🏈 Clemson Fan Perspective

[CU14]

Always enjoy getting other teams insight of the games. So here’s mine. (Might be long)

This one is hard for me to get a feel. There was a point in the season I thought everyone was playing for second. But I’m starting to get a little bit of confidence.

Bamas been winning National Championships with “game manager” QBs. The fact y’all have a dynamic guy like Tua is absolutely terrifying. The one thing that’s helpful for us is this Bama D isn’t up to usual standards.

Things i think will decide the game (pretty universal)

1- TL.. he’s a phenomenal player that can make all the throws. That’s a known. For being a true freshman he’s been absolutely incredible. BUT we still don’t know if he has that “it” factor Watson had. We haven’t seen him in a backs against the wall situation so we really don’t know.

2- line of scrimmage. This is pretty basic and I think everyone understands this importance here. Our OL has started slow most season. Don’t know what it is but they seem to take a quarter or so to get into the game. ND game was no exception. First few drives they were living in our back field but pass pro got much better as game went on. Can’t start slow tomorrow or we could find ourselves in a serious hole.

3- Simmons (#11). He plays a hybrid LB/S for us. If we win, i think he’ll be a storyline. He played his best game of the season last week. He’s a long freaky athlete, he can look like a first rounder or a JV player on any play. Can get lost in coverage at times. But he did a fantastic job spying Book last week and he’s always solid in run support. Think he needs to be equally good spying Tua

4- DT depth. Obviously losing Dex is huge. Not just the fact we’re losing probably the best of the four linemen but now we really only have 3 guys on rotation there. We’ve had depth issues there all season thanks to off season transfers and an injury. Huggins is a very solid player. He’d start a lot of places. Just don’t feel great only having a couple guys to rotate in there. The good thing is we’ve beat the crap out of most schools and Dabo is notorious for playing our whole roster in blowouts so hopefully that pays off as they’ve played far few snaps than most typically would have 14 games in.

5- ETN. Got to continue to feed him the ball even if it’s getting stuffed (which I expect). He’s just capable of scoring on any play. ND did a good job slowing him down, and then he gets one opening and takes it 60 for a TD


Anyways that’s what I got. I’m expecting another classic but also think both teams Os are good enough to blow it open if either D can slow down the O. Gut says 30 points probably wins it. So I’m going 31-28 Tigers.

 

[RollllTide!]

This is too much analyzing for my thoughts on the game. I look at where I can compare other wins and loses. A good team you guys have played was aTm. 28-26 Easily could have been a loss. We beat them 45-23. I know the season will change at the end and injuries could make the difference, however please don't just believe my Crimson Goggles, but if we play our game and you play yours, we will win bigly.

 

[CU14]

I can agree on part of this. Yalls absolute best game vs our absolute best game, you are probably correct Bama is better. As far as trying to use A&M as some reference is off base in my opinion. First y’all were home. We were away. Jimbo is very familiar with Clemson from his time at FSU. Kelly Bryant was our QB.

ND fans were saying the same thing about Syracuse last week.

 

[LeGarrette]

OU's OL is much better than Clemson's. Clemson's QB isn't as athletic or as accurate as Kyler, but he's taller.

The game will be decided by pressure applied to goldilocks and how he responds is my thinking.

 

[bradenob]

Always enjoy getting other teams insight of the games. So here’s mine. (Might be long)

This one is hard for me to get a feel. There was a point in the season I thought everyone was playing for second. But I’m starting to get a little bit of confidence.

Bamas been winning National Championships with “game manager” QBs. The fact y’all have a dynamic guy like Tua is absolutely terrifying. The one thing that’s helpful for us is this Bama D isn’t up to usual standards.

Things i think will decide the game (pretty universal)

1- TL.. he’s a phenomenal player that can make all the throws. That’s a known. For being a true freshman he’s been absolutely incredible. BUT we still don’t know if he has that “it” factor Watson had. We haven’t seen him in a backs against the wall situation so we really don’t know.

2- line of scrimmage. This is pretty basic and I think everyone understands this importance here. Our OL has started slow most season. Don’t know what it is but they seem to take a quarter or so to get into the game. ND game was no exception. First few drives they were living in our back field but pass pro got much better as game went on. Can’t start slow tomorrow or we could find ourselves in a serious hole.

3- Simmons (#11). He plays a hybrid LB/S for us. If we win, i think he’ll be a storyline. He played his best game of the season last week. He’s a long freaky athlete, he can look like a first rounder or a JV player on any play. Can get lost in coverage at times. But he did a fantastic job spying Book last week and he’s always solid in run support. Think he needs to be equally good spying Tua

4- DT depth. Obviously losing Dex is huge. Not just the fact we’re losing probably the best of the four linemen but now we really only have 3 guys on rotation there. We’ve had depth issues there all season thanks to off season transfers and an injury. Huggins is a very solid player. He’d start a lot of places. Just don’t feel great only having a couple guys to rotate in there. The good thing is we’ve beat the crap out of most schools and Dabo is notorious for playing our whole roster in blowouts so hopefully that pays off as they’ve played far few snaps than most typically would have 14 games in.

5- ETN. Got to continue to feed him the ball even if it’s getting stuffed (which I expect). He’s just capable of scoring on any play. ND did a good job slowing him down, and then he gets one opening and takes it 60 for a TD


Anyways that’s what I got. I’m expecting another classic but also think both teams Os are good enough to blow it open if either D can slow down the O. Gut says 30 points probably wins it. So I’m going 31-28 Tigers.

Good points, especially Simmons - lots of us aren't familiar with the guys that aren't stars. Because of what you said about playing players, I'm not buying the lack of DT depth. On the other hand, we've handled some good DLs pretty well and had to handle your guys last year, so while they are great, I am not panicking. Etienne is a beast this year - read an article that he was just worn out last year-not the case now, so trying to contain him, with a bit of a different defense THIS year, will be a challenge. Lawrence is amazing, period, let alone for a freshman. We must pressure him or he can carve us up - even then it will be interesting to see how he responds if he is rushed.

Another big matchup is the 50/50 balls - our guys are taught to play the receiver, so they don't necessarily play the ball well - your guys are good at the 50/50, and tall, so that's a major challenge.

I think if we play our game, limiting mistakes, playing 'well,' we win, 34-31. Crimson glasses included, and Roll Tide!

 

[Bamaclam]

Three keys to the game:

1. Clemson does not have an answer for Irv Smith Jr.

2. Bama leads the nation in QB pressure without blitzing. Lawrence is 37% completion rate vs pressure. Although he can be mobile, the CU offense with him is a one read RPO with him being stationary. If we apply pressure without the blitz it will be a long day for CU.

3. If CU can not establish the running game and can not force our second safety to commit to the line of scrimmage on the RPO. CU becomes one dimensional.

 

[ElephantStomp]

If Bama plays their best game and CU plays their best I honestly believe Bama wins by at least 14. I don’t believe CU is as good as UGA and we played like dog shit and still won (although ugly, a win is a win).

Lawerence is a damn good QB and if Bama doesn’t get pressure on him it could be a long game

 

[TerryP]

OU's OL is much better than Clemson's.

What are you basing that upon? The award? I don't see it that way. At worst, I'd call it a push. Personally, I see the advantage going to Clemson. If we look at three of the main components, rushing offense, tackles for loss allowed and sacks allowed, Clemson is leading in all three categories.

People do talk about the defenses Clemson has faced this year but it's a non-sequitur when comparing it to Oklahoma.

 

[Destiny's Child]

Always enjoy getting other teams insight of the games. So here’s mine. (Might be long)

This one is hard for me to get a feel. There was a point in the season I thought everyone was playing for second. But I’m starting to get a little bit of confidence.

Bamas been winning National Championships with “game manager” QBs. The fact y’all have a dynamic guy like Tua is absolutely terrifying. The one thing that’s helpful for us is this Bama D isn’t up to usual standards.

Things i think will decide the game (pretty universal)

1- TL.. he’s a phenomenal player that can make all the throws. That’s a known. For being a true freshman he’s been absolutely incredible. BUT we still don’t know if he has that “it” factor Watson had. We haven’t seen him in a backs against the wall situation so we really don’t know.

2- line of scrimmage. This is pretty basic and I think everyone understands this importance here. Our OL has started slow most season. Don’t know what it is but they seem to take a quarter or so to get into the game. ND game was no exception. First few drives they were living in our back field but pass pro got much better as game went on. Can’t start slow tomorrow or we could find ourselves in a serious hole.

3- Simmons (#11). He plays a hybrid LB/S for us. If we win, i think he’ll be a storyline. He played his best game of the season last week. He’s a long freaky athlete, he can look like a first rounder or a JV player on any play. Can get lost in coverage at times. But he did a fantastic job spying Book last week and he’s always solid in run support. Think he needs to be equally good spying Tua

4- DT depth. Obviously losing Dex is huge. Not just the fact we’re losing probably the best of the four linemen but now we really only have 3 guys on rotation there. We’ve had depth issues there all season thanks to off season transfers and an injury. Huggins is a very solid player. He’d start a lot of places. Just don’t feel great only having a couple guys to rotate in there. The good thing is we’ve beat the crap out of most schools and Dabo is notorious for playing our whole roster in blowouts so hopefully that pays off as they’ve played far few snaps than most typically would have 14 games in.

5- ETN. Got to continue to feed him the ball even if it’s getting stuffed (which I expect). He’s just capable of scoring on any play. ND did a good job slowing him down, and then he gets one opening and takes it 60 for a TD


Anyways that’s what I got. I’m expecting another classic but also think both teams Os are good enough to blow it open if either D can slow down the O. Gut says 30 points probably wins it. So I’m going 31-28 Tigers.

I agree with a lot of your takes here.

I think championship football is still a line of scrimmage game. We are weaker on both sides of the ball than we have been in the last three years. Your d-line vs our O-line is my biggest concern tonight. Our line is still good just not as dominant as we have been used to.

Simmons is a freak athlete and a future pro stud if he can play with a calm aggression and let his athleticism take over. We need to keep him occupied and confused.

I think both teams receivers have an advantage over the other teams DBs but Bama receivers may have a slightly bigger advantage.

ETN is a tough player with great speed. We have been goo against the run statistically but not as dominating as usual. He could be a factor for sure.

We need our running game to be ferocious and help us wear down the Clemson D-line and their ability to get into the back field. It will probably be tough sledding early but should pay dividends in the 4th quarter.

I see a slug fest that could go either way but Clemson’s lines of scrimmage could give them the win. But I still like my boys to win 31-27

 

[LeGarrette]

Check out what Cole Cubelic has said about the line play on twitter.

 

[Max]

Check out what Cole Cubelic has said about the line play on twitter.

link?

 

[bamaledge]

Welcome CU fan.
That’s all I can choke up, at this time.

 

[It Takes Eleven]

Always enjoy getting other teams insight of the games. So here’s mine. (Might be long)

This one is hard for me to get a feel. There was a point in the season I thought everyone was playing for second. But I’m starting to get a little bit of confidence.

Bamas been winning National Championships with “game manager” QBs. The fact y’all have a dynamic guy like Tua is absolutely terrifying. The one thing that’s helpful for us is this Bama D isn’t up to usual standards.

Things i think will decide the game (pretty universal)

1- TL.. he’s a phenomenal player that can make all the throws. That’s a known. For being a true freshman he’s been absolutely incredible. BUT we still don’t know if he has that “it” factor Watson had. We haven’t seen him in a backs against the wall situation so we really don’t know.

2- line of scrimmage. This is pretty basic and I think everyone understands this importance here. Our OL has started slow most season. Don’t know what it is but they seem to take a quarter or so to get into the game. ND game was no exception. First few drives they were living in our back field but pass pro got much better as game went on. Can’t start slow tomorrow or we could find ourselves in a serious hole.

3- Simmons (#11). He plays a hybrid LB/S for us. If we win, i think he’ll be a storyline. He played his best game of the season last week. He’s a long freaky athlete, he can look like a first rounder or a JV player on any play. Can get lost in coverage at times. But he did a fantastic job spying Book last week and he’s always solid in run support. Think he needs to be equally good spying Tua

4- DT depth. Obviously losing Dex is huge. Not just the fact we’re losing probably the best of the four linemen but now we really only have 3 guys on rotation there. We’ve had depth issues there all season thanks to off season transfers and an injury. Huggins is a very solid player. He’d start a lot of places. Just don’t feel great only having a couple guys to rotate in there. The good thing is we’ve beat the crap out of most schools and Dabo is notorious for playing our whole roster in blowouts so hopefully that pays off as they’ve played far few snaps than most typically would have 14 games in.

5- ETN. Got to continue to feed him the ball even if it’s getting stuffed (which I expect). He’s just capable of scoring on any play. ND did a good job slowing him down, and then he gets one opening and takes it 60 for a TD


Anyways that’s what I got. I’m expecting another classic but also think both teams Os are good enough to blow it open if either D can slow down the O. Gut says 30 points probably wins it. So I’m going 31-28 Tigers.

Welcome to the site.

1 & 2 - agree
3 - He's a heck of a player. If we can force him down into the box and spy on Tua, I think Tua feasts over the top. If your DL can contain any runs by Tua, advantage to you guys.
4 - I think both sides will try to work the edges and make the DL run a bit to wear them down. Whoever can do that the best (65-75 snaps leading into 4Q) may take it.
5 - Many teams give up on the run early on Bama and never reach that point to break through. If we can hold ETN early and get ahead by a few scores, he may not get his chance.

Thanks for dropping by. Beat aTm next year.

RTR,

Tim

 

[50+yeartidefan]

I saw to many mental mistakes last week to be over confident....stop that foolishness...
....Clemson lost of Dlineman is not good for clemson in a game that is even...
TUAs refocus and health....is he stoppable? Can anybody cover this stable of receivers at the college level...not one or 2.... up to 4 plus TE at one time....in patterns? ...probably not....
Bama Oline can handle Clemson D line.... and give Tua time.....
Sit back and enjoy....should be fun

 

[bamaledge]

I saw to many mental mistakes last week to be over confident....stop that foolishness...
....Clemson lost of Dlineman is not good for clemson in a game that is even...
TUAs refocus and health....is he stoppable? Can anybody cover this stable of receivers at the college level...not one or 2.... up to 4 plus TE at one time....in patterns? ...probably not....
Bama Oline can handle Clemson D line.... and give Tua time.....
Sit back and enjoy....should be fun

I think so too but just in case, have @Sgt. Lincoln Osiris start on the hard stuff now!

 

[BamaFan334]

Always enjoy getting other teams insight of the games. So here’s mine. (Might be long)

This one is hard for me to get a feel. There was a point in the season I thought everyone was playing for second. But I’m starting to get a little bit of confidence.

Bamas been winning National Championships with “game manager” QBs. The fact y’all have a dynamic guy like Tua is absolutely terrifying. The one thing that’s helpful for us is this Bama D isn’t up to usual standards.

Things i think will decide the game (pretty universal)

1- TL.. he’s a phenomenal player that can make all the throws. That’s a known. For being a true freshman he’s been absolutely incredible. BUT we still don’t know if he has that “it” factor Watson had. We haven’t seen him in a backs against the wall situation so we really don’t know.

2- line of scrimmage. This is pretty basic and I think everyone understands this importance here. Our OL has started slow most season. Don’t know what it is but they seem to take a quarter or so to get into the game. ND game was no exception. First few drives they were living in our back field but pass pro got much better as game went on. Can’t start slow tomorrow or we could find ourselves in a serious hole.

3- Simmons (#11). He plays a hybrid LB/S for us. If we win, i think he’ll be a storyline. He played his best game of the season last week. He’s a long freaky athlete, he can look like a first rounder or a JV player on any play. Can get lost in coverage at times. But he did a fantastic job spying Book last week and he’s always solid in run support. Think he needs to be equally good spying Tua

4- DT depth. Obviously losing Dex is huge. Not just the fact we’re losing probably the best of the four linemen but now we really only have 3 guys on rotation there. We’ve had depth issues there all season thanks to off season transfers and an injury. Huggins is a very solid player. He’d start a lot of places. Just don’t feel great only having a couple guys to rotate in there. The good thing is we’ve beat the crap out of most schools and Dabo is notorious for playing our whole roster in blowouts so hopefully that pays off as they’ve played far few snaps than most typically would have 14 games in.

5- ETN. Got to continue to feed him the ball even if it’s getting stuffed (which I expect). He’s just capable of scoring on any play. ND did a good job slowing him down, and then he gets one opening and takes it 60 for a TD


Anyways that’s what I got. I’m expecting another classic but also think both teams Os are good enough to blow it open if either D can slow down the O. Gut says 30 points probably wins it. So I’m going 31-28 Tigers.

Welcome to the board and I give you the utmost respect coming to a rival board and throwing yourself out there. Good for you.

1. I'm from Georgia and have known about Lawrence for a while now. He is amazing. He is a very tall kid with a live arm that can do it all. Strongest arm I've seen since Matthew Stafford at this level, can just sling it. That being said, I do not think he is going to have the time to sling it. He is going to have to be able to throw accurately on the run because I think we are going to work on flushing him out of the pocket and away fro his protection. It's anyone's guess to how he will respond, but being a true freshman going up against his first truly elite defense, I would say he's going to have to pull a Deshaun Watson performance using his legs as well to get that offense rolling.

2. Line of scrimmage will be a fun one to watch, even with all of the studs both teams have in the skill positions. I mean, absolute beasts against beasts. A lot of first round picks butting heads on both lines tonight. I have to give our lines the edge based off performance and ability to withstand pressure. Our offensive line has seen Texas A&M, LSU, Georgia, Mississippi State, and Auburn's guys and we have done well protecting. on the defensive line we have also done very well against the run with Williams stuffing the middle and Buggs and Raekwon Davis doing well getting pressure on the quarterback. Our outside linebackers also do a tremendous job of containment. Clemson will be our stiffest test of the year on offense, and it will be a battle, but I just think our offense has more weapons to keep your defense from just bombarding us and forcing us to play your game.

3. I think Tre Lamar will be more of the X-Factor. Will his speed allow him to cover Jacobs, will he be able to not miss tackles on our big backs like Najee, will he be able to stop the slants and other intermediate throws across the middle that have allowed us to break long catch and throws? he is the middle of your defense and will need to re-route some guys, cover well, and help out your safeties with those crossing routes over the middle. Will be interesting to see if he can hold up against us as much as the media has applauded him this season. Another Georgia boy, from Roswell that I followed a lot during his high school career.

4. Will be interested to see if your guys get as winded as ours did when y'all beat us in Tampa. We just didn't have the depth, Watson ran the ball all day and it gassed our guys, evident by the amount of plays ran and how badly we played that final drive, and an inept offense for most of the game due to Sarkesian's sorry ass. This will definitely be a story line, because we love running up the gut and between guard.

5. Etienne, stud. Had him on my fantasy team and drafted him because I knew his burst of speed and ability were off the charts. He had an amazing season and showed exactly what I thought he was capable of. That being said, I think he has the kind of game he had against us last year in the Sugar Bowl. Gonna be tough to run on us, so it'll be his ability to get into the passing game that could make him even more dangerous.

My biggest concern with Clemson is your tall and fast receiving corp. I don't think we have to worry about Renfrow as much this go around because it's Tee Higgins and Justyn Ross that can do what Renfrow does and they have more height and speed. We have Surtain at 6'2, but Savion is like 5'10, so the six inch height difference scares me. Deonte Thompson is 6'2 and McKinney are 6'1, so we will definitely need them over the top to help. Amari Rodgers will be the guy we need to watch out for as well. Sneaky fast and pops up at times like this.

All in all, it should be a good game, as all of the others have been as well. I think we win 35-27. Thanks again for reaching out on here. Roll Tide.

 

[CU14]

I think something being over looked (as a positive for us) is our lack of competition this year. We’ve been able to play rather vanilla all year. I’m hopeful that means we have some formations/packages we’ve been able to save.

Last week we busted out a formation I haven’t seen all year. Higgins and Ross were stacked on same side of the field. They’ve rarely even been on field at same time this year as Ross is really Higgins back up. It was giving Ross a free release and we scored two of our long passes out of this formation.

Something else I didn’t initially mention is tempo. SC gave us a lot of trouble going tempo. And i full expect y’all to as well. Venables likes to make adjustments after teams line up. They weren’t allowing that to happen and they were able to get favorable match ups because of it. Deebo was somehow left 1v1 vs a safety, everyone knows that safety had no chance.

Anyways looking forward to tonight. I truly feel it’s the two best teams and we were always on a collision course for part IV (V likely coming next year too)

Also those of you making the journey to Columbia next year. Don’t judge the great state of S.C. on that dump. Spend a night in downtown Greenville on your way through or shoot all the way to the coast a few days early and make more of a trip out of it. Charleston or Hilton Head are great places to be early September. Bring your golf clubs, there’s incredible courses in the Charleston/Beaufort/Hilton Head areas

 

[Destiny's Child]

Always enjoy getting other teams insight of the games. So here’s mine. (Might be long)

This one is hard for me to get a feel. There was a point in the season I thought everyone was playing for second. But I’m starting to get a little bit of confidence.

Bamas been winning National Championships with “game manager” QBs. The fact y’all have a dynamic guy like Tua is absolutely terrifying. The one thing that’s helpful for us is this Bama D isn’t up to usual standards.

Things i think will decide the game (pretty universal)

1- TL.. he’s a phenomenal player that can make all the throws. That’s a known. For being a true freshman he’s been absolutely incredible. BUT we still don’t know if he has that “it” factor Watson had. We haven’t seen him in a backs against the wall situation so we really don’t know.

2- line of scrimmage. This is pretty basic and I think everyone understands this importance here. Our OL has started slow most season. Don’t know what it is but they seem to take a quarter or so to get into the game. ND game was no exception. First few drives they were living in our back field but pass pro got much better as game went on. Can’t start slow tomorrow or we could find ourselves in a serious hole.

3- Simmons (#11). He plays a hybrid LB/S for us. If we win, i think he’ll be a storyline. He played his best game of the season last week. He’s a long freaky athlete, he can look like a first rounder or a JV player on any play. Can get lost in coverage at times. But he did a fantastic job spying Book last week and he’s always solid in run support. Think he needs to be equally good spying Tua

4- DT depth. Obviously losing Dex is huge. Not just the fact we’re losing probably the best of the four linemen but now we really only have 3 guys on rotation there. We’ve had depth issues there all season thanks to off season transfers and an injury. Huggins is a very solid player. He’d start a lot of places. Just don’t feel great only having a couple guys to rotate in there. The good thing is we’ve beat the crap out of most schools and Dabo is notorious for playing our whole roster in blowouts so hopefully that pays off as they’ve played far few snaps than most typically would have 14 games in.

5- ETN. Got to continue to feed him the ball even if it’s getting stuffed (which I expect). He’s just capable of scoring on any play. ND did a good job slowing him down, and then he gets one opening and takes it 60 for a TD


Anyways that’s what I got. I’m expecting another classic but also think both teams Os are good enough to blow it open if either D can slow down the O. Gut says 30 points probably wins it. So I’m going 31-28 Tigers.

Welcome to the board and I give you the utmost respect coming to a rival board and throwing yourself out there. Good for you.

1. I'm from Georgia and have known about Lawrence for a while now. He is amazing. He is a very tall kid with a live arm that can do it all. Strongest arm I've seen since Matthew Stafford at this level, can just sling it. That being said, I do not think he is going to have the time to sling it. He is going to have to be able to throw accurately on the run because I think we are going to work on flushing him out of the pocket and away fro his protection. It's anyone's guess to how he will respond, but being a true freshman going up against his first truly elite defense, I would say he's going to have to pull a Deshaun Watson performance using his legs as well to get that offense rolling.

2. Line of scrimmage will be a fun one to watch, even with all of the studs both teams have in the skill positions. I mean, absolute beasts against beasts. A lot of first round picks butting heads on both lines tonight. I have to give our lines the edge based off performance and ability to withstand pressure. Our offensive line has seen Texas A&M, LSU, Georgia, Mississippi State, and Auburn's guys and we have done well protecting. on the defensive line we have also done very well against the run with Williams stuffing the middle and Buggs and Raekwon Davis doing well getting pressure on the quarterback. Our outside linebackers also do a tremendous job of containment. Clemson will be our stiffest test of the year on offense, and it will be a battle, but I just think our offense has more weapons to keep your defense from just bombarding us and forcing us to play your game.

3. I think Tre Lamar will be more of the X-Factor. Will his speed allow him to cover Jacobs, will he be able to not miss tackles on our big backs like Najee, will he be able to stop the slants and other intermediate throws across the middle that have allowed us to break long catch and throws? he is the middle of your defense and will need to re-route some guys, cover well, and help out your safeties with those crossing routes over the middle. Will be interesting to see if he can hold up against us as much as the media has applauded him this season. Another Georgia boy, from Roswell that I followed a lot during his high school career.

4. Will be interested to see if your guys get as winded as ours did when y'all beat us in Tampa. We just didn't have the depth, Watson ran the ball all day and it gassed our guys, evident by the amount of plays ran and how badly we played that final drive, and an inept offense for most of the game due to Sarkesian's sorry ass. This will definitely be a story line, because we love running up the gut and between guard.

5. Etienne, stud. Had him on my fantasy team and drafted him because I knew his burst of speed and ability were off the charts. He had an amazing season and showed exactly what I thought he was capable of. That being said, I think he has the kind of game he had against us last year in the Sugar Bowl. Gonna be tough to run on us, so it'll be his ability to get into the passing game that could make him even more dangerous.

My biggest concern with Clemson is your tall and fast receiving corp. I don't think we have to worry about Renfrow as much this go around because it's Tee Higgins and Justyn Ross that can do what Renfrow does and they have more height and speed. We have Surtain at 6'2, but Savion is like 5'10, so the six inch height difference scares me. Deonte Thompson is 6'2 and McKinney are 6'1, so we will definitely need them over the top to help. Amari Rodgers will be the guy we need to watch out for as well. Sneaky fast and pops up at times like this.

All in all, it should be a good game, as all of the others have been as well. I think we win 35-27. Thanks again for reaching out on here. Roll Tide.

I always worry about Renfrow. He has a knack for getting lost especially as a QB scrambles and the line backers have to get their eyes on the QB. There is no doubt that their tall recievers will make some plays and that their QB will hit some long throws. That is fine. Renfrow and his ability to convert 3rd downs is demoralizing for a defense and tiring. I know it sounds weird but as a defense when you get the offense into 3rd and medium to 3rd and long, you flush the QB and he flips it to a possession guy who snakes his way for the first down... it wears on you more than 30 yard gain on 2nd down because of a great play design or great throw.

 

[bamaledge]

I agree with you on Renfrow and they may use him more in this game. I have watched some of the Clemson games and haven’t heard his name as much as I thought I would. We shall see.

 

[It Takes Eleven]

I think something being over looked (as a positive for us) is our lack of competition this year. We’ve been able to play rather vanilla all year. I’m hopeful that means we have some formations/packages we’ve been able to save.

Last week we busted out a formation I haven’t seen all year. Higgins and Ross were stacked on same side of the field. They’ve rarely even been on field at same time this year as Ross is really Higgins back up. It was giving Ross a free release and we scored two of our long passes out of this formation.

Something else I didn’t initially mention is tempo. SC gave us a lot of trouble going tempo. And i full expect y’all to as well. Venables likes to make adjustments after teams line up. They weren’t allowing that to happen and they were able to get favorable match ups because of it. Deebo was somehow left 1v1 vs a safety, everyone knows that safety had no chance.

Anyways looking forward to tonight. I truly feel it’s the two best teams and we were always on a collision course for part IV (V likely coming next year too)

Also those of you making the journey to Columbia next year. Don’t judge the great state of S.C. on that dump. Spend a night in downtown Greenville on your way through or shoot all the way to the coast a few days early and make more of a trip out of it. Charleston or Hilton Head are great places to be early September. Bring your golf clubs, there’s incredible courses in the Charleston/Beaufort/Hilton Head areas

I love Bacon Brothers in Greenville. The pimento cheese is awesome. Columbia has the Hunter Gatherer, just below the State House complex on Main, and it's a favorite stop of mine when I'm there. I think they've expanded into a second location at an old, old hangar at the municipal airfield, haven't gotten there yet. Great food, great beer.