Quick glance at Clemson

[AUIH1 1,515]

2 minutes ago, AUinTLoosa said:

"Break a leg," Mr. Watson.

WDE

LOL, actually I don't wish injury to Watson or anyone.  If we beat Clemson, I want it to be with them at full strength.

 

wde

[autigeremt 6,589]

Clemson will still have to wait another 75 years to beat us here on the Plains after Saturday night.

Auburn 35

Clemson 27

[keesler 5,924]

18 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.

And that was against what some folks label as the best Dline in the country.  He gashed them until Smart/Saban started putting smaller/faster defensive players Rashan Evans,  Tomlinson, Foster in the game - those guys contained Watson better in the 2nd half and caused CU to go 3&out in a few series. They were still dangerous right to the end though.

We'd be better served to keep Watson on the bench with a solid, methodical offense that can eat clock and move the ball for 1st downs.  I'm afraid if we go HUNH/fast paced we'll end up giving them the ball back too quickly leaving our D worn out in the 4th.  I just don't have faith that our shaky offense can handle a shoot out with those guys.

 

 

 

[AlaskanFAN 1,665]

Funny I have a feeling Clemson's game plan is take away our run, forceing us to be one dimensional and take their chance that Sean White can beat them with his arm and a group of inexperienced wide receivers. Similar offenses. Similar defensive strategies. Comes down to execution, least amount of turnovers, least amount of penalties and special teams. In my opinion 

[AUld fAUx@ 2,584]

28 minutes ago, AUIH1 said:

LOL, actually I don't wish injury to Watson or anyone.  If we beat Clemson, I want it to be with them at full strength.

 

wde

Of course.

‘"Break a leg" is an idiom in theatre used to wish a performer "good luck".’

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Break_a_leg

Opening night, and all.

WDE

[AUFan21 58]

7 minutes ago, keesler said:

And that was against what some folks label as the best Dline in the country.  He gashed them until Smart/Saban started putting smaller/faster defensive players Rashan Evans,  Tomlinson, Foster in the game - those guys contained Watson better in the 2nd half and caused CU to go 3&out in a few series. They were still dangerous right to the end though.

We'd be better served to keep Watson on the bench with a solid, methodical offense that can eat clock and move the ball for 1st downs.  I'm afraid if we go HUNH/fast paced we'll end up giving them the ball back too quickly leaving our D worn out in the 4th.  I just don't have faith that our shaky offense can handle a shoot out with those guys.

 

 

 

Told a coworker the other day the same thing. The way to beat them is keep them off the field. 12 play drives and eat clock, but that goes against everything we are supposedly known for.

[AUld fAUx@ 2,584]

2 hours ago, StatTiger said:

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.

Hope I don't offend anyone if I root for the under.

[NoALtiger 3,849]

1 hour ago, AUFan21 said:

Absolutely not. Just play sound defense and contain.

I imagine that word (contain) has been brought up once or twice around the football complex lately. 

[KerryThachWDE 42]

I was listening to XM this morning on the way to work.  Greg McElory said he studied film on Mitch Hyatt and said he really struggled against elite pass rushers.  Said he doesn't think he'll be able to handle a healthy Carl Lawson. 

[TigerWar 82]

1 hour ago, AUFan21 said:

7 minutes ago, KerryThachWDE said:

I was listening to XM this morning on the way to work.  Greg McElory said he studied film on Mitch Hyatt and said he really struggled against elite pass rushers.  Said he doesn't think he'll be able to handle a healthy Carl Lawson. 

I just have an overwhelming gut feeling that Carl is going to have a coming out party and everyone in the country will know who Carl Lawson is after the Clemson game.

[AUTIGERinSC 69]

I would be interested in what Van Gorder's strategy was with ND or if they just out manned them on the D-line. Besides the early going they held the line until the end in a very hostile environment.

ND would have won that game at home. 

[War Knight 514]

But...how much heart does each team have?

[AU64 10,122]

39 minutes ago, AUTIGERinSC said:

I would be interested in what Van Gorder's strategy was with ND or if they just out manned them on the D-line. Besides the early going they held the line until the end in a very hostile environment.

ND would have won that game at home. 

One of Clemson's biggest wins ever I expect.....close as it was, that's what probably got them to the championship..... playing a team like ND with a national following. That would be a good game to look at....ND pretty much shut Watson down on the ground and in the air.  

http://gamezone.stats.com/gz/football/cfb/1526726

 

[Auburn2Eugene 2,317]

3 hours ago, TigerWar said:

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

I was kinda thinking the same thing. But then who spies? A LB? A "tweener?" Rudy was a good choice. I know others have said absolutely not about a spy on Watson... I'm just not sure that would the best way to go about it...

3 hours ago, AlaskanFAN said:

Funny I have a feeling Clemson's game plan is take away our run, forceing us to be one dimensional and take their chance that Sean White can beat them with his arm and a group of inexperienced wide receivers. Similar offenses. Similar defensive strategies. Comes down to execution, least amount of turnovers, least amount of penalties and special teams. In my opinion 

In all honesty, I'm ok with this. That is playing into Sean Whites strength. Let them load the box... Sean can actually hit the WRs in the numbers. Hopefully the WRs we see this season have a bit softer hands.

2 hours ago, TigerWar said:

I just have an overwhelming gut feeling that Carl is going to have a coming out party and everyone in the country will know who Carl Lawson is after the Clemson game

That would be OUTSTANDING! He can do it. Especially if the reports about their tackle are correct. He is gonna have a long night!

[AUTUmike 79]

I would certainly spy Watson. I forget the numbers, but last year he was freakishly accurate on deep balls, so IMO the way to defense him is how we approached Manziel in 2013. Don't worry about sacking him, just focus on containment and stressing him in the pocket or make him throw off of his back foot. He won't make many of those amazing deep passes from outside the pocket.

[AcUmen 242]

Kevin Steele needs to watch the FSU/Clemson game from last season and just copy what FSU did on D.  They held them to 2 field goals in the first half and 22 points total.  The problem was FSU couldn't get much going on offense so their D was on the field all game (Clemson had something to do with this too -- they are strong on D).  In any case, FSU contained Watson all night.  He wasn't responsible for either of their two TD's.  One was a hand-off to Gallman, who took it to the house, and the other was a busted coverage by FSU on a screen pass.

If AU can hold them to 21 or so, I like our chances.  If Clemson scores 30+, I don't like our chances at all.  I don't think our O will be good enough in an opener to put up massive points so we need the D to put up an FSU-like performance to win.  And of course, special teams needs to be top notch and mistake free.

[StatTiger 3,188]

14 hours 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.

I think that is a fair statement. The DL appears to be Auburn's defensive strength and Watson is their primary strength on offense. I do believe it will be Auburn's front-7 and their ability to control the Clemson running game and apply pressure to Watson. Clemson will want offensive balance and they have two RB's capable of accomplishing the task. Auburn must be smart in their attack because a blind rush will create running lanes for Watson to escape from. This is where Auburn's DT's must answer the bell by applying pressure up front.

 

As I stated earlier, the key will be forcing Watson into obvious passing situations. He had an impressive 156.2 passer rating overall last season but it dropped to 138.3 on 3rd down. Placing him in 3rd & 7 or longer, his rating dropped to 123.2 and it dropped to 76.2 on 3rd and 10 or longer. Keeping containment on him on 3rd down will be essential because he picked up 21 first downs running the ball on 51 3rd down rush-attempts.

[aucanucktiger 1,791]

Living in Tallahassee, I hear football colloquialisms in everyday life at work & while out & about. One that I think Nole fans started is "pulling a Clemson". It means choking to an unbelievable degree when it seems everything is on your side. It's funny hearing that phrase around town - even politicians and the weatherman use it. 

Here's to Clemson "pulling a Clemson" this weekend.

 

[kd4au 1,145]

17 hours ago, AUinTLoosa said:

Hope I don't offend anyone if I root for the under.

Why do you not want Auburn to score 62 on them?ha ha

[AU64 10,122]

"....Keeping containment on him "......-Stat

That,  IMO,  is the essence of our defensive problem....AU has been abused by numerous QBs who seem to find ways to run around our aggressive DEs in past years no matter what the down and distance but perhaps it's been worse on "passing downs" when the D is intent on a sack.

[quozzel 0]

As a Clemson fan, I find these breakdowns kinda...off.

Notre Dame held Watson to 96 passing yards, yes. As to how that was managed, well, here's what Auburn needs to do to replicate this. 1) Line up in a Cover-3 nickel for most of the game, and dare Clemson to run underneath, on the theory that Clemson can't muscle up and run the football, and 2) park a Cat-1 hurricane over the stadium just before kickoff.

Deshaun Watson, apparently, does not throw well in hurricanes. So if you can just arrange for one to be over Jordan Hare around 9:00PM Saturday night, Auburn should be golden.

As for FSU...well, they're mutants. How they lost three games last year I will never understand. (Well, in their defense, their QB did play the bowl game against Houston on a broken ankle...after their backup, Everett Golson, had pouted his way out of town and quit the team.) But they had the athletes on the perimeter to be able to match up with Clemson on the outside. (The 'Noles really did have the best secondary in football, just a bunch of athletic freaks like Jalen Ramsey and Derwin James...their DC, Charles Kelly, is also their DB coach and has put together just a monster unit there) and while Clemson was getting some love getting TE Jordan Leggett matched up against LB's, mostly Clemson worked the body, pounding Wayne Gallman underneath until FSU finally went down.

 

 

 

[aucanucktiger 1,791]

Most of our experienced D have been through both Muschamp's mega emotional approach and ole Ellis' clinical leadership-from-the-booth coaching.  It will be interesting (IMO) to see what personality & demeanor develops on D this season.  

[3rdgeneration 6,469]

I wonder if it will be windy in the wake of the tropical storm going through the southeast on Friday. Closest we are going to get to a hurricane parking over the stadium, I think.

[Eagle Eye 7 2,535]

I think sometimes stats (not you Stat) can't tell the whole story. When the running game is successful the defense is forced to add men to the box thus allowing the passing game to be much more successful. So I do agree with Stats position. If we can stop the run and make them one dimensional I think they will have less success. Nick in 2013 and even Cam in 2010 were not real accurate throwing, but do to the run being successful, teams committed to the run and allowed our passing game to look good. But in this case with Watson we also have to limit his time in the backfield, which is allowing receivers time to get open. It will be tough but like someone else mentioned it is about playing disciplined football. We have the deep talent to beat their OL. They will not sub out their line so we should wear them down with our rotation. I think this is what allows teams like uat and LSU to be successful on defense. WDE

[AUpreacherman22 3,881]

Interesting. Thanks Stat!

Watson and all his weapons will be a major challenge for sure. 

Our exprience in the trenches and our awesome Special Teams will be a major factor in this game as well. 

Hoping for an upset!