The way clemson is beating their weak ACC sisters I bet they think they are going to get a shot at the MNC! What a joke of a schedule they play. They actually think they are really something special. What a bunch of morons!

If a tree falls in the woods, and no one is there to see it, does it make a sound?

Many of them realize they are playing very weak opponents. I hear very little smack talk these days. They do believe they will beat us by and large, but some of them aren't so sure.

I'm still at 25-75 against.


Your defensive front is going to be a problem. I imagine you'll see many passes thrown quickly to the corners, as there will not be much time for any pockets to develop.

There are ways to create some time however, and your defensive backs will have to account for several pretty good receivers. This will be a problem for you guys, from what I've witnessed to date.


I'm not in the "our defense is getting better" camp, after watching us play Wake, Duke, and Maryland. They look the same to me......................which ain't saying much. We're still yielding chunks of yardage at times. This group isn't shutting down any team with a pulse.


I've watched this rivalry for decades. Some years the game is bigger than others. This will be a big one. Emotions will be high on both sides.

since we don't have anything else to play for I hope our team will come out fired up to whip some taters.

12thMann wrote: Many of them realize they are playing very weak opponents. I hear very little smack talk these days. They do believe they will beat us by and large, but some of them aren't so sure.

Have you been listening to WCCP lately because all I've heard is smack talk and the show hosts are leading the charge. Goodness after they beat-up on Duke you would've thought that they deserved to be ranked in the top 5 (actually someone did say that)

And Walt Dipstick still beats the drum that it's a better conference top-to-bottom than the SEC  He keeps saying to wait till after the bowl games  Nobody ever tells him that doesn't matter much because it's always SEC #5 team against the EZZ #2 or the SEC 8th place team against their 3rd or 4th team.

Heck, all that you need to know about that conference is that even if you win it you get to play the BIG EAST Champion in the Suck Bowl!

RoosterBooster wrote:

12thMann wrote: Many of them realize they are playing very weak opponents. I hear very little smack talk these days. They do believe they will beat us by and large, but some of them aren't so sure.

Have you been listening to WCCP lately because all I've heard is smack talk and the show hosts are leading the charge. Goodness after they beat-up on Duke you would've thought that they deserved to be ranked in the top 5 (actually someone did say that)

And Walt Dipstick still beats the drum that it's a better conference top-to-bottom than the SEC  He keeps saying to wait till after the bowl games  Nobody ever tells him that doesn't matter much because it's always SEC #5 team against the EZZ #2 or the SEC 8th place team against their 3rd or 4th team.

Heck, all that you need to know about that conference is that even if you win it you get to play the BIG EAST Champion in the Suck Bowl!

Almost every team Clemons beat had higher academic standards, this is something they can brag about.

I am concerned about our tackling abilities.

There are a lot of motivated seniors on our team that want to finish undefeated against the upstate team not to be named.  However, we have an option team with a co-socon crown already in their pocket that we have to play this week and I don't want to talk about the 12th game before the 11th.

So true...option teams can give you fits.

Purpletgr wrote: I'm still at 25-75 against.


Your defensive front is going to be a problem. I imagine you'll see many passes thrown quickly to the corners, as there will not be much time for any pockets to develop.

There are ways to create some time however, and your defensive backs will have to account for several pretty good receivers. This will be a problem for you guys, from what I've witnessed to date.


I'm not in the "our defense is getting better" camp, after watching us play Wake, Duke, and Maryland. They look the same to me......................which ain't saying much. We're still yielding chunks of yardage at times. This group isn't shutting down any team with a pulse.


I've watched this rivalry for decades. Some years the game is bigger than others. This will be a big one. Emotions will be high on both sides.

I also think it will come down to whether our front four can get pressure on Boyd. Teams that have had early success against us have thrown quick passes to beat the rush. Out D seems to make good adjustments and usually shut that stuff down in the second half. Tennessee had a great OL and gave their QB time to find receivers running free. I know Clemson's OL has played well lately, but I don't know to what extent it has been tested. It's just hard to evaluate it against Wake, Duke and Maryland. They may be good. We don't know, and they don't know.

I agree with Purple that this one will be emotionally charged. If things go as expected, it will be the first time both teams have been ranked in the top 10. Someone said today that it will be like throwing gasoline in a fire that is already out of control.

After Datboy's rant, our boys are going to be fired up, not to mention our coaches.  Thanks, Datboy!

"since we don't have anything else to play for..."

A win over Wofford and our game with Clempson will be the one game which puts Coach Spurrier one game over Rex Enright's 64 wins, giving Coach win #65. Pretty good incentive for a tayumed good coach.

I think our players, especially our seniors, will want to achieve that goal for him. It was one of many stated criterion made by Coach Spurrier the day he accepted our vacant coaching position.  

Go Gamecocks!!!

gacock

Both teams have plenty to play for.

jaxcock wrote: I am concerned about our tackling abilities.

A LOT of missed tackles against Arky! Too busy trying to knock them off their feet instead of wrapping them up!

Overall many Clemson fans are riding very high going into the NCSU game, as well they should.  Winning breeds confidence. 

Unfortunately they haven't played any defense with as much as a pulse.  Much like WVU learned early on, high powered finesse offense can only get you so far.

Both teams will be in the top 10 which maybe a first and Spurrier will be playing to break Enright's record.  Clemson will have the home crowd roaring and both teams will be playing for bragging rights for the next 365 days.  There is a whole on the line for both schools!


If we can rest Shaw a little bit against Wofford and come into the game healthy, I feel like we can score points against the tigers.  Our defense will have to contain Boyd and not let him have more than 2 seconds on average to let a play develop.  Our secondary can't be expected to cover their very Watkins and Hopkins forever.  That's my biggest concern.  If we can rattle Boyd early and get #7 in his head it should go a long way in disrupting their finesse hurry up offense.

All good points.


.....................then you consider putting the ball on the ground a couple of times, stupid penalties, and some genuine bone-head plays............................................. .................................................. .........and you just never know what might happen.

As much as I'd like to say we go into Dead Valley, whip them and make it 4 in a row, the truth is...

A lot of strengths and weaknesses on both teams. Clemson has a very good offense and we don't exactly have a bad one, but I'd give the edge to the taters. They have a weak defense that has shown a few promising moments but not too many. We have an extremely good front and a secondary that is showing improvement. Our defensive line is going to put pressure on Boyd so I'm sure our defensive coaching staff will be prepared for little dump off passes, QB option and short quick routes along with running plays (which I don't think they'll have much sucess with). The only time I'd be worried about the deep pass is if we can't get into the backfield. Watkins and Hopkins are players but if we hit them hard and early, will they start hearing foot steps (c'mon Swearinger and co.). If we can get into Boyds head early he'll make mistakes like he's been known to do. If we don't and let him gain confidence then it'll be a problem. Turnovers in this game will be huge for either side as this rivalry tends to cause big momentum swings.

Should be an interesting game.

I'm worried about this game. too.  For one thing, we haven't been a very good road team this year.  We were lucky to get out of Vandy with a win.  We played one of our worst halves of football all year at Kentucky.  We played our worst half (and game) all season at Florida.  We played half decent at LSU considering how tough that environment is, but we still lost to a team that we're better than.  We are better than LSU and Florida but lost to both of them on the road.  I suspect we are better than Clemson, but can we over come their home field advantage?  We'll find out in about 11 days.

But  I don't see the point in trying to belittle Clemson.  Even though they've played a weak schedule, they're still a pretty good team with an explosive offense and a lot of play makers.  If you're going to say Clemson is nothing, then us beating them won't prove to make us any better.  And if they're nothing and they beat Carolina, then what does that say about us?  I say give them their respect then when we go up there and beat them, it will give us another win over a quality opponent.   But we have not faced an offense like theirs all season.  And as Alabama found out at home last week, when you're not use to facing a dynamic offense, it can be a real challenge, even more so on the road.

clemson is a hurry up offense..and we have struggled with similar ones..

our offensive line has allowed suspect defenses way to many opportunities..

Boyd has very strong stats...

so of course we need to be very concerned and play lights out if we want to win..

the good news is that we can do just that..

but if the team that went to Gaineseville or Nashville shows up it might get ugly...