2012 Season Thread

[Ballboy534]

Figured we could make this thread about any general news pertaining to the team and not necessarily a specific game.

Looks like Charone Peake has taken over Sammy's spot for the first two games ahead of Adam Humphries. We may see a lot of Peake and Bryant the first two games (and the season in general); those guise have apparently gotten a lot better since last year

 

[Ballboy534]

And Giff Timothy looks like he'll be starting at RT on Saturday which is a huge improvement for the OL.

 

[Ballboy534]

Thoughts on the Auburn-Clemson game:

Positives:

- The lines looked better than I would have thought; the offensive line did a great job run blocking and were better than average against a good defensive line. The defensive line (especially the interior and Vic Beasley on the last drive ) played above average considering their experience

- Boyd looked his best even though he didn't set the stat sheet on fire. He completed 24 of 34 for 208 yards, 1 TD, and 1 INT on a poor pass that was deflected by our own TE into the arms of a linebacker. What impressed me most was his running; he looked extremely alert in the pocket and escaped three or sacks in the second half and converted several first downs with his legs, something we hardly saw last season.

- Ellington and Hopkins; aside from the dropped pass in the red zone, both these guys played to their potential and had record setting nights. Gonna be scary if anyone from the receiving corp steps up once Sammy comes back...

- Coaching on both sides was excellent; Venables made some great adjustments in both coverage and run defense that allowed Auburn yards, but no points. It was awesome to see the defense bow up in the red zone and only give up one touchdown the entire game. Swinney made some critical time outs that saved possessions and gave us the opportunity to score on two or three drives.

- Howard and Hot Rod looked good backing up Andre. I was worried about the depth and production from the running backs behind Ellington, but both these guys made a positive impact when they were in.

Negatives

- Execution and substitutions were rusty. Several dropped passes, missed assignments, and two blown coverages (one which led to the only Auburn touchdown) cannot keep happening.

- Dropped passes by Brandon Ford. He's a matchup nightmare in space as a tight end and we saw that the entire night as he was open a lot, but he has got to catch the ball. We left a lot of points on the field because of the dropped passes, and his three really stick out.

- Punting needs some work; Pinion has a great leg but must not be very consistent or accurate, because Benton was average at best. Maybe I got spoiled with having Zimmerman back there, but with the up-tempo offense Morris employs, we need to be able to flip field position with solid punting to give our defense more space.

- Tajh Boyds flipping helmet!!!! He needs to keep that lid on EVERY DAMNED PLAY. Even though Stoudt wasn't asked to do much, we simply cannot afford to risk Boyd having to sit out a critical third down or get hurt because of an equipment failure.

 

[Ballboy534]

Giff Timothy is likely out for this weekend secondary to lingering knee soreness. Shaq Anthony has been named starter at RT for the Ball State game. This couldn't have happened at a better time; we play Ball State then Furman, so hopefully Shaq and Joe Gore can get a lot of meaningful snaps while Timothy heals up.

 

[Ballboy534]

8 PM start time announced for the Clemson @ FSU game

 

[Edisto_Tiger]

The offense looked outstanding against Ball St. the first half. The 2's and 3's looked ok for the remainder of the game. Cole Stoudt has given me confidence that if anything were to happen to Tajh, he could step in and get the job done. I don't think he is near as mobile as Tajh, but a good QB none the less. The biggest surprise to me has been the play of the OL. They have done a good job considering the lack of reps they have. I hope to see these guys really gel and get nasty as the season progress's.
The D is suspect, which was no secret coming into the season, with a new DC and a raw D line. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and hoping Venables can work miracles here. Ball St. gashed us with a Fr. RB and for the second straight week we gave up 100 yds to a single RB. The secondary looked awful as well. I thought we might be "ok" here but instead we gave up big third down plays and committed too many PI penalties because we were beaten. Brewer and Hall just aren't getting it done. Brewer looks as lost as a a fart in a whirlwind out there. Again I'm hoping Venables can conjure up some magic and get these guys up to speed before we head to Tallahassee.

 

[Edisto_Tiger]

8 PM start time announced for the Clemson @ FSU game

and "gameday."

 

[Edisto_Tiger]

The offense looked outstanding against Ball St. the first half. The 2's and 3's looked ok for the remainder of the game. Cole Stoudt has given me confidence that if anything were to happen to Tajh, he could step in and get the job done. I don't think he is near as mobile as Tajh, but a good QB none the less. The biggest surprise to me has been the play of the OL. They have done a good job considering the lack of reps they have. I hope to see these guys really gel and get nasty as the season progress's.
The D is suspect, which was no secret coming into the season, with a new DC and a raw D line. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and hoping Venables can work miracles here. Ball St. gashed us with a Fr. RB and for the second straight week we gave up 100 yds to a single RB. The secondary looked awful as well. I thought we might be "ok" here but instead we gave up big third down plays and committed too many PI penalties because we were beaten. Brewer and Hall just aren't getting it done. Brewer looks as lost as a a fart in a whirlwind out there. Again I'm hoping Venables can conjure up some magic and get these guys up to speed before we head to Tallahassee.

A few more notes on the D:

We are 101st in the nation in rushing yards allowed per game at 216 and 115th in yards per carry at 5.6 (about the same number as last year). We have allowed 15 running plays of ten yards or more and 5 plays of 20 yards or more (only a handful of teams in all of college football like Fresno State and Tulane have given up more big plays). Oh and lets not just attribute this to the second and third team players--the starters on defense played well into the second half of the game.

 

[Ballboy534]

Starting LG David Beasley is a game time decision with his ankle; another opportunity for some of the younger guys to step up and get snaps while he's on the mend. Hopefully, anybody that's hurting sits this weekend to get ready for FSU.

 

[Ballboy534]

Here is a great article on Dabo as a person and coach: Dabo Swinney travels long road to restore Clemson to prominence - Yahoo! Sports

 

[uncfan103]

Happy Birthday to your quarterback, sirs. Good luck the rest of the year.

 

[Ballboy534]

Defense is still a mess, but they seemed to play better in the second half this week. Maybe putting Peters in as a starter will allow the safeties a little more leeway in their schemes and coverages

 

[Edisto_Tiger]

As bad as the D played, I did see a few moments of competence and a handful of good plays. There may be hope yet. The offense, once again, lit up the scoreboard. I hope we can get this D playing decent in the next few weeks.

 

[Edisto_Tiger]

nice!! I hope we can hang 60 on these mofo's. I'm sick of losing to that fucking cut blocking option offense!!!

 

[Ballboy534]

Surprising stats so far this season:

- Tajh Boyd has only been sacked 7 times in 5 games

- As a team, Clemson is averaging 200.6 rushing yards per game

- Andre Ellington leads the ACC with 515 rushing yards

- Nuke Hopkins leads the team 42 receptions for 604 yards and 6 TDs

- Only one DE has accounted for a sack this season (Vic Beasley) out of the seven we have as a team

- Between Spencer Benton and Bradley Pinion, we're averaging 41.42 yards per punt

 

[Edisto_Tiger]

Ballboy, are going to the Va Tech game? My cousin called and said he managed to get us a couple tickets. No parking pass though.

 

[Ballboy534]

:nonod: No, I'm heading up to Raleigh to hang out with my brothers; my middle brother is in a beer fest (he brewed two or three different kinds) so I'll be watching hammered on TV

 

[Edisto_Tiger]

I just read an article that said the Seniors voted to wear all purple Saturday against Va. Tech.

I fucking hate the purple! I hate the purple jersey, I hate the purple pants, and I certainly hate purple on purple!! WTF is up with these kids? Purple? Really? Fucking purple?

 

[Edisto_Tiger]

I just read an article that said the Seniors voted to wear all purple Saturday against Va. Tech.

I fucking hate the purple! I hate the purple jersey, I hate the purple pants, and I certainly hate purple on purple!! WTF is up with these kids? Purple? Really? Fucking purple?

OK, I just read where Dabo over ruled the seniors vote. Thank you coach!!

Uniform watch: Rumors were that we would be wearing purple (the full Barney purple), supposedly to honor the military and that the seniors voted on it. The latest is that Dabo has said no because it was becoming a distraction, so hopefully we remember that our mascot is the Tigers and not the Dinosaurs (my apologies for bringing up uniforms). Moral of the story is when purple is rumored make a big fuss and hopefully it will become a distraction and go away. Dabo said purple is on the table for sometime in the future but that he is a traditional guy and has wanted to re-instill the distinctiveness of the Clemson brand. Credit to Dabo in this department.

 

[Ballboy534]

OK, I just read where Dabo over ruled the seniors vote. Thank you coach!!

I saw that earlier in the week on TigerNet (actually heard it too during the Wednesday presser). You see that the game at Duke is at 7 PM?