Tuesday August 31, 2010

Saturday's Defense

Saturday’s Defense
Yesterday we took a peak at some things to watch for from the Clemson offense and today we switch sides of the ball and take a look at the defense. Here are a few things I would like to see from the defense against North Texas:

Linebacker Play
Clemson could start a freshman and two sophomores at linebacker Saturday so a lot of eyes will be on the new unit. Corico Hawkins, Tig Willard and Quandon Christian have combined to start one game so far in their careers. I expect North Texas to try to exploit the youth of the Clemson linebackers with some misdirection but this is a more talented group than the Tigers put on the field last season.

Tackling
One of the biggest differences in good defenses and great defenses is the fundamentals of tackling. Great defenses tackle well and I am hoping to see the Tigers tackle well this season. I think Hawkins is an upgrade at the MIKE linebacker in terms of tackling but I have not seen enough from Willard and Christian so far. The defensive front did not tackle as well as I would have expected last season so this will be something to watch for Saturday.

Pressure the Passer
The time has come for DaQuan Bowers to step up and be the player we always expected. Saturday could be his coming out party. Andre Branch, Malliciah Goodman and Kourtnei Brown have to stay at home against the zone read but the defensive ends should be able to beat the man in front of them if the Tigers can force the Mean Green to be one dimensional. First down will be a key and if the Tigers can get North Texas into bad down and distances look for big pressure packages on third down. I would expect North Texas to use a three-step drop often times to off-set Clemson’s rush.

Aggressive Plan
North Texas will try to do things to slow down the Clemson defense. They will run some screens and draws. They could use some zone read option to slow down the pursuit as well. I would expect to see some misdirection from the Mean Green but I fully expect the Tigers stay aggressive despite this. Lance Dunbar is one of the most talented backs the Tigers will face this season so I look for the Tigers to load the box and look to take away the Mean Green’s biggest threat.

Field Position
The Tigers may not be as strong in the return game this year without C.J. Spiller and Jacoby Ford but they can still win the field position battle by forcing more three and outs. The defense is the key to field position and I would like to see the Tigers play defense on the Mean Green’s end of the field this weekend. The key will be shutting Dunbar down on third down in both the running game and passing game. Third down conversions are a big key to field position.

Score
We have talked about an aggressive game plan where the Tigers could get up field and disrupt the North Texas offense and one of the benefits of this type of aggressiveness could lead to a defensive score. Kevin Steele wants to dominate the opponent and a score from the defense Saturday would definitely set the tone.

Depth
I expect we will see a ton of players on defense Saturday. We may see 24-30 defensive players in the opener with many Tigers seeing action for the first time. We could see the entire two deep in the first half. I expect the Tigers to play a lot of nickel this weekend and this should mean we get a look at a lot of different safeties and corners in this package. Last season we saw Rashard Hall standout in his first game and this year will present an opportunity for someone else to step up.

Control the Line of Scrimmage
North Texas returns four starters along the offensive line. This line helped the Mean Green to over 400 yards per game last year. However, Clemson is more talented upfront and the Tigers should be able to exploit their advantage Saturday. The Tigers will have to dominate up front in order to hold Dunbar under 100 yards.

No Injuries
Outside of winning the game, the most important thing this team can do is stay healthy. Clemson should be able to handle an improved Mean Green team so the next thing is to emerge from the game with a clean bill of health.

Discipline
The Tigers have been preparing for North Texas to run a lot of zone read plays Saturday. This will require the defense to stay disciplined assignment football. The backside defensive players have to stay home and play their responsibilities.

Special Teams
On a final note, I only want to see one thing Saturday from the special teams. It would be nice to see the Tigers hit on the return game and it would be a key to be fundamentally sound with snaps, kicks and coverage. However, the one man I will keep an eye on is freshman walk-on kicker Chandler Catanzaro. The “Cat Man” simply needs to convert on the simple extra points and reasonable field goal attempts to make Saturday a success in the kicking game.

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Prayer List
We have started a prayer list on the blog. Here are the guidelines:
*If you are offended by prayer or prayer lists then I apologize in advance. The blog is free and the prayer list will be on the bottom of the page so you don’t have to read it.
*If you would like to add someone to the list please e-mail me at mickeyplyler@hotmail.com
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*Please let me know when it is appropriate to take the person off of the prayer list

Those who need our prayers include:
Finn Brookover, RTG-Pawsitive Tiger, Mary-Louise Pawlowski (John's daughter), Jo Ann Bachman, Kenneth Bryant, Pruitt Martin, Got igers and his family, David Rowland, Leonard, Gillespie and his family, Jim S, Christine Hepfer, Daniel Rosborough, Amy Murphey, The Huffman family, Nancy Winkler, John Reeve, Ethel Southard, Vinnie Brock, Kaitlyn L, Susan Miller, Joyce Harley, Steve Proveaux, Jeffrey Greene, the Hutto family, Sherl Drawdy, Caleb Kennedy, Teresa O'Connor, Matt Jacobs,Perrin Seigler, Carole White Begley, Candee Massee, Lindsey Jordan, Sam Catoe, Tyler Felch, Steve Cato, the Nicolopulos family, Cason Palmer, Scott Jackson, "the Jacksonville, FL guys", Kim Sims, the Coyle familty, Ryleigh Tedder, Steve Lee, Richard Crawford, Kelly Trakas, Jimmy Moore, Steve Williams Jr, Steve Williams III, Kim Thomas, Reid Thomas, Sam Thomas, Linda Wiggs, Emily Claire Young, Dr. Wallace Honeycutt, Stacy Fowler, Kitty Bowers,Julie and Austin Locke, the Scheider family, Lauren Kittles' family.