WHAT WE ARE HEARING: PREVIEW & PREDICTION FOR NO.4 CLEMSON vs. LA TECH
- 2022-09-17 15:16:18
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Welcome to another edition of What We Are Hearing!
I begin on a somber note, as you are all aware by now, I’m
sure, that Bryan Bresee’s little sister, Ella, succumbed to her fight with
brain cancer and passed away on Thursday morning. It’s a sad loss for the
entire Clemson Family, but it’s obviously devastating to the Bryan and his
family. Ella visited the team last week and was supposed to attend the home
opener as an honorary captain, but she had to be flown to DC at the last minute
to be treated at the hospital. The entire team had really embraced Ella and
feel an emotional attachment to her, as DJ told me on Monday, so they will all
be playing with a heavy heart on Saturday night. Obviously, Bryan will not be
playing. Dabo told me that her funeral will be on Tuesday, presumably in
Maryland where the Bresees live. Many of you have seen the post going around inviting
Clemson fans to wear grey as a show of love and support for Ella and the Bresee
family. The post was created by Barstool, a social media fan site. It did not
come from Clemson or the Bresee family, although Bryan has retweeted it, and
why wouldn’t he? While I like the idea, I would have liked it a lot more if it
came from Clemson and not a social media site exploiting a little girl’s death
to promote their site or increase their views. I posted my condolences and request
for prayers after Ella died, but I did not include a link to CUTigers.com like
I do on every other social media post I make because I don’t believe it's right
to use such a tragedy for self-promotion. Barstool could have easily contacted
Clemson non-publicly with a suggestion to have the fans wear grey instead of
posting it themselves. They even put their logo on the post so people would know
it came from them! In my opinion, it was extremely unscrupulous and entirely
selfishly motivated, but that’s the world we live in now. There are very few in
the media with any scruples, ethics or convictions. It’s all about views and
clicks. I apologize for the rant, and if you would like to wear grey in honor
of Ella, by all means do so. I just wish the university had been given the chance
to organize the initiative instead of Barstool spontaneously anointing themselves
spokespersons for Clemson. I was planning on wearing my grey pullover anyway
because it’s going to be chilly at night, but I would wear black or green if
Clemson or the Bresee family asked us to. As I posted on Thursday, I rejoice
for little Ella because she is in Heaven now and no longer in pain, but I’m sad
for her family and all of those down here who will deeply miss her presence. I
have no doubt she will be in Memorial Stadium on Saturday night and watching
her brother and the Tigers from above for the rest of the season! Please
continue to keep Ella and the Bresee family in your prayers.
Moving on to some less tearful news, the Tigers’ top ranked
men’s soccer team suffered its first loss of the season on Friday night against
No.16 Syracuse at Historic Riggs Field. I was the only member of the Clemson
media, outside of the school newspaper, on hand for the 2-1 loss, and you can watch
my exclusive one-on-one post-game interview with Mike Noon HERE. The Tigers
were shorthanded with 3 starters out, including All-ACC defender Hamady Diop
and ACC point leader Ousmane Sylla. They need to get healthy and bounce back
quickly because they host PC on Monday and then No.2 Wake next Saturday!
On to Saturday night’s big game against Louisiana Tech….
MISCELANEOUS
Clemson leads the all-time series with LA Tech 3-0. The first
meeting was in the 2001 Humanitarian Bowl in Boise, Idaho… The Tigers have won
35 straight games in Death Valley, the longest active home win streak in the
nation. No member of this Clemson team has lost a home game. The streak is tied
with Boise State for the 14th longest streak all-time. The longest
streak by an ACC school is 37 by FSU. Clemson is 54-1 at home in the CFP era,
also the best such record in the nation….The Tigers have won 25 straight home
games against non-conference opponents. The last such loss was to South
Carolina in 2012….The Tigers have won 19 straight home openers, their longest
streak in program history, last losing to UGA in 2003….Clemson is 38-0 all-time
against FCS opponents since the classification began….The Tigers have won 61
straight games when leading at halftime…Dabo won his 152nd game last week. He took
the sixth-fewest games (186) to reach 150 wins. Urban Meyer holds the record at
176 games, followed by Barry Switzer, Gil Dobie, Fielding Yost and Joe Paterno.
Switzer and Paterno are the only ones who, like Dabo, won all 150 games at one
school…. Clemson has the second-most wins and
second-best win percentage since 2015 behind Alabama. The Tigers are 91-10 over
that period while Alabama is 94-8. Ohio State is 3rd with a record of 81-10
since 2015. Clemson is also 2nd in wins since 2011 with a record of 133-21.
Alabama is 142-14 and Ohio State is 125-20….Clemson holds the all-time record
for most wins over a 5-year span with 69 from 2015-2019….Dabo Swinney has the
best active win percentage in the nation (minimum 10 years) at .809. Nick Saban
is second at .801 and Jimbo Fisher is third at .756….Dabo is currently 12th on
the all-time win percentage list but climbing quickly....Dabo’s 152 wins are
already the third-most of any coach in his first 15 seasons, but Dabo is only
in his 14th full season. By the end of the 2023 season, Dabo should topple
Urban Meyer’s record of 165 wins in his first 15 seasons….Dabo has the most
active wins (152) that are all with one school. Mike Gundy is 2nd with 151 at
Oklahoma State. Dabo is now tied with Mike Leach on the active win list….With a
win in the Cheez-It Bowl over Iowa State last season, Dabo tied Bobby Bowden
for most bowl wins (11) by any ACC coach in history….
LA TECH SYNOPSIS
The Bulldogs come into Death Valley with a 1-1 record. They
lost their opener at Missouri 52-24 but bounced back with a 52-17 win over
Stephen F. Austin last week. New Head Coach Sonny Cumbie is a disciple of Mike
Leach’s Air Raid offense, so the Tigers’ defense will see receivers spread all
over the field and plenty of passing. Cumbie played quarterback for Leach at
Texas Tech before a brief career in the NFL, and he got his coaching start for
Leach as a GA at his alma mater. He was the offensive coordinator for a prolific
TCU offense before returning to Texas Tech, where he was the interim head coach
last season. In the loss at Mizzou, the Bulldogs rushed for just 8 yards net
and no scores, but they passed for 336 with 3 touchdowns. They actually played
two quarterbacks in that game. The starter, redshirt junior Matthew Downing
(#7) is a native of Alpharetta, GA, who played for UGA briefly and transferred
to TCU before transferring again to LA Tech. I guess he likes the Bulldog mascot!
Downing was 20-35 for 194 yards and a TD at Mizzou, but he also threw 3
interceptions and didn’t run the ball effectively, so he was replaced by Parker
McNeil (#17), another transfer who made stops at Troy and Texas Tech, where he played
for Cumbie last season. McNeil was 7-11 for 142 yards and 2 TD’s with no
interceptions, and that earned him the start against Stephen F. Austin (his
hometown team) last week. He was 11-23 for 197 yards and 3 touchdowns in that
game with one interception. The Bulldogs also ran the ball much better (as you
would expect) at home against SFA, rushing for 300 yards and 3 touchdowns.
McNeil is not a running quarterback, however. Redshirt freshman Marquis Crosby
(#33) did most of the damage on the ground. The 5’10, 201-pound RB averaging
12.3 yards per carry for 197 yards and 2 TD’s. 5’10, 206-pound sophomore Charvis
Thornton (#22) averaged 6.2 yards on 10 carries and also scored. Tre (#3) and
Smoke (#6) Harris each had a TD catch last week, and the former had a 40-yard
play. Tre is 6’2 and 204 pounds, while the speedy, diminutive Smoke is 5’7 and
188. Griffin Hebert (#5), a 6’3 senior tight end, also scored in the passing
game with a 63-yard catch. He also had a 75-yard catch and score at Mizzou in
the opener, so he’s a big play tight end! At 5’11 and 177 pounds, freshman WR
Cyrus Allen (#85) had a big game at Mizzou with 5 catches for 121 yards and 2
scores, but he had just one target and no catches last week.
The defense for LA Tech is still a work in progress, giving up 558 total yards against Missouri and 52 points. Defensive Coordinator David Blackwell loves to be aggressive, especially up front, but it’s a gamble that didn’t pay off against Mizzou. If you recognize the name, by the way, that’s because Blackwell, a native of Greenville, was the Tigers’ LB Coach from 2003 to 2008 under Tommy Bowden.
CLEMSON STATUS
The Tigers are in good health, but hey may be missing 3
starters on the defensive line on Saturday night. As previously noted, Bresee
will miss the game due to his sister’s passing on Thursday, while DT Tyler
Davis and DE Xavier Thomas will be game-time decisions. They could probably
both play if really needed, but it will come down to whether Dabo wants to rest
one or both for another week before a big road game at No.18 Wake next week. The
good news is that we will get to see the debut of freshman WR Adam Randall
(#8)! Randall was having a fantastic spring before tearing his ACL and has
recovered remarkably fast. He is a big, physical and fast receiver and should
make an instant impact as a freshman this season. Dabo told us on Wednesday
that he will have Randall on a “pitch count,” so he won’t play a lot, but they
wanted to get him some live action before going on the road next week. He is
probably the fastest player on the team, and perhaps he will be that downfield
threat that the Tigers have been lacking since players like Tee Higgins and
Mike Williams.
I can’t wait to see how DJ follows up his performance last
week against Furman, which was his best game since his freshman year. He completed
21 of his 27 attempts despite 3 drops by the receivers, and he made some
excellent runs as well. A few of his passes were next-level throws, like the TD
pass in the corner of the end zone to Beaux on the scramble drill and the
completions to Davis Allen and Antonio Williams in the middle of the field. DJ’s
accuracy is far better and more consistent than it was at this time last year,
and the game appears to be slowing down for him. He is also more of a threat to
run after losing all that weight in the offseason. Some in the national media
have questioned whether the Clemson offense is much better than last year, but
they aren’t paying attention. The Tigers have averaged 35 points per game over
their last 8 games. They averaged just 19 points per game over their first 6
last season. The Tigers’ offense scored 27 unanswered points in the first half
of the opener and scored 28 points in the first half last week. Let’s see if
they can put it together for an entire game!
PREDICTION
Cumbie’s Air Raid offense will be a challenge for Wes
Goodwin and the Tigers’ back seven. They gave up a ton of yards on screen plays
to Furman last week, and you can expect a heavy dose of screens from the
Bulldogs as well. Despite stiffening in the red zone and only allowing 12
points last week, I could tell after the game that the defensive players were
disappointed in their effort and how many yards they gave up between the 20’s.
They also could not get Furman off the field, allowing conversions on 10 of 18
attempts. That is highly uncharacteristic of the Clemson defense we’ve seen for
the last decade, and I expect them to play with an edge on Saturday night to
redeem themselves. I think they will also be dedicating the game to Ella Bresee
and wanting to make her and their brother, Bryan, proud. It should be an
electric atmosphere in Death Valley with the brand new LED light show. They
will have spotlights on Howard’s Rock and The Hill as the team makes its famous
entrance, and there will be all kinds of other light features throughout the
game. I can’t wait to see it!
I think the Tigers will put together their first complete
game of the season as they get ready for a critical road game at No.18 Wake
Forest. Make it 36 straight home wins to extend the longest active streak in
the nation!
The Prowl toward a 7th College Football Playoff and 4th National Title continues....
CLEMSON 55 LA Tech 10
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