Quick glance at Clemson

[StatTiger 3,188]

Last 4 recruiting classes:

Auburn ......... 92 of 94 recruits rated as 3-stars or better (97.9%)
Clemson ....... 80 of 86 recruits rated as 3-stars or better (93.0%)

Auburn .......... 54 of 94 recruits rated as 4-stars or better (57.4%)
Clemson ........ 40 of 86 recruits rated as 4-stars or better (46.5%)

Auburn .......... signed 13 players rated in Scout's top-100 the last 4 years.
Clemson ........ signed 11 players rated in Scout's top-100 players.

Experience:

Auburn has a very slight edge in terms of players with 20 games of experience and 30 games of experience.

Phil Steel has Auburn ranked No. 94 in terms of experienced roster and Clemson is No. 101.

I believe Auburn has a slight edge in the trenches but Clemson has a huge edge in QB with their combination of talent and proven experience. Auburn has no clue what Sean White's ceiling will be at this point.

Special teams could be a major plus for the Auburn Tigers.

Over and under has been set at 61.5 points I believe.

[McLoofus 35,182]

Stat, if you happen to still have last year's experience info handy, I'd be much obliged. I'm guessing that losing all of Louis's, Young's, Frost's and McKinzey's starts skew the numbers a bit, but still curious. 

[mad4au 17]

Thanks Stat. I believe our experience and star power on the DL will take over this game.Their young OL will be tested early and often. If we can contain Watson as the pocket collapses we will have a great night. 

[StatTiger 3,188]

2 minutes ago, mad4au said:

Thanks Stat. I believe our experience and star power on the DL will take over this game.Their young OL will be tested early and often. If we can contain Watson as the pocket collapses we will have a great night. 

IMO, the key is taking away their run and making Watson throw it more often when they HAVE to rather than when he WANTS to. Looking at the 4-year trend, Clemson tends to score more with more rush attempts.

[StatTiger 3,188]

7 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

Stat, if you happen to still have last year's experience info handy, I'd be much obliged. I'm guessing that losing all of Louis's, Young's, Frost's and McKinzey's starts skew the numbers a bit, but still curious. 

Last year Phil Steele had Auburn at #115 and Clemson at #108.

Auburn had the fewest number of players with 20 games of experience in the SEC in 2015. We actually moved up this season, though slightly.

[StatTiger 3,188]

8 minutes ago, mad4au said:

Thanks Stat. I believe our experience and star power on the DL will take over this game.Their young OL will be tested early and often. If we can contain Watson as the pocket collapses we will have a great night. 

Factoring in attrition, Auburn's scholarship roster is actually at 60.5% regarding 4-5 star talent coming into the Clemson game.

[mad4au 17]

9 minutes ago, StatTiger said:

IMO, the key is taking away their run and making Watson throw it more often when they HAVE to rather than when he WANTS to. Looking at the 4-year trend, Clemson tends to score more with more rush attempts.

It'll be a great test right out of the gate for our D, and I believe our DL and LB's will play the run well also. Should be fun. And if our O can score a couple of times and our D hold them a couple of times to start the game, they'll need to throw it more. Coach McGriff has our DB's ready also. Davis and the gang licking their chops. If we can stay away from the injury bug from here on out our D could really be special. Here's to their coming out party Saturday night.  Get after it young men. War Eagle!! 

4 minutes ago, StatTiger said:

Factoring in attrition, Auburn's scholarship roster is actually at 60.5% regarding 4-5 star talent coming into the Clemson game.

I really like that percentage Stat. 

[AU64 10,122]

18 minutes ago, StatTiger said:

IMO, the key is taking away their run and making Watson throw it more often when they HAVE to rather than when he WANTS to. Looking at the 4-year trend, Clemson tends to score more with more rush attempts.

Are you sure about that?  The guy threw for 4000 yards last year and about a 70% completion ....among the top in the nation.

[StatTiger 3,188]

3 minutes ago, AU64 said:

Are you sure about that?  The guy threw for 4000 yards last year and about a 70% completion ....among the top in the nation.

Yes... Would not have written if I did not believe it.

[AU64 10,122]

4 minutes ago, StatTiger said:

Yes... Would not have written if I did not believe it.

OK..then I beg to differ with you....

[RunInRed 16,360]

• Auburn leads the series, 34–13–2 (.714);
• From 1952 to 2010, Auburn had a 14 game winning streak;
• Clemson has won the last two (2011, 2012); however,
• Clemson hasn't won at Auburn since 1950

http://www.winsipedia.com/auburn/vs/clemson

[McLoofus 35,182]

35 minutes ago, StatTiger said:

Last year Phil Steele had Auburn at #115 and Clemson at #108.

Auburn had the fewest number of players with 20 games of experience in the SEC in 2015. We actually moved up this season, though slightly.

Gracias. I thought it might be about like that. I think that might end up being a bigger move up than it appears on the surface, given the level of production vs the number of starts from the 4 guys I mentioned. 

Thanks again. 

[80Tiger 899]

23 minutes ago, AU64 said:

Are you sure about that?  The guy threw for 4000 yards last year and about a 70% completion ....among the top in the nation.

I think you are right 64. Last year, Clemson threw for more yards in 9 games compared to running for more in 5 games

[StatTiger 3,188]

If we can't stop the run, Clemson is balanced all night long and the Auburn defense is toast. Clemson establishing the run will slow down our pass-rush. They have a young OL and we can take advantage of it by placing them in more obvious passing situations.

From 2000-2015, Auburn is 24-7 in games the opponent passed for at least 300-yards and 6-22 in games the opponent rushed for over 225-yards. During the past four seasons, Clemson is 9-6 in games they were held to under 140-yards rushing, averaging 28.1 points per game.

During the last four seasons, Clemson has averaged 47 PPG with 50 or more rush attempts. With 40-49 carries, they have averaged 37.3 PPG. When held to 39 carries or less, Clemson has averaged 30.1 PPG.

Think back to when #1 Florida came to Auburn in 2001 with one of the top pass offenses in the country. Tuberville said all week long, the key to beating them would be taking away the run to make them one dimensional.

 

 

[StatTiger 3,188]

13 minutes ago, 80Tiger said:

I think you are right 64. Last year, Clemson threw for more yards in 9 games compared to running for more in 5 games

Put it this way... would you rather defend Deshawn Watson along with a 250+ rushing game or Watson having to make ALL the plays?

[AUIH1 1,515]

8 minutes ago, StatTiger said:

Put it this way... would you rather defend Deshawn Watson along with a 250+ rushing game or Watson having to make ALL the plays?

I wish there could be a 3rd option.

 

wde

[TitanTiger 20,469]

I think Stat is 100% correct on this.  Force them to be one-dimensional and into more predictable passing situations.  That makes calling defense much easier and gives us a chance to disrupt things with the pass rush.

[Barnacle 9,064]

14 minutes ago, StatTiger said:

Put it this way... would you rather defend Deshawn Watson along with a 250+ rushing game or Watson having to make ALL the plays?

Yeah I'm with you. If we can take away the run game, especially the big run plays I will feel much better about this game. Rest assured, if we were to try and "take away the pass first" they would gash us in the run game, and like you said allow Watson the breathing room to make whatever plays he wants. 

[McLoofus 35,182]

Pretty sure what Stat is saying is an *almost universally accepted truth about football.

*Mike Leach and Kliff Kingsbury notwithstanding. 

[StatTiger 3,188]

15 minutes ago, AUIH1 said:

I wish there could be a 3rd option.

 

wde

Would be nice.

[TigerWar 82]

Stat, you can correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm guessing that the tale of the tape is gonna come down to the two strengths - Clemson's quarterback and Auburn's defensive line - if AU can get quality pressure and force some inherit throws and a turnover or two by using 4 down linemen and dropping 7 back in coverage then I imagine that'll be our m.o.

Then again, Watson is a hell of a quarterback, so we might have to show him a lot of different looks from the defensive side of the ball to keep him on his toes.

If the defensive line plays like it did in the first half of the Louisville game when everyone was healthy, I feel very good about our chances.

Edited August 29, 2016 by TigerWar

[AUFan21 58]

3 minutes ago, TigerWar said:

Stat, you can correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm guessing that the tale of the tape is gonna come down to the two strengths - Clemson's quarterback and Auburn's defensive line - if AU can get quality pressure and force some inherit throws and a turnover or two by using 4 down linemen and dropping 7 back in coverage then I imagine that'll be our m.o.

Then again, Watson is a hell of a quarterback, so we might have to show him a lot of different looks from the defensive side of the ball to keep him on his toes.

If the defensive line plays like it did in the first half of the Louisville game when everyone was healthy, I feel very good about our chances.

If we can get pressure with 4 down linemen, I like our chances against anyone. We have to contain Watson once the play breaks down. He gashed bama in the NC game with his runs.

[TigerWar 82]

2 minutes ago, AUFan21 said:

If we can get pressure with 4 down linemen, I like our chances against anyone. We have to contain Watson once the play breaks down. He gashed bama in the NC game with his runs.

Would you designate a spy for him? Someone like a Rudy Ford or Montavious Atkinson that has some wheels?

[AUFan21 58]

2 minutes ago, TigerWar said:

Would you designate a spy for him? Someone like a Rudy Ford or Montavious Atkinson that has some wheels?

Absolutely not. Just play sound defense and contain.

[AUld fAUx@ 2,584]

40 minutes ago, AUIH1 said:

I wish there could be a 3rd option.

 

wde

"Break a leg," Mr. Watson.

WDE