💬 5 reasons why Auburn will end Clemson’s national championship hopes

[Max]

Clemson has everything going for it entering the 2016 season.

The national runner-up has won 10 games or more in each of the last five seasons. The Tigers of the ACC have the Heisman Trophy frontrunner in quarterback Deshaun Watson. Their talent is deep, rich and experienced.

Oh, and they’ll likely be picked to win the ACC again and will be a top 5 team in the country.

The season opener at Auburn is a crucial stepping stone for a program that seemingly has paved a path of systemic success, but could the Tigers of the SEC prove to be a road trip in more ways than one for Clemson?

Here are five reasons why Clemson, a 7.5-point favorite, will have its national championship hopes dashed Sept. 3 inside Jordan-Hare Stadium.

1. Clemson doesn’t know what to expect
Let’s face it, Clemson is coming to Auburn somewhat blind. Heck, even Auburn doesn’t know what its offense is going to look like when the two teams kick off for an evening game.

Believe it or not, this could work in Auburn’s favor. Not many have seen quarterback John Franklin III in action, and if he earns the starting job, an inept offense from a season ago could start churning up the grass much like the groups of 2013 and 2014 did with fellow dual-threat quarterback Nick Marshall.

That’s a lot to ask of Franklin III. He has yet to win the starting job and he faces stiff competition. Plus, Auburn has not yet decided on a rotation at receiver, where two to three (and maybe four) freshmen will need to contribute to a group that was frustratingly inconsistent last season as the Tigers rotated Jeremy Johnson and Sean White in an effort to spark the offense.

With that said, Gus Malzahn seems more invested than ever in his offense and if Franklin III can provide the duality Auburn has so desperately missed in recent months, Clemson could be caught off guard.

2. The crowd at Jordan-Hare Stadium
The crowd at Jordan-Hare Stadium might be one of the more underrated fan bases in the SEC. The 87,451-seat stadium is loud — and even more so with its vibrating sound system and college football’s largest scoreboard.

Sound can exacerbate the effects of heat, leading to further disorientation for visitors. Meanwhile, the home team will feed off that energy.

Auburn fans have seen their fair share of drama at Jordan-Hare Stadium, and they know the Tigers are capable of rallying from deficits if Clemson gets ahead early, so don’t count out the effects one or two big plays could have for Auburn and its fans. Momentum can swing in a hurry on the Plains, and usually in the home team’s favor.

3. Auburn’s defense is much better
Auburn has not had a top-25 defense since 2007, but this might be the year that drought ends.

The defensive line should be among the best in the SEC, but the key will be whether everyone can stay healthy (but isn’t that always the case?). Defensive end Carl Lawson is a game changer. Look no further than the first half of the season opener against Louisville in 2015 if you need to be convinced at how different this Auburn team looks when the former 5-star prospect is on the field.

Deshaun Watson can smack a defense around with his arm, but his legs could get Auburn in trouble. Dual-threat quarterbacks have been a pain for Auburn to defend in recent seasons, but this defense might also be the fastest and most athletic of the Gus Malzahn era. If Auburn gets pressure on Watson, things could change in a hurry for Auburn.

RELATED: Why Auburn is a ‘tough’ opponent for Clemson

4. Clemson’s defense is reloading
Only three starters return on Clemson’s defense, which ranked in the top 10 in 2015. While the backups and rotation will still be strong, time will be needed to break in the latest incarnation of Brent Venable’s defense.

Auburn has some experience along the offensive line. If they get a good push early, Auburn could move up and down the field with relative and surprising ease against Clemson. Tempo and momentum will be everything in this game, and if Auburn is having success early against the reloading Clemson defense, the upset alert will be on high.

The biggest losses are defensive ends Shaq Lawson and Kevin Dodd, who combined for 24.5 sacks (!) in 2015. Without them, life would be difficult rushing the passer, especially if that passer is mobile quarterback John Franklin III.

5. Gus Malzahn has a bag of tricks
This is a crucial season for Gus Malzahn as he sits on a much warmer seat than he did a year ago. With everything to lose, perhaps Malzahn will go back to what made him so successful early in his college career: unique formations, trick plays and plenty of misdirection.

We get the feeling Malzahn will throw everything in his playbook — and maybe a few trick plays — at Clemson in the opener in an effort to pull the upset and set the Tigers up for a big run with five straight home games at home to open the season.

Auburn rarely used trick plays last season, but when the Tigers did pull out the trickeration, it usually worked. A big run by freshman Ryan Davis against Texas A&M on Malzahn’s patented Woody play especially stands out.

Why do we think Malzahn will go back to his tricky ways? His comments about reverting to life as a “football coach” rather than a “CEO” this offseason were telling, and designing interesting and exciting plays could be one of several results of his renewed approach.

5 reasons why Auburn will end Clemson's national title hopes

 

[rammerjammer]

I heard the local talk show guys talking about this article yesterday. I know I have crimson colored glasses and am a complete homer, but I do not know how in the world they can make the #3 statement. Granted you may have some guys back that are play makers, but is there anyone on here that would take Kevin Steele over Will Muschamp as their on the field DC?

I think had Will stayed and had a year or two to get the compliment of talent he needs, that Awbrin would have been very tough to deal with because if with a piss poor year like what they had in 2015. A good stout D that Muschamp in capable of producing could have made a few of the close ones winnable. Guess we will never know. I just don't see a total new defensive staff and new nomenclature, etc coming in and making an impact of the magnitude that they are speaking. Yes they can make them better, but not the first game of the year against a national title contender.

 

[UAgrad93]

I had to look up the writer and Marcello is nothing more than a Barner beat writer. He was smoozin' it up with Gus a couple of weeks ago.
The hardest one to read and NOT spit my drink on the screen is #3. The defense is better? Could it actually be much worse? I'm guessing the Barner faithful are resting all of their eggs in the Carl Lawson basket. The kid is a player but, he only plays one position and he has spent more games hurt in his 2 years than he has actually played. There is a reason LSwho didn't top what the Barn offered for Steele. He just isn't that good of a coach when it comes to teaching technique.
#4 Clemson is reloading, but if he had paid attention, a lot of their backups saw significant playing time throughout the season. We hear this story all of the time from the media when speaking about our defense when we all know that starters all depend on the package that steps on the field first. For example, in base, Minka Fitzpatrick isn't a starter but he probably played in 80-85% of our snaps!
All in all, just another Barner puff piece!!

 

[TerryP]

The hardest one to read and NOT spit my drink on the screen is #3.

That was the hard one?

Defensive end Carl Lawson is a game changer. Look no further than the first half of the season opener against Louisville in 2015 if you need to be convinced at how different this Auburn team looks when the former 5-star prospect is on the field.

I keep seeing this and I keep saying this, "when has Carl Lawson changed a game?" Marcello points to the first half of the Louisville game. If you read the recaps of the game I'd dare say you'd be hard pressed to find Lawson mentioned; period. He had four assisted tackles in the game. That's not changing a game.

Louisville shot themselves in the feet on both scores AU had in the first half of that game. Lawson didn't have a damn thing to do with those.

(Hell, look at the thread of Coker's TD pass against Auburn ... who is it that's getting schooled? Lawson.)

Momentum can swing in a hurry on the Plains, and usually in the home team’s favor.

Which is demonstrated by Auburn losing their last five conference games at home, right?

 

[TUSKtimes]

To recap:

Clemson comes in with perhaps the most explosive offense in the nation. The number one candidate for the Heisman. The hottest coach in the nation not named Nick Saban. Who I might add would look at a barn victory as passionately as when he was a young lad at the Capstone. A Clemson team who's last 5 seasons has been the most successful in school history.

Why the barn will win:

A list of hypothetical events that mutate until it reaches the final stages of mythological proportions.

Another well thought out think piece.

 

[PurlJam]

3 reasons they won't.
1. Deshawn Watson
2. Clemson = 8 returning starters on offense
3. Even with our defense last year, we had a hard time with Watson and the Clemson offense and there's no way the aubie defense this season gonna be anywhere near what ours was last season.

JMO.

 

[#80]

Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong and wrong.

 

[Che Boludo]

I'd take Clemson -24

 

[Bamabww]

Damn it! At my age I shouldn't waste brain cells by reading shit like this article. Wish I'd read the comments first, @uagrad93's alone would have been a big help.

 

[TerryP]

Damn it! At my age I shouldn't waste brain cells by reading **** like this article.

The 87,451-seat stadium is loud — and even more so with its vibrating sound system and college football’s largest scoreboard.

That one sentence alone makes it worth the waste of time. Perhaps, other teams would do better at home if they also had a vibrating sound system. :headscratch:

 

[Destiny's Child]

I'd take Clemson -24

I actually agree with the writer of the story about one thing and I would take this bet above by the way. Let me preface this by saying, I hate the boogs with all my heart, Dabo is a friend and we grew up a few hundred yards from each other.

I like Auburn to win outright. I think where Auburn will be strong, will go against where Clemson will be young and where Clemson will be strong, Auburn will actually be fairly deep and experienced. Throw in the fact that Auburn will be playing at home, Clemson will actually have the pressure of being the hunted for once and the thought of "Clemsoning" is in the back of their mind.

Auburn, will have a deep and experienced offensive line with a mobile QB(most likely) and a few really good running backs going against Clemson's brand new front 7.. they basically lost everybody out of their starting front 7. Auburn's defense gets back a couple of injured stars and returns most of their front 7 and their secondary is pretty talented which should help slow down Clemson's strength which will be there QB and getting their whole o-line back basically. If they can cause a few turnovers...lookout!

I pray that Clemson wipes the floor with them and just crushes their spirit but much like Saban says this years Clemson team hasn't accomplished anything and they are still Clemson. Auburn normally bounces back to have a good year after we win a championship and they will be catching a young, over confident team that has had a history of choking, at home to start the season..

 

[EdfromT'town]

thanks for this, I needed a good laugh this morning.

 

[TerryP]

Auburn, will have a deep and experienced offensive line with a mobile QB(most likely) and a few really good running backs going against Clemson's brand new front 7.. they basically lost everybody out of their starting front 7.

You might want to think that over a bit. Their signing classes has been woefully thin on offensive linemen to the point you've got Gus scrambling through JUCO ranks looking for guys.

As it is, even with their returning guys, there's a lot of shuffling going on with guys like Golson moving to tackle after playing center last season. When you have back-ups leaving Oxford, transferring to Auburn, and finding themselves on the starting lineup?

We both see depth, but I'm looking at the hole.

 

[riz]

This is satire, right?

 

[UAgrad93]

Golson transfers out of Ole Pi$$ and lands a starting position at the Barn and is now pushed out to LT because Shon "I tackle you" Coleman has moved on. You replace Golson with a guy that has been a 3rd team walk on if my memory is correct.
Again, Clemson played a ton of guys on their defense like we have over the years to build depth and experience. Don't be fooled by "Clemson loses 7-8 starters off of their defense". Their offense will be STACKED!! The Barn on defense, lost a lot in McKinzy and Frost among others. Lawson just doesn't impress me that much. We ran at him and even Dom handled him and Dom was our weak link on the Oline.

 

[TerryP]

This is satire, right?

Convince me these talking points about the fall weren't 'shared' when Gus hosted all the beat writers for Auburn at his house a few weeks ago. The same points are being put out there by other writers. But, more importantly, it's almost verbatim of what's being said in their summer circuit with booster clubs.

 

[UAgrad93]

@Destiny's Child, check out their Oline 2 Deep. Sort of backs up what @TerryP said about lack of depth.

2016 Auburn Tigers Football Depth Chart | Ourlads.com

 

[TerryP]

Golson transfers out of Ole Pi$$ and lands a starting position at the Barn and is now pushed out to LT because Shon "I tackle you" Coleman has moved on. You replace Golson with a guy that has been a 3rd team walk on if my memory is correct.

That's a very telling point, if you ask me. It's one thing to move a guy from a tackle position inside. It's a completely different scenario moving a guy from inside to out—the skill sets are worlds apart.

I mentioned depth earlier.

Auburn signed:
1 OL in the '16 class.
5 in '15
2 in '14
2 in '13.

OK, we have a two deep roster signed over four years. Anyone want to discuss how many offensive lineman actually pan out at the collegiate level? The rest of that roster is made up of walk-ons, transfers, etc.

While there is a lot of smoke and mirrors with the motion in the Malzahn offense, those six to eight consistent running plays are based on a power attack. 10 linemen over a four year period doesn't make an offensive line—in the MAC.

 

[TerryP]

@uagrad93 I would have posted that earlier but got caught up cleaning in of my landscaping beds ... beat me to it! :notworthy

 

[bama alum]

I'm looking forward to seeing two barner OLs pull this stunt this year: