SB Nation - Chris Chancellor

Previewing Clemson at South Carolina: Q & A with Shakin' the Southland

Gamecock Man — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 16:27:33 -0000

In an effort to prove that blogging can bring sworn enemies together on a plane of peace and amity, Shakin' the Southland and I got together for a little meeting of the minds to discuss the big game this weekend. (My answers to his questions are forthcoming.)

1. What are your thoughts on C. J. Spiller and the Heisman?

CJ Spiller may be the greatest all around player in Clemson history and has done everything that he can do to help this team win. Unfortunately, Clemson's loss to Maryland coupled with lacking rushing numbers really hurt Spiller's chances. I really wish that Spiller would have been able to pad his numbers with more carries against MTSU (4 carries 12 yards) and Coastal (5 carries 27 yards).

When you look at all Spiller has accomplished this season while being hurt for the majority of the season, his accomplishments from week to week are unbelievable. CJ is the best all-around player I have ever seen. Long and the short of it, CJ Spiller is deserving of the Heisman (and is the most valuable and most all-around complete player in the sport), but I unfortunately don't think that he will win the award.

2. Dabo Swinney has already managed to achieve the goal that so consistently eluded Tommy Bowden: Dabo has won an Atlantic Division title and a berth in the ACC Title Game. What is Dabo doing better than his predecessor, or is this season's success just attributable to the stars aligning?

Coach Swinney does quite a few things better than CTB did. First and foremost, this team is excited and ready each and every week. Bowden repeatedly made comments that his job was not to get the team excited to play football. Swinney has a more emotional fire, and challenges this team constantly. It is apparent to me that this Clemson team plays much harder under Swinney than it did for Bowden.

Second, Swinney has instilled a much more aggressive attitude for this team. Swinney removed OC Rob Spence and DC Vic Koenning and replaced them with Billy Napier and Kevin Steele. Spence's offense, which is rather complex, relied on a series of short passes and screens was replaced with a simplified offense designed to take shots and get the ball in playmakers' (Spiller and Ford) hands. After the UMd game, Swinney and Napier further simplified the Clemson offense and incorporated the TE's much more. Defensively, Clemson under Koenning played a lot of umbrella coverage and was not aggressive. Steele has shown multiple looks, installed more blitz packages, and plays a lot more man/man press coverage. Clemson's ability to create more pressure coupled with good secondary play has created lots of turnovers and 3 and out series for the Tiger defense.

Finally, I think that the players can relate much better to Swinney than Bowden. Swinney personally recruited a large portion of this team, and the players have a tight bond with Swinney (see Spiller turning down entry to the draft last season to return to CU for another season). Swinney is a little younger, more energetic, and looks to be more in-tune with the players.

3. Tell us a little about how this coaching staff has managed to put together an offense that is so much more consistently competent than last year's despite having to go with a freshman quarterback and without former tailback James Davis?

Freshman QB Kyle Parker has all the tools to be really good, he just lacks experience. KP now is better than Cullen Harper was at the end of last season. Also, Clemson has utilized a solid stable of backs (led by Spiller) throughout the season. While I don't know that Ellington/Harper are better than Davis, they certainly provide good depth at the RB position. In defense to both Harper and Davis, I do think that both players would be better if they were on this team as opposed to last season because this team is better fundamentally and strategically.

We wrote about differences we expected from the Spence offense to the Napier/Swinney offense in length before the season at http://www.shakinthesouthland.com/2009/08/dabospence-elaboration.html . I feel this prognosis is still correct. Clemson has a simpler offense this season. The offense tries to exploit defenses utilizing Clemson's best players. After the UMd game, CU further simplified things and incorporated the TE's more, as TE Michael Palmer is the best pass catcher and route runner on the team. Clemson is better up front than last season and is not afraid to stretch defenses with Jacoby Ford's speed. Consequently, I believe that this offense is better because it is more fundamentally sound, tougher, not as complex, and is more strategically focused than one year ago.

4. Clemson seems to be becoming DE U. What's the story there? How do you so consistently keep your roster stocked with such great ends?

Both Sapp and Bowers are from Bamberg and were highly rated coming out of HS. Goodman is from Florence. Clemson has done a great job identifying in-state talent and keeping these guys from leaving the state. Andre Branch (Richmond, Va) has provided some nice depth for us this year. Kevin Alexander has been a solid player his entire CU career both from the end position and at LB. Kourtnei Brown, a JR from Charlotte, is redshirting this season and will provide more depth for the next two seasons.

Clemson has drawn such talent to the school not only by utilizing talented recruiters (Swinney, Napier, Rumph for the guys mentioned above), but also by presenting past successes. Putting Gaines Adams and Phillip Merlin in the pros makes recruiting a lot easier.

5. How on earth did you manage to hold a pretty decent BC team to just over 50 yards? That's unbelievable! Can Clemson's D play like that against Carolina?

Clemson's defense is probably the best and hardest hitting out of Tigertown since Coach Ford's recruits were still competing. That being said, Clemson is fortunate to have a very good and aggressive defensive coordinator in Kevin Steele. Steele is great at putting together personnel and blitz packages that exploit and confuse offenses. This is the main reason for the early season success against BC. However, you need to also remember that BC opened with two inferior (Northeastern and Kent State ) opponents with a relatively young team and a QB controversy going into the Clemson game. Thus, Clemson had better (and more experienced) players, a fantastic strategy, and caught BC at the right time of the year.

South Carolina has not been consistent running the football all year. If the Gamecocks become one-dimensional, Clemson should be able to utilize its superior line to get to Garcia. I think that SC would be more successful running three-step timing routes than hoping Garcia can scramble and make things happen moving around inside and outside the pocket. Clemson has agile and very fast big men who have maintained containment for most of the season. Also, Clemson has some ball-hawks in the secondary, particularly DeAndre McDaniel. If Garcia gets sloppy with the ball, CU will make him pay.

I am a little concerned about Alshon Jeffery and Tori Gurley because of Clemson's aggressive defensive strategy. Both of these guys have a distinct height advantage over both Crezdon Butler and Chris Chancellor. If SC can get these guys on an island, I expect a few jump balls to be thrown in each player's (specifically Jeffery's) direction. Throwing these passes out of a 3-step drop will severely offset Clemson's advantage up front.

The one thing that Clemson has done well all year is make adjustments. Consequently, if South Carolina is going to have success offensively, I would expect to see it before half.

6. Tell us about what this rivalry means to Clemson fans from your point of view.

This rivalry is a big game for the simple fact that there is not a day that passes in this state that Clemson and South Carolina football are not discussed. I think fan's passion about this game has made it a little more important to Clemson's program over the past few years because coaches (Bowden nearly every year since '03 and Swinney last season) were fighting to retain their jobs, and a win over the in-state rival really helps this cause. This game is important for in-state recruiting and for the boosters, as players want to play for winners and boosters want to donate to winners.

Because each resident of the state is either a Clemson fan or a SC fan, everyone knows something about both teams. In fact, most fans make it a point to watch not only their own team's game each week but the rival's also. Such intimacy with the opponent increases the emotion involved all season long until the November rivalry game.

We have kind of gotten used to winning a lot of these games, but that does not change the fact that this one is important to everyone in the state. Coach Ford had a tough time getting over the '87 game, and every now and then you still see a "I Turned Danny In" bumper sticker. Cockfan still complains about the 2000 rendition and the numbers 63 and 17 mean something completely different to residents of this state than they do to the rest of the country. So this game is really an excuse for one side to talk trash to the other, and neither party wants to be on the losing end of that one.

7. Give us a prediction. How will the game go down, who will win, and how confident are you in your prognosis?

I think that this one will get off to a fast start. I fully expect USC to throw the book at Clemson's defense Saturday. I expect SC to do some things similar to what UVa did in the first half, with some single wing/wildcat plays, reverse passes, etc. I think this thing goes into half, knotted at 14 each. Steele makes necessary adjustments at half and CU wins 28-24. I look for a strong showing from the USC defense, but see Spiller, Ellington, and Harper wearing USC down and gashing this defense for large chunk of yards as the game progresses.

Post-Spring Previews: Clemson Tigers

Gamecock Man — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 16:18:52 -0000

More photos » by Chuck Burton - AP

4 months ago: Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney speaks during the Atlantic Coast Conference Kickoff college football media day in Greensboro, N.C., Monday, July 27, 2009. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

Browse more photos »

After hosting the Florida Gators in week eleven, USC takes a week off before wrapping up the season with the annual rivalry match with the Clemson Tigers. The Tigers enter 2009 flying distinctly under the radar in Dabo Swinney's first full season as head coach. After underachieving in each of the last few years of Tommy Bowden's tenure, expectations are decidedly lower for the transitioning Tigers this year. However, in many ways this year's Clemson may be better than the Clemsons of years past. James Davis and Cullen Harper are gone, but C.J. Spiller is still around, the offensive line should be a bit better, and there's talent on the defense. Plus, I have a feeling Swinney will excel his predecessor in the coaching department, not that that's saying so much. This team's ceiling will likely be determined by how far either Kyle Parker or Willy Korn go towards becoming top-tier quarterbacks. Parker appears to be the starter right now, but don't be surprised to see Swinney continue to give Korn a look.

Of course, we've floundered horribly in this rivalry series in recent years. Despite not having been an elite team in recent years, the Tigers have generally had their way with us, winning 11 of the past 13, including a few blowouts, such as the 31-14 beatdown last year at Clemson. By contrast, we've won more games against Georgia in the past decade, despite the fact that the Dawgs have clearly been much better than Clemson in that time span. I've heard lots of theories as to why Clemson has owned us, perhaps the most pervasive being that we're simply spent by the time this game comes around. Personally, I don't buy this theory; the ACC may not be as good as the SEC, but it's not a cake walk, as suggested by the fact that Clemson usually comes into this game with almost as many losses as we have. The Tigers could just as easily say that their schedule wears them out, but they seem to always play their best in this game. The opposite could be said for us.

Whatever the case may be, we have to figure out a way to start winning more of these games, and not just for pride's sake, although that's certainly important. Losing a match with the Tigers may not keep us out of the SEC Title Game in the official standings, but it does hurt us on the recruiting trail, which is one of the things that keeps us from being able to challenge Florida, Georgia, and Tennessee in the East. All things considered, we recruit surprisingly well against Clemson considering how badly they usually seem to manhandle us. That has me thinking that if we could turn the tables on them that we could corner the market on the in-state talent. That's what will get us over the hump in the SEC, and that's why Clemson-Carolina is about more than bragging rights.

Let's take a look at how we stack up against the Tigers this year.

Offense

Expect to see Clemson run more spread formations this year than in years past. The Tigers want to get their two best offensive players, C.J. Spiller and Jacoby Ford, the ball in space so they can make big plays with their speed.

Quarterback

While the Tigers have some talent on offense, they have a big question mark at the position that matters the most. Kyle Parker has won the starting job after solid spring and August practices, but Willy Korn will continue to get looks if Parker struggles. Both are talented, but either way, Clemson will have to rely on a freshman without significant experience this year.

I call this one a push. Stephen Garcia is slightly further along in his development than Parker or Korn and probably has the most upside of the three. However, Clemson has an advantage over us in the depth department.

Verdict: Push

Running Backs

Clemson returns a legitimate Heisman contender in Spiller. Spiller needs no introduction here, as Carolina fans won't be soon to forget what he's done to us over the course of his career. The Tigers will look to Jamie Harper to fill the void left by James Davis. The highly recruited Harper rushed for only around 100 yards last year but will be expected to play a much larger role this year.

I give the Tigers a slight to strong advantage here. We have the talent and depth to have a very good running game this year, but, unfortunately, we don't have a Spiller, who is one of the nation's very best.

Verdict: Slight to strong advantage Clemson

Wide Receivers and Tight Ends

Clemson loses some significant players here from a year ago. Gone are receivers Aaron Kelly and Tyler Grisham and end Michael Palmer. The Tigers do return Jacoby Ford, who is a definite big-play threat. However, outside of Ford they have almost no one with any significant experience. Possession receiver and end are question marks for Clemson.

I give Carolina a slight advantage here. Clemson does have the guy with the most career catches, but we have a large number of guys that have proven they're capable, whereas Clemson has no one after Ford. That gives us a key advantage in the depth department.

Verdict: Slight advantage South Carolina

Offensive Line

Last year, offensive line was Clemson's weakness throughout most of the season. This year, though, the more experienced Tigers offensive line should be better. The Tigers only lose one player, center Bobby Hutchinson, and return a solid group of guys with starting experience. Depth may be the only cause for concern.

The Tigers look quite a bit like us here. Both of us should field much better lines in 2009. I'm calling this a push.

Verdict: Push

Let's take a look at defenses after the jump.

Defense

Clemson runs a 4-3 defense. Swinney and coordinator Kevin Steele have said that they plan to be more aggressive than the previous regime.

Defensive Line

The Tigers are strong at end, which they hope will help them generate a better pass rush than a year ago. Da'Quan Bowers is another Gaines Adams in the making, while Ricky Sapp should be good if he recovers from last year's knee injury. The Tigers did lose some key tackles from a year ago, and may struggle to find depth if Jarvis Jenkins or Brandon Thomas go down.

I give Carolina a very slight advantage here, mainly due to greater experience in the starting lineup and questions about how good Sapp will be after his injury. Both teams are in a similar boat in terms of depth, so the team with the most guys still standing by the end of the year may be the one with the advantage when the time comes.

Verdict: Slight advantage South Carolina

Linebackers

The Tigers are pretty solid here. Interior linebacker Brandon Maye is great in rushing defense and will probably lead the team in tackles. Kavell Conner gives them a solid outside guy. The other spot is a little shakier, with Scotty Cooper likely starting now that DeAndre McDaniel has moved to safety. Depth is also an issue.

I give us a slight advantage here. The Tigers don't quite have the star power we have at linebacker, but they should be good nonetheless.

Verdict: Slight advantage South Carolina

Secondary

The secondary is Clemson's defense's strength, as the Tigers return quality experience at every position. Corner Chris Chancellor, who has been very successful against us over the course of his career, is the unit's star. Crezdon Butler is also good at the opposite corner, and the Tigers have quality backups for Chancellor and Butler. The Tigers lose strong safety Michael Hamlin, but they will replace him with the aforementioned McDaniel, who should ably fill Hamlin's shoes. Free safety is a little more of a question mark, but Clemson should be able to figure it out with the talent they have in the secondary reserves.

I give Clemson a slight to strong advantage here. News out of camp has been promising for our young secondary, but the Tigers are unquestionably more of a proven quantity.

Verdict: Slight to strong advantage Clemson

Special Teams

The Tigers will suffer a complete overhaul of their kicking game after losing kicker Mark Buchholz (I'm sure you remember him) and Jimmy Maners. Spencer Benton and Richard Jackson are competing for kicking duties, while Dawson Zimmerman is expected to handle punts. Zimmerman did play some last year and was OK. Clemson does have a potentially explosive return game when Spiller and Ford are returning. Those of you that watched Alabama paste the Tigers last year may remember that one of their few highlights was a long kickoff return for a touchdown by Spiller.

I'll call this a push. We have slightly more stability in the kicking game, the same thing going for Clemson in the return game.

Verdict: Push

Coaches

Dabo Swinney was able to energize the Clemson faithful by finishing the regular season strongly. That finish, of course, included the blowout win over us, which certainly helped Swinney's reputation with Clemson faithful. The true test, though, begins now, after the lustre of that surprise finish has worn off. Swinney is still a coach with very, very little experience, certainly much less than you would expect for a guy in charge of a relatively high-profile program like Clemson. He has to prove that he wasn't a knee-jerk reaction hire--a la West Virginia's Bill Stewart--by having a better than average season this year. He doesn't have to win the ACC, mind you, but he does have the tools to finish in its upper half. If he can't do that--and he fails to beat us--expect the Tigers faithful to immediately begin to question the hire. And rightfully so, I would say; I'm still a bit surprised the Tigers didn't go after someone like Bobby Johnson. If Swinney does well, though, expect the hype machine to begin for the resurgence of Clemson football.

I'll give Steve Spurrier a slight advantage here based on experience. However, as with Lane Kiffin, it's really too early to make many judgment calls about Swinney, so take this comparison with a grain of salt.

Verdict: Slight advantage South Carolina

Overall

My sense is that these are fairly evenly matched teams. Both should have pretty good defenses and both might have OK offenses if a few things fall into place. A few decisive questions jump out at me when trying to decide which will win. First of all, the two teams share inexperience at quarterback. Whether it's Parker / Korn or Garcia that's playing well by November will be a deciding factor in how good these two teams are relative to each other when they take the field. Second of all, Dabo Swinney and his staff are largely an unknown quantity, so their progress will be important. Finally, both teams have some depth issues on defense that may be exposed by the end of the season. The team that suffers fewest injuries at low-depth positions may have an advantage there. I don't have the answers to these questions right now, so I'm just going to go with my heart (and against historical precedent) and call it a close Carolina victory. I'll go ahead and admit that this pick derives at least in part from homerism and unwillingness to pick Clemson. We obviously have a lot to prove against these guys. I do, though, think the talent gap has closed to a certain degree. We're in a place to even up this series. The only thing remaining is to actually do it.

Prediction: 28-24 Carolina victory

Poll

The Clemson game will result in a (elaborate in the comments section)...

Blowout Carolina Victory

10 votes

Close Carolina Victory

26 votes

Close Clemson Victory

18 votes

Blowout Clemson Victory

33 votes

87 votes | Poll has closed

Preveiwing TCU Opponents: Clemson Tigers

Jeremy Mauss — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 20:03:18 -0000

Perhaps this is the year that Clemson is able to live up to their lofty rankings. 2009 should be a much needed relief from the 2008 season where the Tigers were to contend for the BCS crown. This year the expectations are not as high as they are in the others receiving votes category in the coaches poll and ranked thirty-second by Rivals.

They also are projected to finish second in the Atlantic division behind Florida State, so there is no target on Clemson this season. They do have the potential ACC player of the year in running back CJ Spiller, however he has never rushed for 1,000 yards in a single season. His closest was his freshman year where we raked up 938 yards on the ground, however with Spiller's explosiveness he has the ability to make big plays. Look for this year to be his best now that he is not splitting carries as he did in 2008.

Besides Spiller the Tigers have a lot to make up for on offense with losses of QB Cullen Harper, RB James Davis, and WR Aaron Key who was one of the best receivers in ACC history.

The offensive line has talent with all five starters returning from last years dreadful line that broke in four new lineman. The line is easily most improved in the ACC, and should definitely be one of their strengths in 2009. According to the people who cover the ACC more closely then we do here the Clemson offensive line is ranked in the top third of the ACC.

The Tigers will need a good offensive line to help propel CJ Spiller surpass 1,000 yards, and help break in a new quarterback which will be either redshirt frosh Kyle Parker or Willie Korn. The early leader from spring is Parker but the final decision will during fall camp that is underway. Now all they need is a receiver who can replace Aaron Key who had 67 receptions, 722 yards, and four scores.

While the offense may have some wrinkles to work out the defense returns over half the starters from last year and the new starters had significant playing time. This defense finished second in scoring defense, and fourth in total defense in the ACC. Expect more of the same with improvement added. The reason the Tiger defense was so good was within their front seven.

They only had 14 sacks on the year but they were very good in run defense by not allowing them to get past the line of scrimmage; the defense had 85 tackles for loss which was third in the ACC. Clemson was fifth in total rushing yards allowed which sounds not too impressive however they were the only team in the ACC to allow under double digits rushing scores, by only allowing seven.

For how good their rushing defense was and has the potential to be the pass defense was even better and was third in passing yards allowed, but had 19 picks. The team does replace both every down players at the safety, but the new starters arae DeAndre McDaniel who is moving from corner to safety, and then there is senior Sadat Chambers.

Both of these safeties should not have a drop off in production from last year in terms of production, but the two corners who are in the race for the Thorpe Award with Chris Chancellor and Crezdon Butler who have started for the past two years will make this possibly the best secondary in the ACC.

Expect this Clemson team to be better from last year, because the national hype is not hoveirng over the team, but a trip to the ACC title game is not out of the question.