CLEMSON FOOTBALL

The key to beating Florida St.? It's all about blocking and tackling
Clemson will have to tackle better this season in order to beat the 'Noles

The key to beating Florida St.? It's all about blocking and tackling


by - Senior Writer -

An open week for Clemson means a chance to sit at home and watch college in front of the television, and that’s exactly what we did last Saturday. I can’t say I would trade in my hours in the pressbox to do it every week – I like the game atmosphere too much – but it’s good to sit back and watch other programs and teams.

This week there is no open date – the Tigers travel down to Tallahassee and take on a Florida St. team that is dealing with all kinds of distractions and issues regarding Jameis Winston. A lot of people feel like Clemson can pull off the upset because Winston isn’t playing in the first half.

No. If Clemson pulls off the upset it won’t be because on Winston. It will be because the offensive line played well and blocked, and the defense tackled. End of story.

When Clemson blocks and tackles they can play with anybody (see LSU). When they don’t, it can get sideways in a hurry and the offense struggles (see every loss since the beginning of 2011, all by double digits).

I watched almost all of the Boston College win over Southern Cal last weekend, and I was impressed with their offensive line and how they ran a lot of read option and used multiple shifts and formations in an effort to confuse the defense. The result was a whopping 452 yards on the ground against a Southern Cal defense that held Stanford’s vaunted run game in check the week before.

All of Boston College’s offensive linemen are experienced – they are all grad students – and that group paved the way for an impressive win.

It was evident to anyone who watched that Georgia and South Carolina tilt that Georgia had the best player on the field in Todd Gurley, and may have had the better overall team. The Gamecocks simply had the better offensive line and did pretty much whatever they wanted to do against Georgia’s secondary.

I thought it was interesting that South Carolina sold out to stop the run – kind of what Georgia did to Clemson in week one – and dared Georgia’s offensive line to make enough blocks to make a difference. It worked at times, and they got burned at times, but they did enough defensively to win the game. You just have to score more points, right?

I now wonder what that means for Clemson’s offensive line at Florida St. Granted, it was a different week, different gameplan, different game and different teams. But Georgia wasn’t able to get pressure on Dylan Thompson, and nothing that defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt did seemed to work. It truly is amazing what a good offensive line can mean in a game like that.

Clemson faces that same kind of line this week in Tallahassee, and it will be interesting to see how Clemson responds. Florida St. has a bevy of talented defensive linemen and it will be up to Clemson’s offensive line to create enough holes for the Clemson running game to succeed.

One former Clemson running back posted on Facebook prior to the South Carolina St. game and said that if Clemson was serious about running the football, they should come out and just run, run, run and run some more against an inferior opponent, and that it shouldn’t take more than 15 throws to win the game. I watched with interest as Clemson ran the ball 51 times but threw it a whopping 42 times. Was that designed to get Clemson’s young receivers more touches? Get Cole StoudtCole Stoudt
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#18 6-4, 231
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more rhythm? Or is Clemson’s offensive line just better in pass pro than they are running the football?

There are still a lot of questions about this offense and the offensive line that have to be answered, and this week’s game at Florida St. should shed even more light.

Clemson’s defense didn’t tackle well in the fourth quarter at Georgia, and what was a tight contest quickly morphed into a Georgia blowout. Add in the poor play of the offensive line that half, and you have a Georgia victory.

Saturday’s game won’t be about Jameis Winston, the crowd or which quarterback plays for Clemson. Heck, you could have Cam Newton or Andrew Luck under center and it wouldn’t matter if the offensive line didn’t block. No, Saturday’s game will be all about blocking and tackling.

Can Clemson win that battle? I will let you know about midnight on Saturday.

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Subject (Replies: 43) Author
spacer New Story: The key to beating Florida St.? It's all about blocking and tackling
TigerNet News®
spacer Who's stronger? Faster? Better coached? Wants it more?***
SocMan2®
spacer Re: Who's stronger? Faster? Better coached? Wants it more?***
slumdog
spacer According to Winston
tigerdrummer®
spacer I'm skrong if you skrong.***
Centennial Tiger
spacer That 'coach speak' must be contagious... J/K.***
SOLOS®
spacer Tackle and Grapple
CUgrad2011
spacer Re: New Story: The key to beating Florida St.? It's all about blocking and tackling
T1G3R 4 L1F3
spacer Re: New Story: The key to beating Florida St.? It's all about blocking and tackling
allorangeallthetime52®
spacer score more points?***
clemsonphi
spacer Re: score more points?***
slumdog
spacer it was a coach speak joke.***
clemsonphi
spacer Re: New Story: The key to beating Florida St.? It's all about blocking and tackling
Purple_Panther
spacer Re: New Story: The key to beating Florida St.? It's all about blocking and tackling
ClemsonTiger1988®
spacer Re: New Story: The key to beating Florida St.? It's all about blocking and tackling
tigerlabel
spacer I agree David. Always was, is, & will be OL, DL, & kicking.
CUTIGR69
spacer There's the rub. OL rarely good under Bowden & Dabo.***
Razzmatazz
spacer Re: There's the rub. OL rarely good under Bowden & Dabo.***
footballmanager
spacer Recruited quantity & quality have lacked. S&C questionable
Razzmatazz
spacer Re: Recruited quantity & quality have lacked. S&C questionable
slumdog
spacer You armchair trainers and your S&C whining are awful***
SquishyWaffle
spacer So you're saying we're a top ten program in spite of
Shane_Morgan
spacer Re: There's the rub. OL rarely good under Bowden & Dabo.***
slumdog
spacer Re: There's the rub. OL rarely good under Bowden & Dabo.***
Litefoot
spacer Re: There's the rub. OL rarely good under Bowden & Dabo.***
slumdog
spacer About 120 teams wish they had our coaching staff...
Shane_Morgan
spacer TOUCHBACKS.***
tigerdrummer®
spacer I think its also important that we score more points then
OhWiseOne®
spacer Re: New Story: The key to beating Florida St.? It's all about blocking and tackling
WhstigeR®
spacer Re: New Story: The key to beating Florida St.? It's all about blocking and tackling
slumdog
spacer 3 Dlineman on the field at a time
tigrrfan
spacer zero confidence in our OL..SC State was able to get pressure***
Shevlin77
spacer yep...I hate close ballgames
ChapinTiger1
spacer Re: yep...I hate close ballgames
slumdog
spacer Re: New Story: The key to beating Florida St.? It's all about blocking and tackling
MackDaddy®
spacer Re: New Story: The key to beating Florida St.? It's all about blocking and tackling
slumdog
spacer kinda hit the nail on the head...
thompson_creek_tiger®
spacer Re: kinda hit the nail on the head...
dhtigerchick
spacer Re: kinda hit the nail on the head...
slumdog
spacer Re: New Story: The key to beating Florida St.? It's all about blocking and tackling
dhtigerchick
spacer Re: New Story: The key to beating Florida St.? It's all about blocking and tackling
leftie
spacer Re: New Story: The key to beating Florida St.? It's all about blocking and tackling
slumdog
spacer "It is truly amazing what a good offensive line can mean..."
CDef
spacer Re: New Story: The key to beating Florida St.? It's all about blocking and tackling
tigers69