The Clemson Tigers 2018 Football Team was a downright dominant team. Would love to look at the 2013 Noles vs the 2018 Tigers as a separate debate, but that is a topic for another day. Dabo won his second national title as Clemson went 15-0 beating Alabama 44-16 in the Championship game. They outscored both Bama and Notre Dame with a total of 74-19 in the playoffs. The offense put up a 44.3 ppg (4th out of 130) and their defense was even better holding opponents to a nation’s best 13.1 ppg (1st out of 130). Still can’t understand why Venables doesn’t take it on down the road somewhere. That is almost as annoying as them going from Deshaun Watson to Sunshine. But what can you do? Plant drugs in Venables office and then “tip-off” local PD…We all know how last season’s game went. A 59-10 beat down. But this is 2019. The Noles will be better, and Clemson will not have the nation’s top defense again. They may have the best offense however.
Quarterback
Sunshine is the starter for the Tigers unfortunately for the next two years. Lawrence had one of the best season’s I have ever seen a QB play, let alone a freshman. He completed 259-397 passes at a 65.2% clip for 3280 yards, 30tds, and 4ints. The Clemson offense is predicated on quick reads and almost “one-look” type of plays so that contributes to Lawrence having such a high TD-INT ratio, nevertheless, Sunshine can read a defense with the best of them. Even when he is off target his talented receivers can make up for a misplaced pass (see Justyn Ross in the title game with multiple 1 handed catches). The first quarter of last year’s game was exactly what we wanted from a defensive standpoint. Sunshine wasn’t moving the ball at all and we were toe to toe before ASJ roughing the kicker penalty occurred. After that all hell broke loose. Lawrence completed 20-37 passes for 314 yards and 4tds. Yes our secondary was no match for the Tigers passing attack but if you compare the higher number of passing attempts to only 10 rushing attempts for Etienne I believe Dabo was clearly sending a message. He wanted to demonstrate exactly how far they have passed us since 2013. Anybody who tells you Sunshine is overrated is just a hater, or clearly pushing an agenda. It sucks, but he is an awesome quarterback. He deserves the praise he receives and is the no-brainer #1 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. Now “god forbid” the clouds come out on Sunshine and Clemson’s repeat campaign with an injury. Then you have RS-SO Chase Brice coming in. Brice did have an excellent 90 yard game winning drive against Syracuse in Clemson last year to keep their playoff chase alive so I have to give him credit for that. But we all know the significant drop off if Lawrence were to go down.
RB
Etienne was an animal last season putting up 1658 yards on 204 attempts for an average of 8.1 ypc. He also led the nation with 24 rushing touchdowns. As a 4-star recruit Etienne was the composite 213th ranked player and 15th best running back. Clemson was able to pull him from Louisiana over LSU and other SEC powers. Rare that ever happens. Wonder how they did it?? Good thing is Etienne will go pro after this year so he won’t be a headache for too much longer. He will be a headache in this game though. His game breaking ability is truly elite as he possess a momentum swing any time he touches the rock. Last year he only had 45 yards on 10 carries, but I feel this was done by design as Dabo wanted Lawrence to put it on the table for all to see in Doak Campbell. Hope our guys are ready to contain Travis Etienne as best as they can if we want a chance to win this game. Behind Etienne Clemson is not very deep at all. Their only listed backup is Lyn-J Dixon (SO). Another 4-star ranking 258th nationally and the 7th all-purpose back. Dixon had a successful freshman season putting up 547 yards on 62 carries (8.9 ypc) for 5 touchdowns as the 4TH running option for the Tigers. He and Etienne will be quite the duo this upcoming season and make Sunshine’s life that much easier. Our front seven is really going to have to bring it in this game. Dontavious Jackson and Marvin Wilson need to de dominant players in this matchup for us. Maybe even Big Coop in the middle will be something to look out for as we try to stifle the Tiger rushing attack.
WR
Another embarrassment of riches for the skill players in Clemson as Tee Higgins (JR) and Justyn Ross (SO) are All-American caliber players. What Ross did to the Bama secondary was just wrong. He made it look like a pickup game in the front yard against those guys. Even worse he is from Alabama and was the number one player in the state as a high school recruit. Ranking 45th nationally and the number 7 receiver Clemson “somehow” got Ross over Bama and Auburn despite 86% of the crystal ball predictions favoring Bama. Ross led the team in yards catching 46 passes for 1000 yards and 9 touchdowns. At 6’4 200 lbs he averaged 21 yards per reception. Ross only caught 1 pass for 41 yards in last year’s matchup. His running mate Tee Higgins (JR) is a stud as well and a projected first round pick in next year’s draft. In 2017 Tee was a 5-star receiver ranking 19th nationally and the 2nd best at his position. Another 6’4 receiver Clemson has at their disposal to just toss it up to. Higgins caught 59 passes for 936 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2018. Against us in 2018 Higgins caught 6 passes for 62 yards and 2tds. Safe to say if we insist on singling up our corners in the redzone Clemson will keep tossing the fade. ASJ and Samuels will be working hard all game against these guys. Clemson did lose their third receiver Amari Rodgers in the spring due to a torn acl. Rodgers ate our lunch catching 6 passes for 156 yards and 2tds. I never wish for injury on someone but I’m not upset Rodgers will not be in the game this season. Supporting Ross and Higgins will be Cornell Powell (RS-JR) and two more highly regarded recruits Frank Ladson Jr (FR), and Joseph Ngata (FR). Last season Powell only caught 5 passes for 63 yards. He is a former 4-star recruit but has yet to make an impact on the field. Ngata was the 52nd best player in 2019 class and 9th ranked receiver. At 6’3 205 lbs he is another big receiver suiting up for the Tigers. Ladson was rated a little higher than Ngata as the 39th national recruit and 7th overall receiver. And guess what, Ladson is 6’3.
Oline
Clemson lost All-American LT Mitch Hyatt and center Justin Falcinelli. The line reads as LT-Jackson Carman (SO), LG-John Simpson (SR), C-Sean Pollard (SR), RG-Gage Cervenka (SR) and RT-Tremayne Anchrum (SR). Carman was a 5-star recruit in 2018 ranking 17th nationally and the 2nd best OT. “Somehow” Clemson got the best player in the state of Ohio over Ohio State when they got Carman’s commitment. We will see how the young man pans out. John Simpson was a 4-star recruit ranking 150th nationally and the 7th rated guard in 2016. Pollard was a 4-star 290th nationally ranked recruit and the 27th OT. Cervanka was a 3-star ranking 893rd and the 52nd ranked DT. Anchrum was a 3-star ranking 486th nationally and 24 OG. This is a talented and an experienced unit. I think in the interior we can win our fair share of matchups. Hopefully this forces Clemson to run more stretch or outside runs. By this point in the season we should know if we have a consistent pass rush off the edge. If we do, tackle is their most vulnerable position with a former guard on the right side, and a first year starter on the left. If we are in a close game in the second half it will be because of pressure being generated disrupting the timing of Clemson’s offense.
Dline
It has been well documented about the front 4 Clemson had last season. The amount of production that unit provided was the catalyst for their recent run of dominance. Even with them reloading with highly regarded prospects, you’d be hard-pressed to convince me these new prospects will produce close to the same output of Wilkins, Bryant, Ferrel, and Lawrence. It was truly the perfect storm especially after Clemson was “somehow” able to convince all of them to return to school turning down millions of dollars in the NFL. Considering they already had won a championship. At DT the starters are Jordan Williams (RS/SO) and Nyles Pinckney (SR). Williams has yet to make an impact on the field, but was a 4-star recruit ranking 167th nationally and the 12th WDE. Pinckney registered 23 tackles, 3.5 TFL, 1 FF, and 1 FR in 2018. As a recruit Nyles ranked 327th nationally and the 34th DT in 2016. At one defensive end spot the starter will be Justin Foster (JR). Foster tallied 18 tackles, 6.0 TFL, and 2 sacks last season. Foster was a 4-star recruit ranking 156th nationally and the 11th WDE in 2017. Xavier Thomas (SO) will be the other defensive end and had a pretty good season as a rotational guy. In his freshman season Thomas had 33 tackles, 8.5 TFL, 3.5 sacks, and 1 FF. Thomas was an all-world recruit ranking 3rd nationally and the number 1 SDE. Whoever is playing tackle for us will need to have his best day against Thomas. I hope to see quick reads from Briles in order to negate the pass rush of Clemson. Both Thomas and Williams had a sack against us last season.
LB
Clemson is replacing all three starters at linebacker this season. The men tasked with this responsibility are Isaiah Simmons (RS-JR), James Skalski (RS-JR), and Baylon Spector (RS-SO). Simmons led the Tigers in tackles in 2018 totaling 88, 9 TFL, 2.0 sacks, 1 int, 1 DTD, 6 PD, and 3 FF. He was a 3-star Safety as a recruit so the Clemson staff did a good job “beefing” Simmons up to play the position. Skalski and Spector haven’t had much production yet but that is due to lack of opportunity with Lamar and Joseph starting ahead of them. The linebacker unit is the most unproven on the team and have the least amount of “star power”. All 3 projected starters were 3-star recruits coming out of high school. Take that for what you will but only Simmons has produced so far at the college level, the other players are an unknown at this point.
Secondary
Clemson is not very deep at all at the cornerback position. Trayvon Mullen going pro has left them in a bind. Starting corners are AJ Terrell (JR) and Derion Kendrick (SO). Terrell was a high 4-star recruit ranking 55th nationally and the 6th overall cornerback. He is a rangy player at 6’2 and can really run so if he has a good year I’d expect him to take it to the NFL. Terrell had 53 tackles, 2 TFL, 3 ints, 1 DTD, 3 PD, and 2 FF. In all likelihood he will be on Terry Patrol. Kendrick is a former wide receiver who instantly grabbed the number 2 spot on the depth chart after switching positions this spring. One could argue this shows his talent and skill level, I’d argue it shows how big of a need they have at the corner position. Kendrick was a 5-star athlete in 2018 ranking 26th nationally. He could very well end up being an awesome corner, but the lack of quality depth for Clemson would be concerning if I were a Tiger. In the two deep they have 4-star Sheridan Jones (FR) and another 4-star Kyler McMichael (SO). Both were high quality recruits so we will see how it translates on the field. I think our receivers can make plays against these corners. Clemson is bringing back safety Tanner Muse (SR). The former 3-star recruit had 61 tackles, 2.5 TFL, 2 sacks, 2 ints, 5 PD, and 1 FF. Muse will be the veteran leader of the defense and who Dabo chose to bring to ACC Meetings. K’Von Wallace (SR) is the other starting safety. In 2018 Wallace had 52 tackles 1.5 TFL, 1 int, 3 PD, and 1 FF. Wallace was the 1504th ranked player nationally as a 3-star recruit in 2016.
Synopsis
The 59-10 drubbing last season was an unwelcomed eye-opener. Both programs stood at two completely different levels in that moment. And everyone in the college football world saw it. The Louisville loss 63-20 was the worst thing I’ve seen in my FSU fandom, but this game was right behind it. I remember screaming at the TV “why is 19 on an island against Tee Higgins!” Both td catches by Higgins that game were 1 on 1 matchups with Westbrook and Nas. Why they were guarding him with no help is beyond me. Our starting field position was consistently awful (as was tradition last season) and our offense would quickly go 3 and out. Game was over before we knew it. I think things will go differently in 2019.
I believe our offense will have a lot of success against this Clemson defense. Blackman will have a huge day as their secondary does not impress me. When you switch a receiver to corner and he instantly becomes a starter, it tells me you are not comfortable with who you currently have. The guys backing up the starters at corner are talented but they are young with little game experience. I think it will be a big day for a lot of our passing options. Their safeties and linebackers are not intimidating either so I plan on seeing a lot of our air attack focused on the middle of the field. Like I said, I think plenty of receivers will eat against the back end of the Tiger defense. Their dline is talented and will no doubt be a problem for our offensive line. Now they are nowhere near what Clemson had the last two seasons, but they are still an impressive unit. Xavier Thomas is a man. I hope we chip and scheme block against him as much as possible. This will be a huge game scouts will look to in Akers money year so hopefully that influences a big outing from him. I was in the stands at Death Valley when Dalvin took it to the house on the second play of the game and the entire stadium went silent. What a sweet sound that was. If we can have a replicate of that run by Akers or Laborn to snatch early momentum than we might be in business. A lot of angry Venables will be shown on the broadcast.
I do not believe our defense will have much success in this game. Clemson’s defense will take a step back, but I’d take their offense for my money against anybody in the country. I hate it, but Sunshine is scary good. He and those shooting guards he has out wide to throw to are a difficult thing to game plan for. Let alone actually stopping them. Etienne is a straight homerun hitter out of the backfield and can take over a game in a matter of moments. They are elite at every skill position on offense and I expect them to average 40 points again with ease. They may be able to approach the 2013 Noles who put up 50 points a game. 50! Gotta remind myself sometimes how awesome the 2013 offense was. Clemson Oline returns 3 starters and has a new 5-star left tackle they are breaking in. Running back depth is the only thing for the Clemson offense I can reference as being a weak spot. Other than that, the offense is strong across the board and I do not think we are going to be able to do a thing about it. We’d have to have a herculean effort from Marvin Wilson wreaking havoc in the middle disrupting the timing of Sunshine and our corners will have to play the game of their lives for us to have a shot.
I think this game might resemble the NC State game from last season for us. It will be a fun game where a lot of points will be put up as Blackman and Sunshine have a bit of a duel going on. In all candidness to win the game we would need turnover luck to go our way and probably a special teams and/or defensive touchdown. If Blackman has over 300 yards and Akers/Laborn are around 150 then we might be in the game late. I do feel Blackman will have over 300 yards and we will keep up for a good while. But the Tiger offense will be too much in the end and we lose for the 5th straight year against Clemson 47-30. S&P has Clemson as 21 point favorites.
Record:
FSU 27 Boise State 23 (1-0)
FSU A LOT ULM A Little (2-0)
UVA 31 FSU 26 (2-1)
FSU 42 Louisville 17 (3-1)
FSU 41 NC State 20 (4-1)
Clemson 47 FSU 30 (4-2)
Quarterback
Sunshine is the starter for the Tigers unfortunately for the next two years. Lawrence had one of the best season’s I have ever seen a QB play, let alone a freshman. He completed 259-397 passes at a 65.2% clip for 3280 yards, 30tds, and 4ints. The Clemson offense is predicated on quick reads and almost “one-look” type of plays so that contributes to Lawrence having such a high TD-INT ratio, nevertheless, Sunshine can read a defense with the best of them. Even when he is off target his talented receivers can make up for a misplaced pass (see Justyn Ross in the title game with multiple 1 handed catches). The first quarter of last year’s game was exactly what we wanted from a defensive standpoint. Sunshine wasn’t moving the ball at all and we were toe to toe before ASJ roughing the kicker penalty occurred. After that all hell broke loose. Lawrence completed 20-37 passes for 314 yards and 4tds. Yes our secondary was no match for the Tigers passing attack but if you compare the higher number of passing attempts to only 10 rushing attempts for Etienne I believe Dabo was clearly sending a message. He wanted to demonstrate exactly how far they have passed us since 2013. Anybody who tells you Sunshine is overrated is just a hater, or clearly pushing an agenda. It sucks, but he is an awesome quarterback. He deserves the praise he receives and is the no-brainer #1 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. Now “god forbid” the clouds come out on Sunshine and Clemson’s repeat campaign with an injury. Then you have RS-SO Chase Brice coming in. Brice did have an excellent 90 yard game winning drive against Syracuse in Clemson last year to keep their playoff chase alive so I have to give him credit for that. But we all know the significant drop off if Lawrence were to go down.
RB
Etienne was an animal last season putting up 1658 yards on 204 attempts for an average of 8.1 ypc. He also led the nation with 24 rushing touchdowns. As a 4-star recruit Etienne was the composite 213th ranked player and 15th best running back. Clemson was able to pull him from Louisiana over LSU and other SEC powers. Rare that ever happens. Wonder how they did it?? Good thing is Etienne will go pro after this year so he won’t be a headache for too much longer. He will be a headache in this game though. His game breaking ability is truly elite as he possess a momentum swing any time he touches the rock. Last year he only had 45 yards on 10 carries, but I feel this was done by design as Dabo wanted Lawrence to put it on the table for all to see in Doak Campbell. Hope our guys are ready to contain Travis Etienne as best as they can if we want a chance to win this game. Behind Etienne Clemson is not very deep at all. Their only listed backup is Lyn-J Dixon (SO). Another 4-star ranking 258th nationally and the 7th all-purpose back. Dixon had a successful freshman season putting up 547 yards on 62 carries (8.9 ypc) for 5 touchdowns as the 4TH running option for the Tigers. He and Etienne will be quite the duo this upcoming season and make Sunshine’s life that much easier. Our front seven is really going to have to bring it in this game. Dontavious Jackson and Marvin Wilson need to de dominant players in this matchup for us. Maybe even Big Coop in the middle will be something to look out for as we try to stifle the Tiger rushing attack.
WR
Another embarrassment of riches for the skill players in Clemson as Tee Higgins (JR) and Justyn Ross (SO) are All-American caliber players. What Ross did to the Bama secondary was just wrong. He made it look like a pickup game in the front yard against those guys. Even worse he is from Alabama and was the number one player in the state as a high school recruit. Ranking 45th nationally and the number 7 receiver Clemson “somehow” got Ross over Bama and Auburn despite 86% of the crystal ball predictions favoring Bama. Ross led the team in yards catching 46 passes for 1000 yards and 9 touchdowns. At 6’4 200 lbs he averaged 21 yards per reception. Ross only caught 1 pass for 41 yards in last year’s matchup. His running mate Tee Higgins (JR) is a stud as well and a projected first round pick in next year’s draft. In 2017 Tee was a 5-star receiver ranking 19th nationally and the 2nd best at his position. Another 6’4 receiver Clemson has at their disposal to just toss it up to. Higgins caught 59 passes for 936 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2018. Against us in 2018 Higgins caught 6 passes for 62 yards and 2tds. Safe to say if we insist on singling up our corners in the redzone Clemson will keep tossing the fade. ASJ and Samuels will be working hard all game against these guys. Clemson did lose their third receiver Amari Rodgers in the spring due to a torn acl. Rodgers ate our lunch catching 6 passes for 156 yards and 2tds. I never wish for injury on someone but I’m not upset Rodgers will not be in the game this season. Supporting Ross and Higgins will be Cornell Powell (RS-JR) and two more highly regarded recruits Frank Ladson Jr (FR), and Joseph Ngata (FR). Last season Powell only caught 5 passes for 63 yards. He is a former 4-star recruit but has yet to make an impact on the field. Ngata was the 52nd best player in 2019 class and 9th ranked receiver. At 6’3 205 lbs he is another big receiver suiting up for the Tigers. Ladson was rated a little higher than Ngata as the 39th national recruit and 7th overall receiver. And guess what, Ladson is 6’3.
Oline
Clemson lost All-American LT Mitch Hyatt and center Justin Falcinelli. The line reads as LT-Jackson Carman (SO), LG-John Simpson (SR), C-Sean Pollard (SR), RG-Gage Cervenka (SR) and RT-Tremayne Anchrum (SR). Carman was a 5-star recruit in 2018 ranking 17th nationally and the 2nd best OT. “Somehow” Clemson got the best player in the state of Ohio over Ohio State when they got Carman’s commitment. We will see how the young man pans out. John Simpson was a 4-star recruit ranking 150th nationally and the 7th rated guard in 2016. Pollard was a 4-star 290th nationally ranked recruit and the 27th OT. Cervanka was a 3-star ranking 893rd and the 52nd ranked DT. Anchrum was a 3-star ranking 486th nationally and 24 OG. This is a talented and an experienced unit. I think in the interior we can win our fair share of matchups. Hopefully this forces Clemson to run more stretch or outside runs. By this point in the season we should know if we have a consistent pass rush off the edge. If we do, tackle is their most vulnerable position with a former guard on the right side, and a first year starter on the left. If we are in a close game in the second half it will be because of pressure being generated disrupting the timing of Clemson’s offense.
Dline
It has been well documented about the front 4 Clemson had last season. The amount of production that unit provided was the catalyst for their recent run of dominance. Even with them reloading with highly regarded prospects, you’d be hard-pressed to convince me these new prospects will produce close to the same output of Wilkins, Bryant, Ferrel, and Lawrence. It was truly the perfect storm especially after Clemson was “somehow” able to convince all of them to return to school turning down millions of dollars in the NFL. Considering they already had won a championship. At DT the starters are Jordan Williams (RS/SO) and Nyles Pinckney (SR). Williams has yet to make an impact on the field, but was a 4-star recruit ranking 167th nationally and the 12th WDE. Pinckney registered 23 tackles, 3.5 TFL, 1 FF, and 1 FR in 2018. As a recruit Nyles ranked 327th nationally and the 34th DT in 2016. At one defensive end spot the starter will be Justin Foster (JR). Foster tallied 18 tackles, 6.0 TFL, and 2 sacks last season. Foster was a 4-star recruit ranking 156th nationally and the 11th WDE in 2017. Xavier Thomas (SO) will be the other defensive end and had a pretty good season as a rotational guy. In his freshman season Thomas had 33 tackles, 8.5 TFL, 3.5 sacks, and 1 FF. Thomas was an all-world recruit ranking 3rd nationally and the number 1 SDE. Whoever is playing tackle for us will need to have his best day against Thomas. I hope to see quick reads from Briles in order to negate the pass rush of Clemson. Both Thomas and Williams had a sack against us last season.
LB
Clemson is replacing all three starters at linebacker this season. The men tasked with this responsibility are Isaiah Simmons (RS-JR), James Skalski (RS-JR), and Baylon Spector (RS-SO). Simmons led the Tigers in tackles in 2018 totaling 88, 9 TFL, 2.0 sacks, 1 int, 1 DTD, 6 PD, and 3 FF. He was a 3-star Safety as a recruit so the Clemson staff did a good job “beefing” Simmons up to play the position. Skalski and Spector haven’t had much production yet but that is due to lack of opportunity with Lamar and Joseph starting ahead of them. The linebacker unit is the most unproven on the team and have the least amount of “star power”. All 3 projected starters were 3-star recruits coming out of high school. Take that for what you will but only Simmons has produced so far at the college level, the other players are an unknown at this point.
Secondary
Clemson is not very deep at all at the cornerback position. Trayvon Mullen going pro has left them in a bind. Starting corners are AJ Terrell (JR) and Derion Kendrick (SO). Terrell was a high 4-star recruit ranking 55th nationally and the 6th overall cornerback. He is a rangy player at 6’2 and can really run so if he has a good year I’d expect him to take it to the NFL. Terrell had 53 tackles, 2 TFL, 3 ints, 1 DTD, 3 PD, and 2 FF. In all likelihood he will be on Terry Patrol. Kendrick is a former wide receiver who instantly grabbed the number 2 spot on the depth chart after switching positions this spring. One could argue this shows his talent and skill level, I’d argue it shows how big of a need they have at the corner position. Kendrick was a 5-star athlete in 2018 ranking 26th nationally. He could very well end up being an awesome corner, but the lack of quality depth for Clemson would be concerning if I were a Tiger. In the two deep they have 4-star Sheridan Jones (FR) and another 4-star Kyler McMichael (SO). Both were high quality recruits so we will see how it translates on the field. I think our receivers can make plays against these corners. Clemson is bringing back safety Tanner Muse (SR). The former 3-star recruit had 61 tackles, 2.5 TFL, 2 sacks, 2 ints, 5 PD, and 1 FF. Muse will be the veteran leader of the defense and who Dabo chose to bring to ACC Meetings. K’Von Wallace (SR) is the other starting safety. In 2018 Wallace had 52 tackles 1.5 TFL, 1 int, 3 PD, and 1 FF. Wallace was the 1504th ranked player nationally as a 3-star recruit in 2016.
Synopsis
The 59-10 drubbing last season was an unwelcomed eye-opener. Both programs stood at two completely different levels in that moment. And everyone in the college football world saw it. The Louisville loss 63-20 was the worst thing I’ve seen in my FSU fandom, but this game was right behind it. I remember screaming at the TV “why is 19 on an island against Tee Higgins!” Both td catches by Higgins that game were 1 on 1 matchups with Westbrook and Nas. Why they were guarding him with no help is beyond me. Our starting field position was consistently awful (as was tradition last season) and our offense would quickly go 3 and out. Game was over before we knew it. I think things will go differently in 2019.
I believe our offense will have a lot of success against this Clemson defense. Blackman will have a huge day as their secondary does not impress me. When you switch a receiver to corner and he instantly becomes a starter, it tells me you are not comfortable with who you currently have. The guys backing up the starters at corner are talented but they are young with little game experience. I think it will be a big day for a lot of our passing options. Their safeties and linebackers are not intimidating either so I plan on seeing a lot of our air attack focused on the middle of the field. Like I said, I think plenty of receivers will eat against the back end of the Tiger defense. Their dline is talented and will no doubt be a problem for our offensive line. Now they are nowhere near what Clemson had the last two seasons, but they are still an impressive unit. Xavier Thomas is a man. I hope we chip and scheme block against him as much as possible. This will be a huge game scouts will look to in Akers money year so hopefully that influences a big outing from him. I was in the stands at Death Valley when Dalvin took it to the house on the second play of the game and the entire stadium went silent. What a sweet sound that was. If we can have a replicate of that run by Akers or Laborn to snatch early momentum than we might be in business. A lot of angry Venables will be shown on the broadcast.
I do not believe our defense will have much success in this game. Clemson’s defense will take a step back, but I’d take their offense for my money against anybody in the country. I hate it, but Sunshine is scary good. He and those shooting guards he has out wide to throw to are a difficult thing to game plan for. Let alone actually stopping them. Etienne is a straight homerun hitter out of the backfield and can take over a game in a matter of moments. They are elite at every skill position on offense and I expect them to average 40 points again with ease. They may be able to approach the 2013 Noles who put up 50 points a game. 50! Gotta remind myself sometimes how awesome the 2013 offense was. Clemson Oline returns 3 starters and has a new 5-star left tackle they are breaking in. Running back depth is the only thing for the Clemson offense I can reference as being a weak spot. Other than that, the offense is strong across the board and I do not think we are going to be able to do a thing about it. We’d have to have a herculean effort from Marvin Wilson wreaking havoc in the middle disrupting the timing of Sunshine and our corners will have to play the game of their lives for us to have a shot.
I think this game might resemble the NC State game from last season for us. It will be a fun game where a lot of points will be put up as Blackman and Sunshine have a bit of a duel going on. In all candidness to win the game we would need turnover luck to go our way and probably a special teams and/or defensive touchdown. If Blackman has over 300 yards and Akers/Laborn are around 150 then we might be in the game late. I do feel Blackman will have over 300 yards and we will keep up for a good while. But the Tiger offense will be too much in the end and we lose for the 5th straight year against Clemson 47-30. S&P has Clemson as 21 point favorites.
Record:
FSU 27 Boise State 23 (1-0)
FSU A LOT ULM A Little (2-0)
UVA 31 FSU 26 (2-1)
FSU 42 Louisville 17 (3-1)
FSU 41 NC State 20 (4-1)
Clemson 47 FSU 30 (4-2)
