ACC Preview - Clemson - Norfolk Sports

As Clemson enters its first full season in ten years without Tommy Bowden at the helm, NSE has to wonder what exactly what the Tigers are going to bring to the table this year. Will they finally live up to their potential, or will this be another year that a group of seriously talented football players shows us how a program can recruit one blue chipper after the next and still not succeed??? Last year, Clemson started the season ranked at number nine and then proceeded to show the world how wrong the experts can be.

After getting the snot slapped out of them by Alabama in the first game of the season, Clemson never recovered. The Tigers spent the rest of 2008 showing the world that they could beat up on teams like South Carolina State and The Citadel, but would wilt like a hot house orchid in the face of real competition. The only serious team that Clemson was able to best last year was Boston College.

This season, Clemson needs to improve its consistency. 2009 is like many past years, Clemson is talent laden. I mean the cupboard is chocked full. Old Mother Hubbard could get a whole damned slew of bones out of the cabinet in Death Valley. Hopefully, the 2009 Tigers can avoid the downfall of past Clemson teams, which was....

Ya know, I can't really put my finger on the reason that a program that has been loaded with talent year after year hasn't been able to rise to the elite levels of college football. It seems like some key ingredient was always missing from the recipe. Call it heart. Call it bad breaks. Call it a lack of luck. Call it consistency. call it whatever you want to....I'm going with consistency for the purpose of this preview. Whatever it is that has been missing is what Coach Dabo Swinney, who replaced Bowden after he was fired last season needs to change.

Coach Swinney???

Swinney is a huge fan of the movie "Friday". He wanted to called Dabo, after the character from "Friday". There are reports that he has even taken to walking around campus with his eyes crossed and that he might be considering hiring Ice Cube as his special teams coach.

Oh…the guy from Friday was named Debo??? My bad. Never mind.

OK, so I made the thing about Coach Swinney wanting to be Debo up...It doesn't change the fact that inquiring minds want to know....What the hell kind of name is Dabo???

Look me in the eye. Dabo Swinney and Willy Korn discuss strategy.

Offense

Clemson will look to veteran running back CJ Spiller, who will be a full time back after spending the last few seasons splitting time with James Davis to provide some of the consistency that is so desperately needed in Death Valley. However, Spiller will need a better effort out of his offensive line in order to shine. The offensive line in 2008 was…..for lack of a better word, offensive.

CJ Spiller, back for 2009

Under center, there a controversy brewing. Willy Korn was the man last year that temporarily replaced Cullen Harper, but talented red shirt freshman Kyle Parker had a great spring. I think that Korn will be the guy at the outset of the season, but his position will be tenuous at best. At the first sign of trouble, expect to see Parker, because this is Clemson, after all. The Tigers might even go to a two quarterback system. I’d hate to see them go that way, because the Tiger's really need consistency to be their bench mark this year, if they are going to be successful. You can’t have consistency while playing two QB’s, just ask Frank Beamer or Bobby Bowden.

The wide outs are fast and talented. They are led by Senior Jacoby Ford, who will be playing somewhere on Sunday. If the Tigers brain trust can settle on one quarterback or the other, they very well might put up a ton of points through the air. The receivers and Spiller are a dangerous combination that could make the Tigers one of the nation’s premier offenses…. provided that there is consistent leadership and if the line can hold their own.

Defense

Returning seven starters and swamped with talent, the Clemson defense has the potential to be the class of the ACC. Last season, ends Ricky Sapp and Da'quan Bowers had trouble getting to opposing quarterbacks. That will have to change for the Tiger defense to live up to that potential.

Ricky Sapp introduces Virginia Tech's Tyrod Taylor to South Carolina fescue

Line backers Brandon Maye and Kavell Connor will continue to anchor a defense that only allowed 127 yards rushing per game in 2008. The size and physicality of the line backing corps remains a concern. As a group, they were pushed around in 2008 by mobile offensive linemen. I think that this year, Clemson will utilize more blitz and stunt packages to allow the backers to use their speed and range to their advantage.

The defensive secondary returns both starting corners, Chris Chancellor and Crezdon Butler, but is retooling at safety. Deandre McDaniel, a converted line backer that had 77 tackles in 2008 will be starting at strong safety, while Sadat Chambers will play at free safety. Look for this group to be physical and stingy. The trend in Death Valley has been to have a strong secondary and I don’t think that this group will be any different, provided that the safeties get ramped up quickly.

Strengths

Defensive line, CJ Spiller, line backer speed, receivers

Weaknesses

Offensive line, line backer physicality

Finish

Second in the Atlantic Division.

If I had to go on talent alone, I would pick Clemson to run away with the ACC this year. However, the way that the Tigers have played in the recent past has to figure into the equation. Until Clemson proves that they can show up and be competitive every Saturday, especially when they play the big boys, they have to be considered a second tier team in the ACC.