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YOUR BALANCE
Sunday AM Thoughts....
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Sunday AM Thoughts....


Sep 23, 2018, 8:08 AM

Just some thoughts I had in no particular order....

1) I wonder: do we try to redshirt Kelly Bryant now? Keep in mind he still has that redshirt year available to him...and given his talent - which is substantial - his big-game experience (which now includes 18 starts and 16 wins), and his obvious class and character (he served as a mentor, not a competitor, to Trevor Lawrence, and never once showed any Attitude about it)...everybody is going to want him. He'd start tomorrow at Arkansas and Chad Morris. He'd start next year for Auburn if Jarrett Stidham moves along. He'd start for anybody who has a spread HUNH and needs a winning QB. Something to think about. It'd be undeniably nice to have Bryant available as a backup all year but...is it time to be fair to Kelly Bryant for all he has done, and preserve that last year of eligibility for him?

He plays even one snap more, in one more game...and that redshirt year is gone. Forever. Something to think about.

2) Clemson's offense is absolutely lethal when the deep component is there. So much for the notion there was something wrong with Clemson's OL...Lawrence backed GT's safeties out of the box, and voila, like magic, Etienne (11 carries, 122 yards, 11.1ypc) and Feaster (8 carries, 75 yards, 9.4ypc) ran wild. The team ran for 248 yards yesterday...and the QB's running accounted for just 16 yards of that. Crazy, huh? It definitely confirms the notion that Etienne and Feaster are big-hitting backs with big-play potential who just needed some space. Keep in mind Georgia Tech came into that game ranked #23 in total defense; that wasn't the Sisters of the Poor they were lighting up.

3) Justyn Ross! Tee Higgins! Wanna hear some crazy? They've only caught 15 passes all year between them...but Higgins is averaging 22.1 yards per grab and has two scores already, and Ross is averaging 28.7 yard per catch and has three. Those numbers aren't sustainable, obviously, but it does tell you those two can take the top off a defense...anytime, from anywhere on the field. I definitely smiled a big smile when at one point in the third I saw both guys on the field at the same time; the only problem was they were unfortunately fighting for the same ball, which they need to work out. But that is frightening for a defense. The Big Play is back at Clemson.

I don't know if this has fully settled in, yet, by the way: but we clearly have two first-round WR's on the field, with a guy who is clearly a first-round QB now throwing to them. Oh, we also still have The Always Open Hunter Renfrow. Also, Amari Rodgers is quietly doing what 2-receivers do at Clemson which is hoover up short passes and turn them into extra yards. Rodgers has 17 grabs for 191 (11.2 ypc) already, which is a full yard per grab better than Ray-Ray McCloud (who went in the 6th round to the NFL) was getting last year. (He's also on track to grab 70+ balls on the season if we last into the postseason as expected; McCloud got 49 catches last year.)

4) Speaking of defense, Clemson allowed just 203 total yards to GT yesterday...most of it in garbage time with PJ the Doucherocket keeping the bulk of his 1's in the game to try to make the score more respectable. Stay classy, Pawwwwl. That takes Clemson down to 251.8 yards per game given up...which would put Clemson's D at second nationally, I think, behind only Utah...who has only played three games. (I'm not 100% on this, the NCAA stat site hasn't updated yet, so don't hold my feet to the fire on this.) Considering we've emptied the bench against, well, everybody, and I think I saw a tuba player from the band stuffing an option pitch late in the fourth against GT yesterday, that ain't bad at all.

5) Speaking of which, how cool is it that Clemson somehow managed to play all 72 players on the travel squad in that road win against GT yesterday...and not a one of them is a bad player?

There is depth. And then there is just stupid, unreasonable, insane depth.


Anyhow, for all those worrying about Clemson's lack style points the first couple weeks...well, there was your answer. Have you not been watching Clemson the last few years? This is what Clemson does. They play everybody, which makes the Tigers start off clunky the first third of the season. Those players get experience, get coached up, and get better. By year's end it starts looking like an All-Star tag-team in WWE, just waves of top-echelon players casually trotting in and out, while the Gamecocks and whoever is unfortunate enough to draw us in the ACC Championship game are usually trying to jury-rig their banged-up rosters together with duct tape and bailing wire.

Anyhow. Just my own thoughts.

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Good recap


Sep 23, 2018, 8:15 AM

Agree with most of the points. The only thing I’d add to the KB situation is that I don’t think the coaches would go against Kelly’s wishes regarding the redshirt. If he decides that’s what he wants to do to try to be a 1 year rental next year and stay on the team knowing he only plays if Trevor gets hurt, I think Dabo would honor that.

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Re: Sunday AM Thoughts....


Sep 23, 2018, 8:19 AM

I thought all the backs looked good yesterday and the run blocking was good by a variety of OL combinations

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Re: Sunday AM Thoughts....


Sep 23, 2018, 8:19 AM

The t-net coaches have been screaming for your #2 all year. Just glad our real coaches finally allowed the situation to reveal itself.

But I learned long ago that one should not force things, but to allow them to take a normal progression, and it will all work itself out just fine. Dabo and our coaches are very methodical, and I'm ALL IN with their methods. We're good.

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Nice summary except..


Sep 23, 2018, 8:44 AM

did you really want Paul Johnson to pull his first team when down big? Why would a coach do that? There is no concession rule on either side.

I read on the GT message board where their fans were upset that Dabo put Trevor Lawrence back in in the 4th quarter for a TD drive(running up the score). But were they mad that Dabo played the second and third string for the majority of the second half?

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"When I die, I want to go peacefully like my Grandfather did, in his sleep -- not screaming, like the passengers in his car."

"I don't suffer from insanity. I enjoy every minute of it."


Re: Nice summary except..


Sep 23, 2018, 8:53 AM

I could hear the GT fans yelling to "Put KB back in" after TL scored 2-3 times on them. That was odd hearing that.

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I heard that too. I couldn’t help but laugh.***


Sep 23, 2018, 10:12 AM



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Re: Nice summary except..


Sep 23, 2018, 9:16 AM [ in reply to Nice summary except.. ]

At the time Dabo put TL back in, we were only up 3 scores with time left in the 4th qtr and GT playing full balls to catch up. Our O without TL was tripping over it’s own d!ck. Dabo did what he should have done, put out the fire, RIGHT NOW.

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Re: Sunday AM Thoughts....


Sep 23, 2018, 8:57 AM

Good summary. However, KB has already used his redshirt year.

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Re: Sunday AM Thoughts....


Sep 23, 2018, 9:03 AM


Good summary. However, KB has already used his redshirt year.



No he has not. He played as a true freshman in 2015...which I honestly thought was a bit of a waste, given how good Nick Schuessler looked in relief. The new NCAA rule also allows guys who have played as many as four games (which he's at right now) to use that redshirt.

He can still shut it down in 2018 and have that full year of eligibility in 2019. Dunno if he will or not...but he can.

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Re: Sunday AM Thoughts....


Sep 23, 2018, 9:12 AM

Great not random thoughts you have. Loved hearing sanity and good analysis. One additional comment on number 1. This team is some focused on team, I doubt KB even considers a redshirt. He’s will want a natty even if he only plays to keep defenses thinking.

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Re: Sunday AM Thoughts....


Sep 24, 2018, 2:24 PM [ in reply to Re: Sunday AM Thoughts.... ]

I don't think so.

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Re: Sunday AM Thoughts....


Sep 23, 2018, 9:16 AM

Great thoughts as always. For those of us who have followed Clemson football since the early 1970s, this really is a great time. Across-the-board great talent and great coaching and a great culture.

Anyone who wonders why it is such a great idea to play everybody and to give everyone not only game experience but keep them engaged with the football team, look no further than Florida schools. Imagine how life would’ve been different for urban Meyer and the University of Florida if Cam Newton would’ve gotten meaningful snaps as a freshman instead of being disengaged from the team. They were so concerned with building up a Heisman case for Tim Tebow that Cam had no playing time - he had nothing to do but get in trouble. Florida would’ve still won as many games if not more if they would’ve played more players. If Florida State would’ve played and engaged Jameis Winston as a freshman, instilled discipline and teamwork, maybe his collision course with trouble could have been altered. Redshirt year to 5 star talent didn’t mature him, he just got into and stayed into trouble.

This Clemson era is awesome. It is like the arrival of Fuller and Butler, only much more complete and much more embraced by the entire University community.

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Re: Sunday AM Thoughts....


Sep 23, 2018, 9:54 AM

Who knows how things may have been different for specific players like Newton and Winston if they had been handled differently by the coaches. But we do know that Dabo's strategy of allowing many players meaningful snaps early and often has been paying dividends for us. I'm not sure of the exact number but we have played somewhere like 12-15 true freshman this year already out of a small class of only 18. With the improvement in the level of development of high school players this is a good strategy for most high talented players outside of possibly OL and DT given that these positions typically need to add weight (with notable exceptions like Dex for example).


This will no doubt keep the players highly engaged throughout their first year in college, but it also allows the incredible depth that we have been accustomed to the past few years. There's no denying that our secondary depth hasn't been as great as other position groups going back to the early departures of TJ Green and Jayron Kearse and then Van Smith last year, but outside of there our depth is unprecedented from what I can remember. Just think back to the previous teams pre-Venables and even as late as 2015 when our starting LB's would have to stay on the field almost every play. We now have a legitimate 3 deep with a 5 star junior in Shaq Smith all the way at 3rd string.


The depth along our DL cannot be adequately described without a thesaurus and a lot of time, especially at DE. It was only two years ago when CW42 had to switch to DE after Bryant's injury due to limited depth. It's a brand new world in a short two years. There's no denying that our staring 4 along the DL are the best at this point in their careers, but I don't feel concern when Huggins, Pinckney, Rudolph, Foster, Thomas, etc. come in to spell them. I think Huggins will end up being drafted by the NFL this year, and in Justin Foster's limited playing time I've always been impressed by his potential.


Also, the way that we rotate our OL even in close games (especially in home games) is something I cannot remember seeing at any other school outside of Clemson. The playing time that guys like Simpson, Stewart, Pollard and Anchrum got last year allowed us to replace both our guards and have an experienced right tackle with Pollard being a backup capable of playing both positions.

To put it more succinctly, there's no doubt that the additional experience gained by our backups will be invaluable if God forbid we were to lose starters for a extended period due to injury.

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why would KB redshirt,TL has 3 yrs. left.If anything he


Sep 23, 2018, 9:17 AM

should transfer

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That would be the point of him redshirting.


Sep 23, 2018, 9:25 AM

So that he could transfer elsewhere next year.

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Proverbs 16:18


Excellent Analyis


Sep 23, 2018, 9:21 AM

- The Kelly Bryant situation is clearly a difficult one. Ihe redshirting is something that he would want to do then of course that's an option that should be available to him. Unfortunately though, even if he is a full-time backup QB, we still need him there for depth since we lost three QB's to transfer in the spring. His attitude has been tremendous given then situation, and he is still am important part of our team in whatever role he plays.



= We are now 4th in total defense behind Utah, Miami, and Michigan. Still very impressive considering the 500 yards of offense we gave up to the Aggies. I think the most impressive defensive stat is that we are 2nd nationally in sacks after playing 3 of 4 games against some type of an option based offense. We sacked the GT QB's more (4) than completions allowed (3).


- Good points about how the downfield passing game opens up the running game. Often when I see people complaining about playcalling I notice that they are unfamiliar with the RPO aspects of our offense that allow the QB to effectively choose not to run the ball in favor of a quick WR screen or a QB run b/c of the number of defenders in the box present to stop the run. A more effective downfield passing game not only makes running easier, but it also leads to more runs to our RB's overall on our RPO plays.

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Re: Sunday AM Thoughts....


Sep 23, 2018, 9:22 AM

#1 I think whatever KB decides to do, he's earned it.

#2 I was so happy with the offensive performance yesterday. We looked like an elite offense for the first time in a season and a half. If we can continue to play like that the rankings won't matter. The sorry ACC won't matter. What is Jim Mora thinking? he must have only watched the first quarter of our game.

GT is not a great defense but it doesn't take a genius to see the transformation in the offense yesterday. We took some pressure off the OL and they looked awesome! I was shocked how easily we were running the ball once we backed the defense out of the box.

We should be striking fear into defenses for the rest of the year. Finally we can apply pressure to the other team instead of being under pressure the whole game.

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some responses and add-ons


Sep 23, 2018, 9:32 AM

1. My guess is no, but I think the staff will do whatever Kelly wants.
2. Agree the offense will take off now. I still think we have some OL issues. Soft. GT is not much of a measuring stick.
3. With TL, we are extremely explosive. We can score from anywhere at anytime. Huge potential.
4. D is fine. Fields and Muse worry me every play though.
5. Very cool! That is what makes Clemson special.

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Re: Sunday AM Thoughts....


Sep 23, 2018, 9:40 AM

Dude, you are the man, love reading your post...thanx Go Tigers!!

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Re: Sunday AM Thoughts....


Sep 23, 2018, 9:43 AM

Agree with most that let KB make the decision but imo we still need kb. Ga Tech not a good measure for our O. Defense is suspect. Kb always seems to take time to get into the game. Who knows what would have happened at aTm had we not had him.

I think TL still has a lot to learn in the offense. Just see some games this year where we probably need kb. But I think the coaches will get it right. Kelly is too much a part of Clemson to go somewhere else. What would that accomplish? Not going to get him closer to the nfl. Needs to stay here and engaged and help us and help TL.

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Re: Sunday AM Thoughts....


Sep 23, 2018, 10:07 AM

Did you notice how well we started running the ball after TLs first 2 td throws? It really opened up the running game. We won't get 10 ypc against an elite D. But if we can get 5 we will be really tough to get off the field.

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for those (Jim Mora) doubting the freshman QB thing


Sep 23, 2018, 9:46 AM

Clemson does not have a hostile away game left. TAMU was it.

Wake, BC, and FSU. Most years FSU would be hostile, but I'm not sure that stadium will be half-filled when Clemson comes to town.

ACC Championship will be 80% Clemson, and the playoff games will be 50/50 at worst.

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Re: Sunday AM Thoughts....


Sep 24, 2018, 10:12 AM

Thanks, quoezzel, nice points.

It does feel like Saturday was a bit of a coming-out party for our offense. That was great to see.

I still have some concern at our secondary depth. Our corners and safety's played some really good defense Saturday in man-coverage but there weren't many of those instances. I just wonder if they will perform that well against a team that isn't running the triple option and actually passes the ball more than 10 times a game. Time will tell here, but I'm feeling really good about what I'm seeing.

What a great time to be a Tiger!

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Yes...we are about to play 3 teams in a row that can throw it


Sep 24, 2018, 3:34 PM

all over the yard and play fast.
But our D-line is going to put those offenses in some tough situations that will hopefully lead to turnovers.
Playing fast and the no huddle might negate certain things, but it can be a problem when you start turning it over or punting after a sack on 3rd and long.
The secondary will definitely be tested...yet will also now have an opportunity for some picks.
And I think the next few teams may actually try to throw at Mullen...should be fun to watch.

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I agree with all of it


Sep 24, 2018, 10:18 AM

but for the final paragraph I, sir, give you a standing ovation. I have been saying this to anyone who will listen.

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Re: I agree with all of it


Sep 24, 2018, 3:57 PM

Good post. KB will still get playing time i believe as like any position you can have an injury or some type of setback and the experience he brings will be valuable. He also needs to play some to keep sharp as possible.

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I think you are overreacting***


Sep 24, 2018, 3:50 PM



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