OrangeBowlMagic
CEO
- Joined
- Jul 13, 2014
- Messages
- 14,220
Not a huge sample size, obviously. And you know they'll be more than jacked up to play us on Saturday night. But the more I look at their roster and their numbers, I really continue to maintain that this is not one of Clemson's better teams of the past 5 years. Here's where they stack up defensively so far:
I threw out the game against The Citadel. So this is only vs Wake and UVA. Not exactly murderer's row.
15th in YPP against (3rd, 2nd, and 2nd the last 3 years)
12th in points against (2nd, 1st, and 3rd the last 3 years)
11th in rushing defense (16th, 2nd, and 11th the last 3 years)
51st in passing defense (5th, 29th, and 5th the last 3 years) More on this: 281.5 YPG against those 2 teams mentioned above. Some garbage time in there, for sure.
Especially against Wake. But still, not very impressive. 7.0 YPA through 2 games....that would be the worst mark for a season since 2013. Also the 122 rating they've given up would be the most since 2013 as well.
6th in sacks (8th, 1st, and 2nd the last 3 years)
26th in TFLs (8th, 2nd, and 10th the last 3 years)
18th in 3rd down conversions allowed (13th, 5th, and 6th the last 3 years)
Only forced 2 turnovers in those 2 games. They forced 28 in 14 FBS games last year.
You get the point.
We know Venables is good. We know they are gonna be jumping out of their skin to play us, at home, in a top 7 matchup. These are the types of games they've owned in the past 5 years. But I really don't see the knockout, top end talent on this defense. They're young and inexperienced. I really think we can have success on offense against these dudes.
I threw out the game against The Citadel. So this is only vs Wake and UVA. Not exactly murderer's row.
15th in YPP against (3rd, 2nd, and 2nd the last 3 years)
12th in points against (2nd, 1st, and 3rd the last 3 years)
11th in rushing defense (16th, 2nd, and 11th the last 3 years)
51st in passing defense (5th, 29th, and 5th the last 3 years) More on this: 281.5 YPG against those 2 teams mentioned above. Some garbage time in there, for sure.
Especially against Wake. But still, not very impressive. 7.0 YPA through 2 games....that would be the worst mark for a season since 2013. Also the 122 rating they've given up would be the most since 2013 as well.
6th in sacks (8th, 1st, and 2nd the last 3 years)
26th in TFLs (8th, 2nd, and 10th the last 3 years)
18th in 3rd down conversions allowed (13th, 5th, and 6th the last 3 years)
Only forced 2 turnovers in those 2 games. They forced 28 in 14 FBS games last year.
You get the point.
We know Venables is good. We know they are gonna be jumping out of their skin to play us, at home, in a top 7 matchup. These are the types of games they've owned in the past 5 years. But I really don't see the knockout, top end talent on this defense. They're young and inexperienced. I really think we can have success on offense against these dudes.