Clemson Pre-Game Thoughts

I know that French or someone will do a more detailed preview of the game, but it's early in the week and I'm already psyched up for it, so I wanted to create a thread to get general feelings on the game. Preferably without comparing it to games from a decade ago, since this new staff is vastly different than the old staff (see: the amount of demons we've exorcised at various venues and timings the last 1.25 seasons...). Keep in mind, I'm just a fan, and haven't studied football as my sports passion (that'd be baseball). Just trying to start a thread to pass the time 'til game day. Anyway, here's my thoughts on where VT and Clemson are currently.

Virginia Tech:
Offense
I have a feeling the offense is going to need to be near perfect against Clemson. Their defensive line is absurd, and it makes all of their defense play up. Their secondary can play closer and risk getting beat deep or play a bit farther off and jump the first cut a WR makes because the QB has no time. The linebackers can scrape to holes after the defensive line gets penetration and/or holds the LOS. Combine that with young skill positions and a RS-FR QB, and we could be in for a long night, especially if we get off to a slow start. Said Fuente about the offense:

...quite honestly, where we're at right now, things need to be perfect. We're not good enough or old enough as an offense to just overcome things that aren't perfect.

That's not a ringing endorsement going into the Clemson game, but Fuente has never been one to heap too much praise or criticism on his teams.

That said, let's think about how VT matches up against the most talented defense we'll see all year (hopefully twice). The defensive line talent means that VT will likely keep Keene or an RB (or both) in to assist in pass blocking. This may have a two-fold impetus. One, obviously the defensive line and blitz packages on passing downs will likely necessitate extra blockers. Two, keeping JJ in max-protect will allow him to make simpler reads with fewer WRs running routes, as the aggressive pass rush likely won't give him much more time than two reads on most downs. In the run game, I'm not sure how VT will fare. VT doesn't have a game-breaking RB right now (and haven't since David Wilson), so blocking and play design will have to be very good. I expect to see a large amount of quick read RPO's, which we got a taste of against ODU this past weekend. JJ will have to be very good on those reads, as even a correct read could end in a bad play against a talented DL. We'll see how the offense fares against a stout line that has serious disruptive power.

Defense
Virginia Tech's defense has always been solid. Foster gets a ton out of his men solely through scheme. The biggest liability right now is the defensive line depth. The first four guys are phenomenal, and can individually break up any play on any given snap. The next four are still a work in progress. If Trevon Hill is back and healthy, that will be a huge boost. Overall on the defensive line, we just need to hope for health. That's the same story everywhere on VT's defense it seems. With Deablo out for the year, and Adonis likely held out for the game (IMO), the secondary looks really thin. The backers look like possibly the deepest unit, but that's almost by default. Tremaine Edmunds will need to ball out and play like the first round talent he is.

Schematically, things look a bit more promising. Kelly Bryant hasn't been forced to beat anyone solely through the air yet. I sorta expect to see a similar defensive game plan to anOSU in 2015. Take away the run and QB run, and force them to beat you through the air. Clemson's WRs are better than anOSU's were, so Foster may shy away from the high-risk scheme of putting his corners on islands against some EXCELLENT route runners.

Special Teams
Hopefully Joey Slye can get his kicking mojo back after a couple weird missed short FGs in the first few weeks. He's been his typical self on kickoffs, posting a very high touchback rate (92+% maybe?). Oscar Bradburn could be a serious weapon in this game, as the Aussie kicker has consistently been able to pin opponents deep when drives stall.

Clemson:
Offense
Kelly Bryant has been careful with the ball, and has been able to take advantage of what defenses have given him. He hasn't shown a ton of highlight-reel play, but has taken care of the football and played within himself, despite being a first-year starting QB. Clemson has built an offense around its QB's strengths, and kept him relatively clean. Sound familiar? This is where it diverges from the offense we've seen for four weeks. Bryant is a serious running threat (much moreso than Jackson), so expect to see them utilize his legs and try to get a few big pass plays to open up some running room using Bryant's big arm. Bryant has the size to take a beating, but it will be interesting to see how much Clemson dials up designed QB runs, as their depth chart isn't phenomenal at the QB position, with a RS-FR and true FR behind Bryant.

Their skill players are still very good, despite losing Wayne Gallman and Artavis Scott to the NFL draft last sesaon. Deon Cain, Hunter Renfrow, and Ray-Ray McCloud are all upperclassmen with good experience in big games. Hunter Renfrow has shown a knack for getting open on critical 3rd downs so far, and Cain and McCloud have speed to spare. As if those guys weren't enough, Diondre Overton is a matchup nightmare at 6-5, 205. They have a Fuller at RB in C.J. Fuller, who has apparently been unseated as the #1 RB by Tavein Feaster, and an explosive true freshman Travis Etienne, who is officially 4th on their depth chart, but has shown enormous big play ability, averaging 12.7 YPC, and leading the team in rushing yards.

Defense
Everyone knows about Clemson's defensive line. It's the first thing people talk about when discussing the orange and purple cocaine-addicted tigers (seriously, have you seen their mascot?). The insane talent and depth on the defensive line allows their linebackers to play fast, whether in rushing the passer (as Venables is wont to do at opportune moments) or in run support. One thing I'm very interested to see is after the first couple of blitzes, does JJ notice when their LB's show blitz and then back off to defense those underneath routes? I expect Venables to be creative in pressuring Jackson into some bad decisions, or use previous tape to notice some tendencies in Jackson's game (like when he got a bit too comfortable with the slant/flat combo against ODU and didn't expect the defender to drop back underneath the route on his lone interception) to develop a turnover or two. Run defense should be stout, but it's harder for me to pickup on tendencies or deficiencies there.

Special Teams
Clemson lost their starting kicker, Greg Huegel, to a torn ACL this past week, meaning Alex Spence will need to step up in his place. Spence is 5/6 on PATs, and has not attempted a FG yet. When Clemson gets on the Hokies' side of the 50, it will be interesting to see if they trust their kicker to hit a 45+ yd FG. Clemson has a true freshman starting at punter in Will Spiers, who is averaging a touch over 49 yards per punt.

Right now, Clemson looks like a complete team; however, Kelly Bryant also hasn't started in a "tough" road environment (Lane >>> Papa John's Stadium), so we'll see how his first quarter/half goes, as long as VT doesn't cough up the ball and give Clemson a short field.