Our QB play will determine outcome..

[2four2Gamecock]

I think the main factor in this game will be whether or not Clemson can score on our D. I don't think they will. Our D line will embarrass Clemson. Clowney, Taylor, KQ will all have a big night.

[Flameout12]

Originally Posted by CU_Tigers4Life

Last week, Clemson faced a guy that will be an NFL QB in Glennon....fortunately. It was good preparation going into this game.........I expect Clemson to blitz him a lot early to see how he handles the pressure and hits.....If Clemson is able to affect his accuracy early and force bad plays, we can really do some serious damage...If Shaw is hot and makes plays it will be a barn burner....

USC will not stop our offense. You may slow it down but like another poster said, your goal should be to hold us under 30. If we have around 40 offensive plays in the first half with points in the 20's we are going to eat you up in the second half.

USC needs to hold Clemson to under 20 points in the first half with less than 30 offensive snaps.

Reasonable assessment.

[cofcgamecock9]

Originally Posted by snoopcockycock

sooooooooooooo, CofC, what you are saying is that if connor plays like he did in the tenn and arkie games, we will win. am i getting that right? because i think that is what you are saying, but just want to have you confirm this. i think you have been a little ambiguous about this point...

Haha, funny. Sorry if i have been ambiguous. I will make sure I say it at least 50 more times.

[cofcgamecock9]

Originally Posted by 2four2Gamecock

I think the main factor in this game will be whether or not Clemson can score on our D. I don't think they will. Our D line will embarrass Clemson. Clowney, Taylor, KQ will all have a big night.

Not gonna happen. I will eat my words if it does, but Clemson is going to get somewhere in the 30 points range. That is why I think QB play is critical. When you get into a high scoring game, you have to have good QB play unless you have Darren McFadden.

[CoverTwo]

The key to the game is the first and fourth quarter. USC has got to win both of them.

USC can not have a bunch of 3 and outs to start the game (this is what I fear the most) and let Clemson start tearing off a bunch of plays early. They need to set the tone and preferably score first. Something good has to happen to Connor Shaw early.

In the fourth, they need to be able to run the football and play keep away. Especially in a close game.

I know a lot of people disagree, but this game has a Clemson blowout written all over it. Why? Because USC's offense has NO room for error early on. It is an absolute must that they get off to a good start.

[CU_Tigers4Life]

Originally Posted by 2four2Gamecock

I think the main factor in this game will be whether or not Clemson can score on our D. I don't think they will. Our D line will embarrass Clemson. Clowney, Taylor, KQ will all have a big night.

For that to occur, your offense must score points....like in the over 30 point range.......Clemson's goal is a snap every 15 seconds or so..even a more talented team still has to be in the right position and make proper reads as Alabama's great Defense failed to do against Texas A&M.....If your offense cannot score points we will torch your defense in the second half when fatigue settles in.....

[Legalman72]

I'm just hoping Chad Morris is on his iPhone all night with his agent. A possibility!

[Dizzy01]

Shaw's problems yesterday were 90% oline issues and 10% his foot. The left side of the oline was bad in pass protection and couldn't open holes in the running game either. The oline has been getting worse the past few weeks and the coaches were compensating for it by having Shaw do more roll outs to get him out of the pocket. With the foot issue that didnt happen yesterday and Shaw's limited mobility really hurt him when the oline completely missed blocks or didn't hold blocks which was a consistent issue Saturday.

The game may come down to Shaw making plays but that completely contingent on the oline deciding they want to play.

[cofcgamecock9]

Originally Posted by CU_Tigers4Life

For that to occur, your offense must score points....like in the over 30 point range.......Clemson's goal is a snap every 15 seconds or so..even a more talented team still has to be in the right position and make proper reads as Alabama's great Defense failed to do against Texas A&M.....If your offense cannot score points we will torch your defense in the second half when fatigue settles in.....

The same could be said for Clemson's defense in the second half though. Look, man, I get what you are saying and I am the first to say that Clemson's offense is not a gimmick and it legit. But come on, here, it isn't like you are playing Duke or Wake Forest this weekend. You do realize that SC is a SEC team that has only lost three games in two seasons, right?? They do know how to play "big boy" football (not a reference to ACC or SEC, just saying this is a REAL team unlike Wake Forest, etc).

The reason I say that is because what is to say your defense will not be the one with all of the fatigue in the second half??? Your offensive style isn't exactly beneficial for your defense.

So you tell me what is to say that SC will not to be able to eat 9 minutes off the clock easily in the second half because your defense simply can't stop them?

You do know that it can go both ways, right??

[2four2Gamecock]

Originally Posted by cofcgamecock9

Not gonna happen. I will eat my words if it does, but Clemson is going to get somewhere in the 30 points range. That is why I think QB play is critical. When you get into a high scoring game, you have to have good QB play unless you have Darren McFadden.

Be on here Sunday morning. One of us will eat our words. I say our D line makes TB look like a deer in the headlights. You say they pump in 30+. You have a crow eating bet.

[2four2Gamecock]

Many will mistake Kenny for McFadden Saturday night too. Just another prediction

[Carolina4Life]

I have a feeling Shaw will cost us the game. If he's not mentally ready we will be in for a long night. This game is either going to be like the GA game or the FLA game. It all depends on who shows up! Not confident in our chances though..

[i29gman]

Originally Posted by CoverTwo

The key to the game is the first and fourth quarter. USC has got to win both of them.

USC can not have a bunch of 3 and outs to start the game (this is what I fear the most) and let Clemson start tearing off a bunch of plays early. They need to set the tone and preferably score first. Something good has to happen to Connor Shaw early.

In the fourth, they need to be able to run the football and play keep away. Especially in a close game.

I know a lot of people disagree, but this game has a Clemson blowout written all over it. Why? Because USC's offense has NO room for error early on. It is an absolute must that they get off to a good start.

I agree here to an extent. We start like we did against Georgia, we win pretty comfortably. We turn it over early or look dazed and confused with early timeouts and costly penalties, it's going to be a long night. And, as good as our defense is, our secondary has little room for error. This will be a big win if we can get it.

[Red Devil]

Originally Posted by robgusc76

Dissagree, I think our running game is the key to winning.

Which is related to o line play. We need to stop recruiting for the zone read rubbish. Personally I would like to have 5 big masses of muscle and fat that can give the QB about 5-7 seconds to throw.

[garnetpreacher]

Get a good pass rush from our front four, limit big plays, and make them kick field goals. We win. If we don't get a good consistent pass rush from our front four, we lose. Connor needs to play smart and be mobile enough to make Clemson respect his run threat.

[JQ94]

Originally Posted by Cock Kool-Aid

^Justice wasn't wide open on that play. There were a couple defenders in coverage right underneath him. Ace is not a QB and he would have had to throw a perfect pass to squeeze that ball in there. He did the safe thing by throwing it where the defense could not make a play.

Something I wish our ACTUAL QB would do more often...

[U-Dub Gamecock]

I do think the key is keeping Clemson's offense off the field... Anything under 30pts is good...

[henmania]

Originally Posted by CU_Tigers4Life

Last week, Clemson faced a guy that will be an NFL QB in Glennon....fortunately. It was good preparation going into this game.........I expect Clemson to blitz him a lot early to see how he handles the pressure and hits.....If Clemson is able to affect his accuracy early and force bad plays, we can really do some serious damage...If Shaw is hot and makes plays it will be a barn burner....

USC will not stop our offense. You may slow it down but like another poster said, your goal should be to hold us under 30. If we have around 40 offensive plays in the first half with points in the 20's we are going to eat you up in the second half.

USC needs to hold Clemson to under 20 points in the first half with less than 30 offensive snaps.

Just curious why the Clempson offense is so much more vaunted this year than last? We shut you guys down really well last year. I'm not seeing any new players out there. So why are you more confidant? Is it the injuries to Shaw and Clowney? I don't think this will be as high a scoring game as you think. I think the players get on the big stage and will make some mistakes. I seriously doubt the Tiggers get 20 in the first half.

[henmania]

Originally Posted by garnetpreacher

Get a good pass rush from our front four, limit big plays, and make them kick field goals. We win. If we don't get a good consistent pass rush from our front four, we lose. Connor needs to play smart and be mobile enough to make Clemson respect his run threat.

I bet the farmers will end up kicking a lot of FGs. We just need to match them with TDs. That is what we have done in the past 3 years. Hold them to FGs while we score TDS. I think Clempson will march up and down between the 20s but we need to hold them. We rattle Boyd and this will get easy quick. If we force a lot of 3 and outs like last year, their D will be in shambles by the 4th quarter.

[cofcgamecock9]

Originally Posted by U-Dub Gamecock

I do think the key is keeping Clemson's offense off the field... Anything under 30pts is good...

Clemson is going to score 30+ points IMO, but that doesn't mean we have to lose the game. That is why I think Shaw holds the key. We need the same type of offensive performance we had against UT and Ark and we will be fine. Shaw didn't look like a deer in headlights in those games. For whatever reason, he did what he needed to do and got rid of the ball.

I don't think this game is on the defense. Tenn scored 35 and we still won and Tyler Bray had about as good of a game as you could have.

I hope I am wrong, but I think if our thought is that we only win this game if we pretty much shut down Clemson's offense, then we lose.

4 ACC teams have scored over 30 points on Clemson this year. Why in the world would we think that our offense can't score on Clemson if Connor will just show up and play like he has plenty of times in the past??