Clemson game thread

[The Jackal]

Hard to draw any conclusions from this game but my takeaways are

The coaches really want Grainger to step up and take the QB job. He’s raw and had a deer in the headlights look at times but has major talent.

The OL was disappointing but gotta give props to that Clemson D. Maybe the best we’ve ever played.

The D was great for 80% of the game but at times looked gassed and confused. Wouldn’t be surprised to see Gilby take over at ILB from Perryman.

If you buy the hype, Furman is the only offensive line to play the greatest DL in history.

Grainger clearly has talent. Clemson throws a lot at you defensively. I do not just mean athletically, but scheme wise. Venables knows how to defense the option, and his front seven constantly shifts and changes gap responsibilities. Guys are not where the QB expects them to be.

That makes life tough, especially when you really don't have enough time to throw the ball.

[Mud chigger68]

All this and we didn't even get the equivalent of one month of Dabo's salary

[The Jackal]

Some good news - I'm watching NDSU play Cal Poly and the Bison don't look nearly as imposing after watching Clemson's defense.

[mathprofhiker]

Some good things that happened today (not an exhaustive list, and in no particular order):

1. We played hard for 60 minutes. I saw some fatigue in the 2nd half, but no quitting.
2. We learned we have 2 solid options at QB, both of which will improve their play over the course of the season. This was my #1 concern going into this season.
3. Game experience against the best opponent we will play all year BY FAR.
4. No major injuries that I can recall.
5. $$ to gas up the buses that will take our team to the remaining 10+ games this season.

The really important games start next week. Take a night to rest/recover, then start getting ready for Elon.

P.S. While I am going to Elon next week, I can't wait to walk into Paladin Stadium 2 weeks hence.

[stonemd]

Couple rules questions

Clemson guy called a fair catch on a punt after it bounced. Never seen that. If you can do that on kickoffs wouldn't that defeat the inside kick that bounces high ??

One of our qbs lost his helmet and we called a timeout and he was back in for the next play. Does a timeout remove the requirement you sit out a play??

[The Jackal]

A couple of other things. Of the FCS/low-level FCS schools playing this week, Furman had the toughest draw.

You look around, FAU was down 42-0 at the half to Oklahoma. Austin Peay - a borderline playoff team last season - is down 38-0 to UGA. Western KY lost 34-3 to Wisconsin.

Furman should have been able to go into the half down 13-0.

[apaladin]

A couple of other things. Of the FCS/low-level FCS schools playing this week, Furman had the toughest draw.

You look around, FAU was down 42-0 at the half to Oklahoma. Austin Peay - a borderline playoff team last season - is down 38-0 to UGA. Western KY lost 34-3 to Wisconsin.

Furman should have been able to go into the half down 13-0.

Ohio State put 77 on another power 5 team.

[AlValonge]

Well, overall it was about what I expected. There was some good and some bad. We hurt ourselves with the turnovers and our playcalling was not as innovative as I would have liked. I do understand that we didn't have much time to get the ball off and they were playing their starters well into the 3rd quarter. We have some good pieces in place and we just got gassed in the 2nd half, which happens against FBS opponents. Let's rest, rally, and BURN THE PHOENIX!

[AstroDin]

A few thoughts…

It was HOT!

McKoy is going to have a great year… let's remember he's a true sophomore.
Amir Trapp is going to be a great DB for Furman.
I'd look for Davonta Porter to be the starter at SPUR, he played very well, another sophomore.
We finally got to see Adrain Hope get some PT, Hope looked explosive coming off the corner making a great sack.
I thought Gilby played well too.

Clay made the comment we need to decide what our offensive identity is going to be? We ran way more option than I expected, and when we did most of the time we got yards. That's a good sign… Corey Watkins ran very well - he's a bigger version of Morehead. Just a guess - Morehead's not 100 percent.

I believe it was Grainger's first series, he made a few really good throws under pressure, I thought Bell (#88) showed some athletic skill against top-shelf talent.

I'm not the coach - so this isn't even worth a penny, I think Grainger is the man. His raw talent is impressive, the kid played one year of HS QB and today he threw a touchdown pass against Clemson. He did fumble, he was inconsistent, but he seems to be resilient. I'll add overall really impressed with the skill players - that was a tough matchup today.

And kudos to Deon Sanders on a great run…

[cavedweller2]

Hearing Deon Sanders’ name being called for an opponent once again in Death Valley surely gave some of the older faded orangerers flashback nightmares.

[JohnW]

Not much worse than last year's NC State game. Clemson is much better than State. We made more mistakes than I expected, ran a few of those deep shotgun hand offs that I detest, but a game effort against a vastly superior opponent. This Clemson team is elite. They're going to do this to a lot of people. That being said, it appears we escaped injury and we found out we have some freshmen that can really play. Impressed with Grainger, Bell, and Watkins.

[AstroDin]

Not much worse than last year's NC State game. Clemson is much better than State. We made more mistakes than I expected, ran a few of those deep shotgun hand offs that I detest, but a game effort against a vastly superior opponent. This Clemson team is elite. They're going to do this to a lot of people. That being said, it appears we escaped injury and we found out we have some freshmen that can really play. Impressed with Grainger, Bell, and Watkins.

Was thinking the same thing… as far as I can tell no serious injuries. I do have one question for someone that watched the game on television. Every time I decided to pay attention to our o-line play I saw Neely in at center. I also thought he made a key block to spring Sanders. Is that what happened and anyone have an idea how much Neely played?

[Flagman]

I’d like to know what the coaches saw in Clemson’s defensive scheme that gave them the idea that we could run up the middle.

[apaladin]

I’d like to know what the coaches saw in Clemson’s defensive scheme that gave them the idea that we could run up the middle.

Good question.

[Flagman]

I’d like to know what the coaches saw in Clemson’s defensive scheme that gave them the idea that we could run up the middle.

Good question.

I’ll ask it Thursday at the coach’s show.