Lazarus?

Clemson’s been a huge disappointment this year, and I have the feeling they are teetering on the edge of collapse. One or two more bumps and they may quite on the season. It happened last year to Tech late in the season.

I tuned into the Wake Forest / Clemson game last night with that in mind. An emotionally crushing defeat at the hands of Wake Forest could carry over to Clemson’s game against Tech.

That alone was enough to get me, a die hard Tech fan interested, but the match-up promised an interesting game. Wake is everything Clemson is not. Their well coached, fundamentally sound, mentally tough, and slow and not athletic. Clemson is still a very talented team with playmakers all over the field. They can break a big play at any moment.

The difference between the two teams was clear. Wake was methodical and efficient, reaching in their bag of trick plays at just the right moment to go deep. They missed on those trick plays, but the opportunity was there. On the other hand, Clemson’s offense had no rhythm. If the front line held up and gave Harper time, he could hit someone for a 15 to 20 yard completion, but it was all or nothing. They managed to only run for 21 yards.

The end score was much closer than it should have been. Wake moved up and down the field all night, only to bog down in the red zone. To complicate matters, Wake’s starting kicker was injured. Wake missed two field goals on the night, and while one of the misses was due to a bad hold, the other missed by a wide margin. Had the starting kicker been in the game, wake would have gone into have time with a 6 or 9 point lead.

Clemson didn’t look well coached. On third down and in the red zone, their team speed allowed them to close the angles and stop Wake, but given room to operate, Wake’s play calling and execution gashed Clemson for 5 to 8 yard gains all night. Wake was able to run straight up the middle against Clemson, which bodes well for Tech. They didn’t do it with tricks or misdirection; they just shoved Clemson out of the way. Clemson was effective when the blitzed and rushed Skinner’s passes, but Skinner is surprisingly athletic and was able to scramble for positive yards several times.

Clemson’s offense is just too cute; too many moving parts, too many strange quirks. On one play Harper faked a double end around before attempting a pass. It fooled no one because the fakes happened in such quick succession and were so poorly executed. Of course part of the problem was that Harper had to turn his back to the line of scrimmage to make the fakes and then turn back around to make the pass. That takes a long time. It forced him to rush, which through off his mechanics, and made the whole thing pointless.

What does all this mean for Tech?

Clemson’s defense is fast, but they are also weak up the middle, and undisciplined. So Dwyer has a good chance to gash them all day long. Their lack of discipline will probably keep them from really shutting down the option, but their team speed could keep tech from breaking anything really long, and they could capitalize on any loose footballs.

Clemson lost CJ Spiller to a pulled hamstring in the second quarter of the Wake game, and guards, Cory Lambert on the left, and Mason Cloy on the right were knocked out of the game. If those players are still missing when Clemson plays Tech, the Tiger’s offense may struggle. Though fellow running back James Davis and wide receiver Jacoby Ford can bust loose for big plays, clearly Spiller is the biggest threat to do so, and it looks like the Clemson offense is all big play or nothing. Tech’s defensive line has been dominant all year long, and there is no reason to believe they would be anything but against a beaten up Clemson offensive line. Tech should be able to bottle-up the running game and make Clemson one dimensional.

Tech has a chance to jump out to a lead, because I don’t think Clemson is going to be well prepared for this offense, and I think the Tigers might struggle to rally in the second half