Their Last Dance: Clemson

For college football teams last impressions are the ones that matter most. These are notes, observations and food for thought on our opponents' last game.

Clemson headed into an ACC Atlantic Division showdown with Florida State last weekend. The Tigers beat the Noles handily in Death Valley 35-30, a game they only trailed one time, 0-3. It wasn't my intention to, but I paid much more attention to the Clemson offense and its personnel. It was a fun offense to watch, although if it gets humming on Saturday, it will be better described by me as aggravating.

-- Only a few plays had quarterback Tajh Boyd lined up underneath the center, the rest were out of the shotgun or pistol. There were a lot of moving parts, motion before the snap and play fakes afterwards. To keep a fast tempo, and to meet their goal of 80+ snaps a game, Clemson called plays at the line of scrimmage.

A modern wing look, we'll see that formation a lot on Saturday night.

-- Even though they were more successful throwing the ball, there was a nice balance between run and pass. With that said, running back Andre Ellington was pretty well contained, he had only a single run over ten yards.

-- Chad Morris' spread, not unlike every other spread, is designed to get Clemson's playmakers in space with the ball. They attacked up the field as well as sideline to sideline. There were a lot short passes: slants, crosses, and screens. They play all that extra pre- and post-snap movement like a lotto ticket, hoping to get lucky a defender blows his coverage and their man is in the open field.

-- Tajh Boyd looked like a polished dual-threat quarterback. He's got a big arm and is extremely accurate. He really impressed me with his short throws. They were on the money and allowed his receivers to catch the ball in stride and run. There were a good number of options and quarterback draws called to take advantage of his legs. When there was pressure in the pocket he scrambled to make plays, but only as a final option.

-- Freshman sensation Sammy Watkins is fast, OK a lot of freshman are. I was more impressed with his routes and his first step after catching the ball. He got up the field quick. Clemson did everything they could to involve him in the game. He returned kicks, carried the ball on sweeps, went deep, over the middle and caught screens.

-- Tight end (more like H-back) Dwayne Allen is Clemson's most versatile player on offense. He's a receiving threat; Boyd looked his way on critical plays when the offense needed a conversion and he has the athleticism to stretch the field. Not only that, but he was the lead blocker on most of the running plays.

Allen pulls around and leads the way on the option. The end attacks up the field.

Daylight.

Clemson's scheme and speed will exacerbate mistakes. Tech's defense can have success stopping Clemson if they stay true to their assignments and tackle in open space. Guys can't run free when they're on their ass. Fundamentals, they're cliché, but they win games. Foster and Gray have made it clear they will defend with a lot of Nickel and abandon the strategy of the last two week's, keeping Hosley manned up in favor of the defense's more traditional philosophy of field and boundary assignments.

It'll be interesting to see how Clemson tries to attack Tech's Nickel look. At first it scared the hell out of me that G-W would be covering Dwayne Allen. After watching a lot of Clemson football, he's a matchup problem for anyone. If they're still able to throw against the Nickel, and they have a smaller front to run against, that could be trouble.

Defensively, I think this game will be won or lost in the trenches. If Gayle, Collins and the Hopkins brothers can create chaos in the backfield it'll slowdown Clemson's pace of play, force everything outside to our hitters and make Clemson more one dimensional. The backups on the d-line cannot have a lapse in judgement. They won't be expected to make the big plays, but they can't let them up either.