I feel like Nick Saban was being a bit disingenuous with the question because he wanted to deflect a Hurts v. backs carry split discussion.
2017 Sugar Bowl Prep Thread (Practice Reports, Press Conference Updates, etc.)
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Just finished watching a few Clemson games. Here are my thoughts.
Clemson Offense
- Clemson's offense isn't all that scary. It's solid but they shouldn't be able to get close to doing what they did last year to our D. Assuming health for our defense I think this might be our best chance to win the game. Get a TO or 2 and hold them around 20 and we have a good shot.
- Tackling is going to be a big priority especially when tackling Bryant. He isn't overly physical but once he breaks a tackle he has the speed to blow by the rest of the D. Have to tackle him.
- Kelly Bryant is NOT very accurate(though he got much better later in the year). He will probably make a few throws but he shouldn't be able to beat us with his arm.
- Like I said Bryant isn't a super physical dude and getting hits on him will be big. Not sure he can hold up through a whole game if he is getting hit consistently.
Clemson Defense
- Their D is legit and really worries me.
- Their DL is easily the biggest strength of the team and can be devastating. Hurts isn't going to have a lot of time to throw the ball so he needs to take advantage of the times when the OL does give him time. I wouldn't be surprised to see him have more 1 read and run plays because he just isn't going to have the time to do much more consistently.
- Quick passes behind the line of scrimmage might not find a ton of success. Their D has speed and they aren't going to give us a lot on these. I do think short passes past the line of scrimmage like slants will have some success though.
- Their CBs are physical so we need to take some shots and give our WRs a chance to make a play. There is a solid chance they will get called for PI quite a bit on these plays(makes me wish we had NFL rules). Have to be on target though.
- Hurts can't take negative plays when he avoids initial pressure. Needs to throw the ball away if the play is dead. their D is too fast to win the game with QB scrambles all game.
- I actually think we might find more success running the ball than I originally thought.
Clemson Offense
- Clemson's offense isn't all that scary. It's solid but they shouldn't be able to get close to doing what they did last year to our D. Assuming health for our defense I think this might be our best chance to win the game. Get a TO or 2 and hold them around 20 and we have a good shot.
- Tackling is going to be a big priority especially when tackling Bryant. He isn't overly physical but once he breaks a tackle he has the speed to blow by the rest of the D. Have to tackle him.
- Kelly Bryant is NOT very accurate(though he got much better later in the year). He will probably make a few throws but he shouldn't be able to beat us with his arm.
- Like I said Bryant isn't a super physical dude and getting hits on him will be big. Not sure he can hold up through a whole game if he is getting hit consistently.
Clemson Defense
- Their D is legit and really worries me.
- Their DL is easily the biggest strength of the team and can be devastating. Hurts isn't going to have a lot of time to throw the ball so he needs to take advantage of the times when the OL does give him time. I wouldn't be surprised to see him have more 1 read and run plays because he just isn't going to have the time to do much more consistently.
- Quick passes behind the line of scrimmage might not find a ton of success. Their D has speed and they aren't going to give us a lot on these. I do think short passes past the line of scrimmage like slants will have some success though.
- Their CBs are physical so we need to take some shots and give our WRs a chance to make a play. There is a solid chance they will get called for PI quite a bit on these plays(makes me wish we had NFL rules). Have to be on target though.
- Hurts can't take negative plays when he avoids initial pressure. Needs to throw the ball away if the play is dead. their D is too fast to win the game with QB scrambles all game.
- I actually think we might find more success running the ball than I originally thought.
Question: How much depth on the DL do they have? If we hit them with rotating backs early in the game, do you think we could wear them down and be able to gash them in the second half and take control of the game and clock?
Funny, just looked at rushing stats in the NFL and thought of DH. Mark Ingram is 177 yards behind the leader and has 101 less carries. ONE HUNDRED AND ONE less and is averaging 5.5 per. The similarities between him and DH are eye popping. Hopefully we can commit to the run and grind the Tigers down.
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I don't know much about their roster but they have quite a few very talented future NFL guys.
Side note: I don't know what happened to Clemson vs Syracuse. Their D didn't show up at all and they looked like a different team.
I rewatched that game on YouTube and one thing that stood out to me was their tackling. It was awful. I can give their offense the excuse of an injured QB but he does not play on defense. Poor tackling lost them that game just as much as an injured QB.
This is why i am so tired of the "our QB was hurt" excuse. Plus it was 14-7 syracuse, when he got hurt. They were playing awful before he got hurt.
.How good would you say their oline is? Especially when compared against our dline? D. Payne could go a long way in winning this game if he can disrupt their interior oline, and with our LBs back I don't see us having as much with fitting gaps as we did in the last couple of games.
I believe that the defenses in this game will have the advantage in their matchups. That will make third down conversions, time of possession, protecting the ball, and RZ scoring the deciding factors IMO. A low scoring game, compared to the other ones.
Oh really, now?
This ain't Miami, Carter, expected to blow out Bama is not going to happen, young man. I'm not going to say Clemson better be prepare to walk the walk, if they talk the talk, because it's obviously they can, what I will say is that if you keep "poking the bear", it will not end well for you.
I think we may have forgotten how good Terrell Lewis is. Having him back will create a huge difference in terms of putting pressure on the QB.
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Our ol is one of the best in the country, and rotate top 8 or 9 guys (though this may lessen Monday). The ol is the reason we are backnin the playoff in what was supposed to be a "rebuilding" year.
Yep - Having Terrell Lewis and Christian Miller back at 100% for this game is HUGE. Having Mack back at 100% is also huge. You will be missing some depth with Hootie and SDH out, but the guys replacing them are pretty special so your starting unit will be as good as it gets in college football.
I haven't seen Clemson much this year but rotating OL is really unusual unless it is because of injuries.
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He’s talking about the DL and it is legit. It can also be attacked effectively with the right game plan. I hope Daboll has learned from his brain farts for the last couple of games but only time will tell. This is the type of defense and game that Coach Mac would have shredded. It reminds me of the 2009 UF squad. Lots of talent but gaps that you could attack.
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That’s if he’s 100%, healthy an game ready. Which I am hopeful that he will be.
