Tiger Tidbits - NC State Edition

Charone Peake had played in 29 consecutive games over three seasons, but is out for the season with an ACL injury.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Wed Sep 18 12:33:26 GMT-04:00 2013

We had an off week last week and a short week this week, so the usual encyclopedia-sized Tiger Tidbits will be a little shorter than normal, but we still have some interesting stuff to throw out there.

Let’s start off with this Thursday’s game against N.C. State – I know that everybody wants to put Clemson on upset alert and that everybody remembers what happened up there two years ago when a No. 7 Clemson team got embarrassed by a 37-13 score. And let’s face, it wasn’t even that close.

I remember standing on the sidelines before that game and thinking how Clemson just looked flat, even in the pregame warm-ups. That team, as we know now, had lost focus and was playing without Sammy WatkinsSammy Watkins
Jr. Wide Receiver
#2 6-1, 205
Fort Myers, FL
View Full Profile , who was injured the week before against Wake Forest.

Could that kind of ambush happen again? Hey, the Pack have done it before to teams. But this time around, there is no Mike Glennon, no Tobias Palmer (who was wide open on his long TD reception from Glennon), no David Amerson and no George Bryan.

The Pack also have issues at quarterback – Brandon Mitchell won the job in fall camp for a reason, and now Pack head coach Dave Doeren turns to Colorado St. transfer Pete Thomas. Thomas isn’t a big running threat, but he can move the chains.

I really think Doeren’s game plan in this one might be to slow things down and see if the Pack can run the football and control the clock, despite his history of running a tempo-based offense. I’m obviously not a football coach, but it’s what I would do. I would understand that they probably won’t win against the Tigers in a track meet, but could slow it down and keep it close.

However, quarterback Tajh BoydTajh Boyd
RS Sr. Quarterback
#10 6-1, 225
Hampton, VA
View Full Profile told me this week that this team is dialed in right now, and that practice last week wasn’t easy on anyone. This coaching staff does a fantastic job of keeping the egos in check. Unless Clemson just absolutely goes in the tank, I truly don’t know that it will be all that close.

This team managed to win at Boston College, at Duke and at Wake Forest last season (Wake was on a Thursday night, just four days after a win over Virginia Tech), handling their business each time. I expect more of the same Thursday night.

*I was out at Daniel last week, and got to see Jae’lon Oglesby again. The kid is a dynamic playmaker, and the Lions have been using him out at wide receiver a good bit to take advantage of his speed. He is lethal on the quick screens, and I’ve heard that he might be used in much the same way at Clemson. Every time I watch him play, there are at least two or three times a game I just stand there and say, “Wow, how did he do that?”

Speaking of that game – Clemson head coach Dabo SwinneyDabo Swinney
Head Coach
View Full Profile and men’s basketball coach Brad BrownellBrad Brownell
Head Coach
View Full Profile sat together in the stands during the game. Swinney’s oldest son Will plays wide receiver for the Lions (No. 25 in your program) and got to play late. He actually had two nice blocks that set up first downs.

*The loss of wide receiver Charone PeakeCharone Peake
Jr. Wide Receiver
#19 6-3, 200
Moore, SC
View Full Profile hurts from a depth standpoint, but I like what Adam HumphriesAdam Humphries
Jr. Wide Receiver
#13 5-11, 190
Spartanburg, SC
View Full Profile brings to the table, especially on third down. Humphries is adept at finding that open spot in the zone and sitting in it, something I think Tajh Boyd has missed this year with the loss of DeAndre HopkinsDeAndre Hopkins
Wide Receiver
#6 6-2, 205
Central, SC
View Full Profile and Jaron “third down” Brown.

One observer who was at practice last week told me that everyone knew that Peake’s injury was serious as soon as it happened. He said that the scream that emanated from Peake seemed to come from within his soul and raised the hair on the back of people’s arms. Wishing you a speedy recovery Charone.

*Don’t look now, but that former walk on kicker that people fussed so much about back in 2010 just might become Clemson’s career scoring leader Thursday night. Chandler CatanzaroChandler Catanzaro
Gr. Punter / Kicker
#39 6-2, 195
Greenville, SC
View Full Profile needs just eight points to surpass Aaron Hunt’s record of 329 points. Over his last 21 games, Catanzaro has made 28 out of his last 29 field goals.

I was standing about thirty feet away from Catanzaro in overtime at Auburn at 2010 – I went to the sidelines with a few minutes to go in regulation – when he missed the kick following the penalty. At that point, I wondered how we would respond. Kickers can have fragile psyches, and missing a kick like that on national television had to have stung. But the graduate kicker out of Greenville has responded in a big way, and now might become Clemson’s career scoring leader. Who woulda thunk that back in 2010?

*Clemson has won eight out of the last nine games against the Wolfpack – the 2011 loss the lone win for N.C. State – but nine out of the last 16 games have been decided by eight points or less. However, the Pack teams of the late 80’s were a nemesis team for Danny FordDanny Ford
Former Head Coach
View Full Profile – Clemson won the ACC in 1986, 1987 and 1988, but the lone conference loss for Clemson in each of those years was to N.C. State.

The 2008 win over the Pack turned out to be Tommy Bowden’s last ACC win at Clemson.

*For those that like to see the bad in everything – N.C. State knocked off Florida St. last year in Carter-Finley. Florida St. was ranked third nationally at the time, and Clemson is ranked third nationally this week. Also, the Tigers are just 2-9 all-time in ESPN Thursday night games. However, Clemson defeated Wake Forest 42-13 last year in Winston-Salem on October 25th.

The Tigers play one more Thursday night game this season, and that is in November against Georgia Tech. I watched a little bit of Georgia Tech last weekend, and they look like they are humming on offense with quarterback Vad Lee, who threw for four touchdowns last week. I’ve seen North Carolina and Virginia Tech and some of the others in the Coastal, and the Jackets might be the class of that division, along with Miami. I know it’s early, but all of a sudden that game is starting to loom large.