WHAT WE ARE HEARING: GATOR BOWL PREVIEW & PREDICTION FOR NO.22 CLEMSON vs. KENTUCKY

Welcome to the Gator Bowl edition of What We Are Hearing!

It was a disappointing season in that the Tigers were talented enough to win the national championship but didn’t even repeat as ACC champs, and the third-longest streak of 10-win seasons all-time ended after 12 years. However, the Tigers still have an opportunity to finish the season on a 5-game win streak and extend the longest post-season win streak ever to 13 years! This will be the Tigers' 10th Gator Bowl, the most of any program (4-5 record), but it will be their first since Dabo was the interim head coach in 2008. I was in Jacksonville for that game, just after getting my MBA at Clemson. The Tigers lost a close game to Nebraska that they should have won. Boy, the two programs sure have gone in different directions since then! Coincidentally, Dabo’s first bowl win was over Kentucky in the Music City Bowl in 2009, his first full season. CJ Spiller, now the RB Coach, was MVP of the game, setting a bowl record for rush yards. I remember watching the Tigers beat Kentucky in the Peach Bowl, too, in Tommy West’s first game as the head coach back in the 90’s. This Kentucky program is much better now, though, under the leadership of Mark Stoops, and his transfer quarterback, Devin Leary, knows the Tigers very well from his time at NC State. It’s another ACC vs. SEC showdown at noon on Friday! On to the matchup…

MISCELLANEOUS

Kentucky leads the all-time series 8-5, but Clemson won the last meeting in the 2009 Music City Bowl...With a win, Clemson will tie Yale (1886-98) for the fourth-longest streak of 9 or more wins all-time. The Tigers' current streak of 12 years is the second-longest active streak with Alabama (16) and tied with Texas (1998-2009) and Florida (1990-2001) for the fifth-longest streak all-time....This will be the Tigers' 50th bowl game. Only 11 other programs have played in 50 bowls...With a win, Dabo would win his 12th bowl game, passing Bobby Bowden for most bowl wins by an ACC coach...Clemson has played multiple SEC opponents in 17 of the last 18 seasons. The only exception was in 2020, when the SEC did not allow non-conference games...

KENTUCKY SYNOPSIS

The Cats have had an up and down season at 7-5. They got off to a hot start, winning their first 5 games, culminating with a 35-14 win over No.22 Florida and were ranked as high as No.20. However, they were pounded 51-13 at Georgia and then lost 38-21 at Mizzou and 33-27 to No.21 Tennessee. They rebounded with a 24-3 win at Mississippi State but were hammered at Alabama the next week 49-21, followed by a 17-14 loss at South Carolina. They finished the regular season on a high note with a 38-31 upset at No.10 Louisville in their rivalry game. Since Stoops has been there, Kentucky always seems to beat Louisville, even when they are the underdogs. Lamar Jackson even lost to the Cats when he stole the Heisman from Deshaun Watson in 2016.

As mentioned, former NC State QB Devin Leary has been the starter at Kentucky this season. He has completed 56.3 percent of his passes this season for 2,440 yards and 23 touchdowns with 10 interceptions. He’s only been sacked 20 times this season. He was only 12-22 for 206 yards in the Louisville win but had 3 touchdown passes with just one interception. Obviously, Leary is not a dual-threat quarterback. With his negative sack yardage, he averages -1.4 yards per carry, and he has one rush TD this season.

6’3, 195-pound sophomore Dane Key (#6), a Lexington native, leads the receivers for the Cats. He has 38 catches for 553 yards and 5 touchdowns, including one against Louisville. He had a big lost fumble in that 17-14 loss at South Carolina. 5’11, 194-pound senior WR Tayvion Robinson (#9) has 37 catches for 507 yards and 4 TD’s. 6’1, 166-pound sophomore WR Barion Brown (#7) leads the team in catches with 40 for 439 yards and 3 TD’s. The Cats don’t have a dominant tight end in the passing game, with only one TD among the five, but they are used heavily for run blocking. 6’4, 238-pound sophomore Jordan Dingle (#85) leads the group with just 11 catches for 198 yards this season, but he missed their last two games with an injury. He entered the transfer portal in December but returned to the team a week later and will play in the bowl. 6’4, 231-pound sophomore TE Josh Kattus (#84) has just 8 catches for 108 yards, but he has both TD catches for the Cats at the position. He has not played since the Alabama loss and is questionable for the bowl game.

The Cats have a work-horse running back in 5’10, 216-pound senior Ray Davis (#1). He’s averaged 5.7 yards per carry for 1,066 yards and 13 touchdowns. He also has 29 catches for 317 yards and leads the team in TD receptions with 7. He had a big game against Louisville to end the regular season with 5.4 yards per carry for 76 yards and a TD along with 4 catches for 51 yards and 2 more scores to give him the hat trick. Their next-leading rusher is 5’10, 210-pound senior Ramon Jefferson (#26), who has just 24 carries for 175 yards and no scores but averages 7.3 yards per carry. 6’0, 210-pound junior Demie Sumo-Karngbaye (#0) has just 20 carries for 139 yards and one TD but averages 6.9 yards per carry.

Defensively, look out for sophomore CB Maxwell Hairston (#31), who has 5 interceptions (half the team total) this season, including 2 pick-sixes. His long INT return is 83 yards. Up front, sophomore Deone Walker (#0) is a massive DT who will remind you of Dexter Lawrence. He stands 6’6 and 348 pounds with 5.5 sacks to lead the team. In the middle, senior LB JJ Weaver (#13) from Louisville has 5 sacks and a forced fumble. Junior LB Trevin Wallace (#32) from Jesup, GA has 4.5 sacks, an INT and a forced fumble.

The Cats have a solid kicker in senior Alex Raynor from Kennesaw, GA. He is 10-11 on field goals this season with a long of 50 yards. He made his only attempt at Louisville from 46 yards. Their punter, Wilson Berry, averages 40.4 yards per punt. They also have a dangerous return man in WR Barion Brown (#7), who has 2 touchdowns on kickoff returns this season. He also averages 17 yards per punt return!

Kentucky is ranked No.58 (right behind Clemson) in scoring offense (28.6 points per game), No.96 in rushing offense (130.83 yards/game), No.94 in passing offense (203.8 yards/game) and No.100 in total offense (334.6 yards/game). The Cats are No.57 in scoring defense (24.8 points/game), No.27 in rush defense (113.92 yards/game), No.91 in pass defense (238.5 yards/game) and No.44 in total defense (352.4 yards/game). They are No.72 in 3rd down offense (38.10%) and No.112 in 3rd down defense (44.38%). They are No.90 in red zone offense and No.120 in red zone defense. They are No.54 in turnover margin (+.08 per game) and No.108 in forced fumbles (0.5 per game). 

CLEMSON STATUS

‘Tis the season for opt outs—although Kentucky doesn’t seem to have any significant players opting out—and the Tigers are not immune. Starting LB Jeremiah Trotter and CB Nate Wiggins are both first-round NFL prospects and will therefore not risk injury to play in the Gator Bowl. I think one or both might not have opted out if the Tigers were going for a 10th win to keep the streak going. That was the case in 2021 when the Tigers didn’t have a single player opt out of the Cheez-It bowl against Iowa State even though a few of the players were high draft prospects.

In addition, 3-year starting safety Andrew Mukuba is in the transfer portal, and the other starting safety at the start of the season, Jalyn Phillips, will miss his final game due to injury. The Tigers are still in good shape at safety with RJ Mickens and freshman phenom Khalil Barnes back there, and redshirt freshman Kylon Griffin has played well of late. Tyler Venables, who took a medical red shirt this season, will also be available at safety. Trotter will be a big loss at linebacker, but the good news is that Barrett Carter announced he will return to Clemson next season. The Tigers may have the best LB trio again next season with Carter, Woodaz and 5-star freshman Sammy Brown!

Also in the portal, aside from Mukuba, are WR Beaux Collins, backup CB Toriano Pride, backup OT Mitchell Mayes, 3rd string RB Domonique Thomas, backup TE Sage Ennis and QB2 Hunter Helms. So if anything happens to Cade Klubnik, the next quarterback in will be either Paul Tyson, the grad transfer from Alabama and great grandson of Bear Bryant, or freshman Christopher Vizzina. Beaux Collins missed the Palmetto Bowl against the Gamecocks, so the Tigers were without all 3 of their starting wide receivers from the beginning of the season. That’s one of the reasons they didn’t score an offensive touchdown in the game. Fortunately, Antonio Williams should be ready to go after missing most of the regular season. Brannon Spector will also be available at receiver. With Sage Ennis in the portal, let’s hope that Briningstool doesn’t get hurt, although redshirt freshman Josh Sapp looks to be ready in the passing game.

With Wiggins opting out, Pride in the portal and Sheridan Jones injured, the Tigers are a little thin at corner, so we may see a player make his debut at the position. Freshman Avieon Terrell, brother of AJ, has been a revelation at corner in the last few games, and Shelton Lewis has also played well, but Dabo had open auditions at the start of bowl practice. We may finally get to see freshman WR Tink Kelley, who Dabo was really impressed with until he was injured a couple months ago, in action at the corner position. On the depth chart behind Terrell and Lewis are redshirt freshman Myles Oliver and grad transfer Austin Randall, brother of WR Adam Randall.

Be advised that Jalyn Phillips took Mukuba’s No.1 for his final game, and freshman Shelton Lewis took No.2 from Wiggins.

PREDICTION

Even minus 3 starters on defense, I don’t see Kentucky, which relies heavily on the run, being able to move the ball effectively against this Clemson defense. I expect to see a trick play or two from Stoops, but it won't be enough. The only question is whether we will see more offense from the Tigers than we did in their last outing. With Antonio Williams back on the field with Tyler Brown, Adam Randall and Jake Briningstool in the passing game to go with Shipley, Mafah and Klubnik in the run game, I think we will see some fireworks from Garrett Riley’s offense on Friday. And Dabo can finally feel comfortable with the kicking game with Weitz going 3-3 against the Gamecocks in Columbia! All 3 makes were the longest of his career. The Tigers 2023 with a bang, take a 5-game win streak into the offseason and extend the longest post-season win streak in history to 13 years! Get ready for a national championship run in 2024…

CLEMSON    41        Kentucky    13