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Clemson defensive numbers thus far

Liberty City El said:
The mistake I keep seeing the board make is completely underestimating their Corners.

Derion Kendrick & Andrew Booth are 2 very good cover corners & will be a real challenge for Wiggins & Pope.

Idc how their Safeties look, their CB's are two top of the line talented players & will not be some pushovers that our WR's will swim through. They are aggressive & play press man well, our WR's are gonna have to step up big time.

This team hasn't lost a game at Death Valley in 4 years, I'm as hopeful as anyone on the board that we can upset them, but a lot of yall (not you OP) are seriously psyching yourselves into thinking Clemson will be some kinda easy game for Miami, trust me it won't be.

Doesn't mean they're impossible to beat & I'm NOT saying we don't have a chance, I'm just saying this is a really good team, they've literally only lost ONE game in 2 years, just one & 5 games in 5 years, do yall understand how good you have to be to pull that off?
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El, I don't think any of that matters. I think their dominance in the last 5 yrs says as much about how bad the ACC has been during that period as a whole, than it does about them. Also, you have to ask yourself is this current MIA team one of the best teams that they have faced in the last 5 yrs, excluding playoffs? If the answer to that question is yes, then theres no way in **** this game is not going to be a close game. Like you've said all off-season, if Pope is as good as you say he is, then he will step up this game. None of these Clemson CBs are as good as Terrell or Mullen were for them. Furthermore MIA faces good DBs every single yr when they play FSU. You don't think Samuel & Nasirildeen will be selected in the first 3 rds of the NFL draft?
 
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jmccomber5 said:
Can we run the ball? Can we stay ahead of the chains? If the answer is "no," it's going to be a long night straight up. We do not have guys on the outside to win contested catches right now, which has always featured prominently in Clemson losses. I still, however, believe our biggest challenge is on defense. I think Rhett and King will put enough together to score 28-31 points. I just hope it is enough
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We will have to get outside on some plays. We will not be able to run inside.
 
Has there been any word on whether or not three of Clemson's defensive line starters will suit up?

Xavier Thomas, Justin Foster, and Tyler Davis were out against UVA.

Without them, that does not look like an intimidating group.
 
CanesAreAble said:
Has there been any word on whether or not three of Clemson's defensive line starters will suit up?

Xavier Thomas, Justin Foster, and Tyler Davis were out against UVA.

Without them, that does not look like an intimidating group.
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Xavier Thomas playing would be a gigantic shock. He has not played all year, Dabo has been saying they don’t know when he’ll be back. In August he was “nowhere near where he needs to be to play football”. Even if he were to play, he’d be extremely limited. I think there’s a 1% chance he plays and even smaller chance he’s effective.

Justin Foster is still up in the air. Dabo also said yesterday he does not know if he’ll be able to play. Clemson beat writer said today he’d be “surprised” if he played. Doesn’t look likely.

Tyler Davis will play. They held him out last week as a precaution but he practiced all week. But he’s coming off a sprained knee and hasn’t played. Will he be 100%? How many snaps can he go against our tempo? We’ll see.

So I think we see Davis. I doubt we see Foster. I’ll be shocked if we see Thomas.

Their fans and writers have been very unimpressed with the DL up to this point. I agree with them. It’s a very far cry from the Ferrell/Wilkins days at the moment.
 
OrangeBowlMagic said:
Xavier Thomas playing would be a gigantic shock. He has not played all year, Dabo has been saying they don’t know when he’ll be back. In August he was “nowhere near where he needs to be to play football”. Even if he were to play, he’d be extremely limited. I think there’s a 1% chance he plays and even smaller chance he’s effective.

Justin Foster is still up in the air. Dabo also said yesterday he does not know if he’ll be able to play. Clemson beat writer said today he’d be “surprised” if he played. Doesn’t look likely.

Tyler Davis will play. They held him out last week as a precaution but he practiced all week. But he’s coming off a sprained knee and hasn’t played. Will he be 100%? How many snaps can he go against our tempo? We’ll see.

So I think we see Davis. I doubt we see Foster. I’ll be shocked if we see Thomas.

Their fans and writers have been very unimpressed with the DL up to this point. I agree with them. It’s a very far cry from the Ferrell/Wilkins days at the moment.
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Pound that pill and extend drives. As you and several others have said, this isn't the star studded DL we have seen the past few seasons. We can run on these mf's. They haven't seen a tempo like this so far this year either. Wear them tf out.
 
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htownkidd said:
Pound that pill and extend drives. As you and several others have said, this isn't the star studded DL we have seen the past few seasons. We can run on these mf's. They haven't seen a tempo like this so far this year either. Wear them tf out.
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UVA’s QB also had a lot of success running the ball Saturday night. He led the team in rushing. They were very undisciplined in setting the edge against UVA. He had 360 yards of offense. We have not seen King run as much as he normally does. That very well may have been by design.

Week 1 was “all I’ve heard is our OL sucks and we can’t run. Well, watch this” and we pounded the ball into a stacked box 50 times to the tune of 300+ rushing yards.

Week 2 was “oh so you watched last week’s film and think D’Eriq can’t throw. Enjoy playing 9 near the LOS” and we smoked them in the pass game.

Week 3 was “go ahead and play a soft zone and keep everything in front. Our QB is accurate as **** and will keep the chains moving”

I think Venables plays a ton of man knowing their corners have a big advantage against our WRs, and leaves the middle of the field congested to deal with our backs and TEs, where he knows we have the advantage. So, what will a good coordinator do? Run your QB 20+ times on designed runs, zone read, and I think the direction this week will be “1 read and go” in the dropback game. You wanna play man and be undisciplined rushing the QB? My kid can go for 125+ on you on the ground in a heartbeat.
 
They just released their depth chart:

DE - KJ Henry, So.
Or Justin Mascoll, So

DT - Tyler Davis, So
Backup - Tre Williams, Fr

DT - Jordan Williams, Jr
Or Bryan Bresee, Fr

DE - Myles Murphy, Fr
Backup - Regan Upshaw, Gr

Yes, you read that right. 1 grad transfer, 1 junior, 3 sophomores, 3 freshmen on their 2-deep.

No Xavier Thomas. No Justin Foster.

Won’t be easy. But we can get these kids.
 
OrangeBowlMagic said:
Xavier Thomas playing would be a gigantic shock. He has not played all year, Dabo has been saying they don’t know when he’ll be back. In August he was “nowhere near where he needs to be to play football”. Even if he were to play, he’d be extremely limited. I think there’s a 1% chance he plays and even smaller chance he’s effective.

Justin Foster is still up in the air. Dabo also said yesterday he does not know if he’ll be able to play. Clemson beat writer said today he’d be “surprised” if he played. Doesn’t look likely.

Tyler Davis will play. They held him out last week as a precaution but he practiced all week. But he’s coming off a sprained knee and hasn’t played. Will he be 100%? How many snaps can he go against our tempo? We’ll see.

So I think we see Davis. I doubt we see Foster. I’ll be shocked if we see Thomas.

Their fans and writers have been very unimpressed with the DL up to this point. I agree with them. It’s a very far cry from the Ferrell/Wilkins days at the moment.
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Awesome breakdown.

Thanks.
 
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No **** it’s different they don’t have 4 1st round picks in thier front 7 anymore their athleticism there is also way worse. Not saying we win but this is the most beatable Clemson team we will see
 
htownkidd said:
Pound that pill and extend drives. As you and several others have said, this isn't the star studded DL we have seen the past few seasons. We can run on these mf's. They haven't seen a tempo like this so far this year either. Wear them tf out.
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This is why we ran the ball against UAB, in preparation for this game
 
I think we are capable of winning in a shootout type contest. Something like 45-42, 49-45, or 56-52. I think we very capable of scoring points. The reality is however that we are not going to go up there and stop their offense. Slow it down? Eh probably not. Think Louisville and sub out Cunningham for the No1 pick in next year's draft. You guys think Hawkins shredded us? Etienne has the threat of a real QB plus an offensive line that despite its inexperience is easily better than Louisville or FSU. I'm not trying to dog our kids. I think this is a great group of kids on D who are getting better and better every day. What I'm saying is that they are going to have to bring it on every snap and more than that we are going to have to find a way to address our run defense on the perimeter. If our D has a higher level that they haven't felt the need to crank it up to so far then this is the game they better crank it up for.

I will also say that if Clemson comes out and puts up 2 or 3 quick TDs on us and all of a sudden we find ourselves down 21-0 this team will not quit. One of the things I love about this team is the fact that these kids are tight knit and they are not going to fold up at the first sign of trouble. This team is going to go into thst stadium and fight scratch and claw for 60 minutes. We will leave everything out on that field. We may get beat Saturday night but we will earn respect. Not saying we can't win. We most definitely can but it will not be easy. This will be a huge test and a measuring stick and win or lose this team will come out better for it. It's games like this and the experience of playing in them that shape championship teams of the future. Go Canes!
 
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Liberty City El said:




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What makes this more difficult is the fact that neither Wiggins or Pope are strong enough to make contested catches or beat press. I think a lot of our fans expect us to score a lot of points failing to realize that Clemson rarely allows over 25 points; OSU's high-powered offense only scored 23 for example last year and they fought HARD for those points. Granted Clemson has lost key players, it's going to take a concerted effort from our receivers, not TEs, if we want to win this game.
 
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CanesFan93 said:
What makes this more difficult is the fact that neither Wiggins or Pope are strong enough to make contested catches or beat press. I think a lot of our fans expect us to score a lot of points failing to realize that Clemson rarely allows over 25 points; OSU's high-powered offense only scored 23 for example last year and they fought HARD for those points. Granted Clemson has lost key players, it's going to take a concerted effort from our receivers, not TEs, if we want to win this game.
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"Key players"

The #8 pick in the NFL draft
5-star edge player Xavier Thomas
Edge Starter Logan Rudolph
Edge co-starter Justin Foster (and high 4-star talent)
Fifth-year senior starting backer Chad Smith
The #16 pick in the NFL draft
The #127 pick in the NFL draft

There were 13 kids on that team listed as starters or co-starters against OSU

7 of them are gone. Tyler Davis is one of the 7 back, and is coming off a sprained knee and hasn't played since the opener.

They have supreme talent replacing these kids, no doubt. But this is not the Fiesta Bowl defense.
 
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They got first rounders on that d line. But two are freshman and one a sophomore coming off an injury. We can match up
 
I made the point in my thread about us being underrated in this game. Watch the games, when teams are playing lesser talent watch how dominant or not they are in the trenches. This Clemson team is not that so far where they simply overwhelm teams. Yes they can beat us pretty good turnovers happen ,players get beat but I dont see the Miami has no chance and we have to be perfect to win. It's even game and I see us having even or the edge in key battles.
 
Liberty City El said:
The mistake I keep seeing the board make is completely underestimating their Corners.

Derion Kendrick & Andrew Booth are 2 very good cover corners & will be a real challenge for Wiggins & Pope.

Idc how their Safeties look, their CB's are two top of the line talented players & will not be some pushovers that our WR's will swim through. They are aggressive & play press man well, our WR's are gonna have to step up big time.

This team hasn't lost a game at Death Valley in 4 years, I'm as hopeful as anyone on the board that we can upset them, but a lot of yall (not you OP) are seriously psyching yourselves into thinking Clemson will be some kinda easy game for Miami, trust me it won't be.

Doesn't mean they're impossible to beat & I'm NOT saying we don't have a chance, I'm just saying this is a really good team, they've literally only lost ONE game in 2 years, just one & 5 games in 5 years, do yall understand how good you have to be to pull that off?
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And I keep saying, I'm not taking into account anything they have done previously to this season. Also I doubt they play too much man coverage. They wouldn't want King running too far. UVA QB gashed them good running a few times
 
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