ND-CLEMSON

Hey everyone, ND fan (realistic one) looking for a little game chat. Much respect for your program and school, have had family go to Clemson, pretty good baseball/softball players.

Anyway, really looking forward to Saturday, think it will be a close game, and can really see it going either way. I think both offenses will be able to score 24+ points. I could really see this coming down to a field goal to decide. We have a good kicker, but a true freshman so his nerves and consistency are still uncertain, but he can kick it a mile. Obviously we have had a lot of injuries and have been inconsistent from game to game.

Our offense is pretty solid, the new qb plays tough and makes pretty safe throws most of the time, our offensive line I would put at an A for run blocking and a B- for pass blocking. We do have a good variety of receivers so even if u can take out fuller there are other guys who can really play.

Defense is a question mark, they could play great or you could completely shred them. Jaylon smith is a beast and the DBs are decent, but they get exposed more than they should due to a poor push up front. With time anyone could get open.

I know Death Valley is a tough place to play, one of the toughest, but in the last couple years this isn't a team that seems to be effected by the crowd, now the qb hasn't, which could hurt us, but they rest of the guys have played at msu, Fsu Michigan etc, which isn't as loud, but pretty loud and have done well, so hopefully it won't bother them too bad.

Where do u see advantages for either side?

quozzel

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Re: ND-CLEMSON

Sep 27, 2015, 3:40 PM

Notre Dame, IMHO, matches up horribly with Clemson.

Notre Dame fans and especially the players do not know what they are walking into with Death Valley. They do not know how good Clemson's defense is. They really do not know how many skill players Clemson's offense has or how explosive it can be.

I've been impressed with Will Fuller. I've been impressed with Prosise. I think Kizer is very talented...and very green, and raw, and it shows at times. I'm also impressed with Notre Dame's size. They're huge up front.

I also think ND is in a matchup nightmare.

They may think they have some handle because the Irish played UVA and Georgia Tech...Clemson has absolutely nothing in common with either program. Paul Johnson is a gimmick coach with a scheme that's very tough to stop, but if you've got the size and athletes - and the Irish obviously did - and you prep adequately (and the Irish hired a specialist consultant for just that purpose), it can be stymied...especially this year. In the past if you stoned their ground game the Bees would just go over your head with guys like Demaryius Thomas, Darrin Waller, and DeAndre Smelter...they just don't have any receivers this year and it's killing them. PJ's teams never could play defense...Johnson is an indifferent recruiter and honestly defense is just something he hires other people to worry about.

That ain't Clemson. At all. Clemson is an Oregon-style spread with a QB who is so much like a young Marcus Mariota it's scary and explosive athletes all over the perimeter. Defensively Clemson was #1 in the country by a mile last year - and it wasn't close, we dominated most statistical categories - and it hasn't dropped off much at all this year, owing mostly to the fact that Brent Venables is a Top-5 DC in the country with maybe the best staff in college football. Dabo deferred a lot of salary early to pay top-dollar for top coaches and it's paid off huge...these guys aren't just great position coaches, they're fantastic recruiters and judges of talent and it shows.

If there's been a weakness that's held Clemson back it's been special-teams - those still are shaky as all get-out, which is maddening - and the OL, which for whatever reason has just not been very good for seemingly forever. Clemson finally started pulling in the 4-and-5-star OL guys we just usually missed on this past year...they're on the field now and they're talented, but they are still young. Louisville really disrupted them last week, especially in pass-pro, but then, Louisville is a very complex 3-4 scheme that does a lot of twisting and stunting and brings pressure from a ton of different angles, and their personnel is very, very good despite their 0-3 start. In contrast ND is a very vanilla scheme that does not generate much pressure with its front four...and that is not good for Notre Dame, because if Deshaun Watson has time...well, you'll see it for yourself. I am also not sold on Brian Van Gorder.

If Clemson loses this game, it'll be because Notre Dame's defense gets more heat on Watson then they've generated the previous 4 games, and because Clemson's special-teams helps Notre Dame out a lot. I'm also concerned Notre Dame's size may wear Clemson's front 7 down late. But if Notre Dame lets Deshaun Watson get comfie...the Irish are going to be in a world of hurt, IMHO. This is a guy who can throw for 6 TD's and 450+ yards when he gets hot...while also killing you with his feet.

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Awww, c'mon! Be sociable...

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I agree that it should be a close game

"I don't want the best team to win

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27 points will win this game

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Hard Hits?

Thanks for checking in

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We have good softball players?

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Eloquently spoken as usual Q

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