in and of itself! Allowing the Hokies to
score the TD so easily after the long punt return and again in the final
minutes, however, preclude the perfect A+ grade.
SPECIAL TEAMS: D+
Player of the Game: Nolan Turner
It was nice to get Alex Spence an easy field goal from 23 yards
for his first career attempt, but he missed his next one from 41. Still, at
least he made the big one on the opening possession to give the Tigers some
momentum. Spence averaged 62 yards on his 5 kickoffs and only had one
touchback. Groomes had his bounce out of bounds at the one yard line for a
penalty.
I remember thinking Spiers really had an off night punting the
ball after being so solid in the first 4 games, but after watching the tape, he
wasn’t so bad. He really just had two poor kicks. Obviously, the line drive
that he mis-hit cost the Tigers a touchdown, although you have to also give the
return man credit for making a great play, catching the punt on a full sprint.
Isaiah Simmons also made a tremendous hustle play to make the touchdown-saving
shoestring tackle, even though it went for naught. Spiers also had a 29-yard
punt that was fair caught at the 21-yard line, and he should have landed that
closer to the 10. He still averaged 37.9 yards on his 7 punts and had a couple
over 50 yards. I’d like to see him land more than just one inside the 20.
The coverage unit only allowed 12 yards on the other 3 punt
returns and did a good job on kickoffs as well, allowing about 20.8 yards on 4
returns.
Finally, Spence was 4-4 on PAT’s, and the unit did a great job
on the fake field goal by the Hokies. However, 1-2 on field goals and the long
punt return count for a lot toward the low grade this week.
It could have been a bigger blowout than the score indicated,
but it was nonetheless a mighty impressive showing by the Tigers’ in their
second top-15 road test at night. And it could be their second of three if NC
State has anything to say about it! Dabo was not happy with the defensive
performance at Louisville but said they played their best game in Blacksburg.
Clemson is the first program in history to beat 3 top-15 opponents in the month
of September….EVER. You can add another couple tombstones to the graveyard
outside the practice fields, and 3 of them have come at the expense of Virginia
Tech!
Now onto the Homecoming game against Wake……
MISCELLANEOUS
Clemson leads the all-time series with Wake 64-17-1. The 64 wins
against Wake is second-most versus any opponent. The most is 68 against South
Carolina…..Clemson has won 8 straight in the series, all under Dabo Swinney.
Tommy Bowden’s last game as Clemson head coach was a 12-7 Thursday night loss
at Wake. That was the last time they beat the Tigers…..A win for Clemson on
Saturday would give the Tigers a 6-0 for the 3rd straight year, tying a school
record.....Clemson has won 25 of its last 26 home games and 48 of its last 49
games against unranked teams......Clemson has won a school record 12 straight
true road games. That is tied for the second-longest active streak with
Alabama. Oklahoma’s 13 is the longest.....Clemson has won 10 straight games
since losing to Pitt last season. That is tied for the second-longest active
streak behind Oklahoma (14)…..Clemson has won a school record 10 straight ACC
road games…..Clemson has won 8 straight games against ranked teams. That is
tied for the second-longest streak in ACC history with FSU (1992-93). FSU also
holds the ACC record at 9 straight ranked wins from 2012-14……Clemson has the
longest active streak in the AP top 5 at 30 weeks. Alabama is 2nd at 28 weeks.
Clemson and Alabama are tied for the longest active streaks in the AP top 10 at
32 weeks. Clemson has the third-longest active streak in the top 25 behind
Alabama and Ohio State. If not for a brief period outside the rankings in 2014
due to a 1-2 start, losing at UGA and in overtime at FSU, Clemson would have
the second-longest streak behind Alabama...Clemson now has a 9-7 all-time
record in games featured by ESPN College GameDay. Only 14 schools have made
more appearances on the premier college preview show.....
WAKE SYNOPSIS
The Deacs are coming off a heartbreaking 26-19 home loss to
Florida State in which they led in the 4th quarter and were tied with a minute
left. That win would have been program-changing for them and would have given
them a rare 5-0 start and likely a ranking.
6’1, 200-pound senior QB John Wolford is a solid veteran. He has
completed 63.2% of his passes this season for 947 yards and 8 touchdowns
against just one interception. He is also deceptively athletic, rushing for 332
yards and 4 touchdowns on 5.0 yards per carry. In last week’s FSU loss, he was
24-34 for 271 yards but threw his only interception of the season and didn’t
have a passing touchdown. He did rush for a touchdown and 63 yards on 19
carries, leading the team in rushing yards.
6’1, 190-pound freshman RB Arkeem Byrd (#5) only rushed 6 times
for 13 yards last week, but he is averaging 5.6 yards per carry on 246 yards
this season and has one touchdown. 5’10, 200-pound junior RB Matt Colburn (#22)
has rushed for 160 yards and 2 touchdowns this season on 3.9 yards per carry.
He is from Irmo, just outside Columbia, so you know he’d love to have a big
game in Death Valley!
5’9, 165-pound freshman WR Greg Dortch (#87) is diminutive, but
he leads the way for the Deacs at the receiver position. He has 30 catches for
352 yards and 5 touchdowns already. You might see him as the recipient of an
end around or jet sweep a couple of times on Saturday. He had a big game last
week with 10 catches for 110 yards.
Wake was a pretty good defensive team last year, but they are
even better this year. It all starts for them with DE Duke Ejiofor (#53), who
was tied for 14th in the nation in sacks last year. The 6’4, 275-pound senior
monster only has 3 sacks so far this season, but he had one last week against
FSU and also forced a fumble. He shows up in big games, so Kelly Bryant will
need to know where he is at all times.
Wake is ranked #51 in rush defense (132.40 yards per game), #30
in pass defense (184.4 yards/game), #26 in total defense (316.8 yards/game) and
#12 in scoring defense (14.4 points/game). They are ranked #48 in rush offense
(192.2 yards/game) , #70 in pass offense (226.8 yards/game), #63 in total
offense (419.0 yards/game) and #50 in scoring offense (34.0 points/game).
The Deacs have been extremely fortunate with injuries this
season and are good to go health-wise.
CLEMSON STATUS
The team went through
quite an eye-opening ordeal on Tuesday night when, just after practice
concluded, a car veered off the road and halfway down the cliff that overlooks
the mote surrounding the practice fields. The team quickly came to the driver's
aid and likely saved his life. As it turns out, the driver was a former Daniel
High classmate and teammate of Dabo's son, Will, and Dabo had known the young
man for years. You can read more about it HERE and listen to Dabo recount the story our Wednesday evening
interview video HERE. It was obviously a very emotional, life and death experience,
and I think it gave the entire team some real perspective amidst all the
pressure they are dealing with from a football standpoint. Suddenly rankings
and playoffs don't seem to matter as much. And I think that can only be a
good thing for this team, coming off the incredible, historic September it had.
On a lighter note, Dabo, President Clements and the players
dropped by Bowman Field on Wednesday night to deliver pizza to the Homecoming
float workers. Watch below!
Freshman QB Chase Brice having a toss with Dabo's youngest son,
Clay:
Speaking of the historic September, I asked several of the
Clemson players this week if they felt like they had turned a corner in the
schedule, having navigated such a brutal early-season gauntlet unblemished. A
couple of them admitted that it did, but to a man, they all recited the company
line that the next game is the biggest of the season and that they will be
singularly focused on Wake Forest. After winning 48 of their last 49 games
against unranked teams, that is not just “coach speak” anymore. It is truly the
culture now, and no one deviates from it. Even if there were the slightest
doubt about whether the Tigers would take Wake lightly, I think the fact that
the Deacs came within a hair of beating FSU for a 5-0 start would put any of
those doubts to rest.
Defensively, the Tigers are playing at an all-time high and as
well as any unit in the nation. They have play-makers at every level, and the
scary part is that they are getting better. They didn’t create any turnovers in
their first two games, and they have created 5 in their last 3—two of them for
scores. Dorian O’Daniel, as I mentioned, became the first player in Clemson history
to record a sack, recover a fumble, return a pick-six and post double-digit
tackles in a single game. Just think for a minute about all the dozens and
dozens of NFL players that have been produced by the Clemson defense over the
years that never accomplished the feat. Dorian has been named ACC Linebacker of
the Week twice already, and he had a game-changing pick-six at Louisville for
which he did not receive the honor. Amazingly, O’Daniel has more touchdowns
than any of the receivers at WRU! He is playing as well as any linebacker in
the nation. Austin Bryant is tied for 8th in the nation in sacks with 5, but 4
of them came against Auburn. It will be interesting to see if he adds to that
total on Saturday, although it will be tough against an experienced quarterback
who moves as well as Wolford does.
I asked Big Dex Lawrence if it upset him at all that they
allowed that late touchdown to Louisville, and he said it absolutely did. To
me, that exemplifies the type of edge this defense is playing with right now.
It was also demonstrated by Simmons’s diving tackle to save the punt return
touchdown at Virginia Tech last week. In years past, as good as this defense
has been, you might have seen a player let up on a play like that, knowing that
the game was over. I can recall Jayron Kearse doing that late in the 2015 ACC
Championship Game against UNC. However, this unit seems to have a different
edge and pride to it than I’ve seen in the past couple years—as great as those
defenses were.
I also love the way the secondary is playing despite the losses
they have sustained early this season. Both starting safeties and two starting
corners have been out at various points this season, but there has been little
to no drop off, and many assumed the secondary would be the Achilles Heel of
this defense in the preseason!
Offensively, Kelly Bryant has had ups and downs but has passed
every test and exceeded expectations by far. You can see him gaining confidence
and improving by the week. He told me on Monday that he feels like the game has
slowed down for him significantly, and you can see that in the way he is
staying in the pocket and going through his progressions. I also like the way
he is spreading the ball around to the receivers, as opposed to getting
comfortable with one particular receiver, which can often happen with young
quarterbacks. It would be nice to see a few touchdown receptions on Saturday,
and I expect we will. The offense has been a little run-heavy up to this point.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but it’s time to start airing it out
a little more.
Diondre Overton is Kelly’s roommate, and I would love to see him
get a few more opportunities this week. I believe he was only targeted once
last week, and it was a rare drop on a nice pass from Bryant, but the coverage
was pretty good. Overton has made a couple of enormous 3rd down catches in big
moments against Louisville and BC. I’d also like to see Higgins get a few more
opportunities. He was open on a post route in Blacksburg that probably should
have been a touchdown, but Kelly overthrew him.
In the running game, let’s see if Travis Etienne can get back on
a hot streak with another long run or two after only going for 19 yards on 8
carries last week. I’m expecting Feaster will bounce back with a big game as
well. Protect the football! The Tigers didn't commit a single turnover last
week in Blacksburg. I want to see that continue! In my opinion, Clemson is
superior to Alabama overall, but the Tigers don't hold a candle to the Tide in
terms of turnover margin and ball security. Bama hasn't turned the ball over
once in its last 8 games! The Tigers need to catch the Tide in that department
before a potential THREEmatch in Atlanta.
In special teams, look for Spiers to improve his average from
last week and down some punts inside the 20 and hopefully the 10. Touchdowns
are always preferred to field goals, but it would be nice to see Spence make a
couple of field goals or at least one from over 40 yards before going on the
road again to Syracuse next week.
The Tigers are #7 in total defense (250.0 yards per game), #12
in rush defense (92.0 yards/game), #16 in pass defense (158.0 yards/game) and
#4 in scoring defense (10.8 points/game). They are #18 in rush offense (246.8
yards/game), #68 in pass offense (227.8 yards/game), #26 in total offense
(474.6 yards/game) and #35 in scoring offense (36.4 points/game).
As far as injuries, the Tigers are in good shape. Starting
corner Marcus Edmond will be held out again with the sprained foot he suffered
early in the Auburn game. The other corners are playing well, so the coaches
will probably hold him until after the bye week. TE Garrett Williams, who tore
his ACL last spring, looks great according to Dabo and has been working with
the scout team. They will have to decide soon whether to let him play this
season or use it as a red shirt. Another tight end, D.J. Greenlee, is still out
with a sprained MCL. Finally, freshman DE Justin Foster will sit out this week
after injuring his ankle at Virginia Tech.
PREDICTION
This one will be short and sweet. Wake Forest has come a long
way in Dave Clawson’s 3 years, but they are still out-manned from a personnel
standpoint. They will probably do some things defensively that BC did to try
and confuse Kelly Bryant and prevent the big plays, but in the end the Tigers
have too many weapons on offense to contain.
Much of the talk across the air waves and on all the national
talk shows this week has been the debate over whether Clemson or Alabama is the
#1 team in the country. From what I have seen, despite the polls, most believe
Clemson should be #1, and I believe that if the status quo remains between now
and Halloween, when the first CFP rankings come out, Clemson will be #1 just
like the last ranking in January and just like the first CFP ranking in 2015.
There's a lot of football to be played between now and then, but now that the
Tigers have survived the September gauntlet, I believe they are ready to flex
their muscles and blow some teams out like Alabama has been doing the past
couple weeks.
The Tigers’ defense will continue its stellar play at all three
levels, aided by the deafening noise of a Homecoming crowd of 82,000 in Death
Valley. Dabo exhorted the Clemson faithful on Tuesday, saying, “We need a
Naitonal Championship environment on Saturday.” I believe Clemson Nation will
answer the call. Unlike the Tigers’ last home game, this one gets away from
Wake fast.
The Prowl toward a record 17th ACC Title, an unprecedented 3rd
consecutive National Championship Game and a repeat National Title
continues……..
CLEMSON 41 Wake Forest 13
Never miss the latest news from CUTigers!
Join our free email list