Behind Enemy Lines: QA with Clemson Beat Writer

[AUCorpsman 0]

Really nice interview with some good insight into their team from wareagleextra. Maybe a bit of a homer but a good read.

http://www.wareagleextra.com/2012/08/30/behind-enemy-lines-qa-with-clemson-beat-writer/

[wareagle365 0]

good read thanks

[mulletproof 0]

"Read and react defense" . they better hope it's more effective than Roof's read and react or we might name the score.

[dragracer98 0]

can someone post the article, stupid filter at work has me blocked and unable to read it.

[aujdub 0]

can someone post the article, stupid filter at work has me blocked and unable to read it.

Aaron Brenner: On a scale of 1 to 10 – 1 being no biggie, 10 being huge – rate the importance of Sammy Watkins’ suspension in this game. Who should we expect to fill the void?

Greg Wallace, OrangeandWhite.com: I would give it a 7. Watkins is one of college football’s most dynamic playmakers, who set ACC freshman records for receptions, receiving touchdowns and receiving yards. He was the consensus national freshman of the year, and one of only four true freshmen to be named an AP first-team All-American. The other three? Herschel Walker, Marshall Faulk and Adrian Peterson.

Auburn fans surely remember his national coming-out party – 10 catches, 155 yards, two touchdowns – in Clemson last September. So yes, he’ll be missed.

However, Clemson does have a deep offense led by all-ACC junior quarterback Tajh Boyd, and athletic junior wideout DeAndre Hopkins is among the nation’s most underrated players, an excellent leaper with flypaper hands. Senior tailback Andre Ellington is a speedy, big-play threat, and coaches think senior Brandon Ford can replace John Mackey Award winner Dwayne Allen.

Sophomore Charone Peake will start in Watkins’ place; he’s a former four-star recruit who struggled with consistency last fall, but has received raves for his focus and poise this month.

Brenner: What in the heck happened to the defense in that Orange Bowl, and how different is the 2012 unit under Brent Venables? How significant is that returning experience in the back seven?

Wallace: It’s easy to forget that Clemson trailed West Virginia only 21-17 with the ball at the Mountaineers’ 1 early in the second quarter; Ellington was stripped at the goal line, and Clemson never recovered from the 99-yard touchdown and 14-point swing. The Tigers’ defense was lost against Geno Smith, Tavon Austin and Stedman Bailey, with a boatload of poor tackles, poor angles and poor coverage.

It was the last straw for Kevin Steele; his defense looked confused all season long.

Venables’ system is simplified, with more read-and-react principles that should allow the Tigers to play faster with more freedom.

I think the back-seven experience will matter. Corico Wright, Jonathan Willard, Quandon Christian and Stephone Anthony all started multiple games at linebacker a year ago, and Anthony’s move to the middle – forcing Wright outside – will make the linebacker corps better.

Seniors Rashard Hall, Jonathan Meeks and Xavier Brewer are all experienced defensive backs; Hall led Clemson in tackles playing on a knee that required offseason microfracture surgery. He’s fully healthy, which should give the secondary a boost.

Brenner: As an Alabama walk-on two decades ago, Dabo Swinney enjoyed success against Auburn. What does playing Auburn mean to Clemson’s head coach?

Wallace: You never forget your archrival. I think last season’s 38-24 win in Clemson, which broke Auburn’s nation’s-best winning streak – meant as much to Swinney as any win in his Clemson career. Add in the national season-opening stage on ESPN, and this game will be just as important for Dabo.

Brenner: Like Auburn, it’s been a few years since Clemson opened up against a high-profile opponent – the 2008 Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Classic against Alabama, actually. Are the Tigers revved up and ready for prime time?

Wallace: I think they’re very excited. Nothing against Troy – who Clemson trailed a year ago at halftime – but playing a nationally-known SEC opponent in the Georgia Dome gives the season opener a certain kind of juice. No Clemson players were active for that beatdown in Atlanta – the beginning of the end of Tommy Bowden’s CU tenure – but you can bet Swinney, the Tigers’ wide receivers coach that night, hasn’t forgotten. Clemson hasn’t won in Atlanta since upsetting No. 6 Tennessee in the 2004 Peach Bowl. Georgia is a major recruiting base for Clemson, and a win would be very meaningful.

Brenner: The ACC is going to a 9-game conference schedule beginning next year. You like or dislike the move as it relates to non-conference scheduling and overall team preparation for bowl season?

Wallace: I dislike it. I understand the meaning behind it – with Pitt and Syracuse coming on board, the gap between most cross-division foes appearing on your schedule would grow larger – but I think it serves the likes of North Carolina and N.C. State while hurting programs like Clemson and Florida State which have permanent end-of-season SEC rivals in South Carolina and Florida. Clemson will sacrifice a home game to keep an intriguing home-and-home series with neighbor Georgia, but was forced to cancel home-and-homes with Ole Miss and Oklahoma State to keep its seven-home-game economic model.

Essentially, Clemson trades big national and regional games for more matchups with the likes of Pitt, Duke and North Carolina, which fans disagree with.

Read more here: http://www.wareagleextra.com/2012/08/30/behind-enemy-lines-qa-with-clemson-beat-writer/#storylink=cpy

[ValleyTiger 2,894]

WarBlogle has an interview with Greg Wallace, too. Read it here.