Clemson/Boston College Prediction
A convincing win over cupcake Florida Atlantic was exactly what we needed last week. We got ahead quickly, ran a mostly vanilla gameplan, and got plenty of freshman legs into the mix. The stakes get higher this week.
Many people are already dismissing Boston College after they struggled to put away Central Michigan in their opener last Thursday night (they won 31-24). Not so fast. While the Eagles lost much of the talent they reaped last year on the offensive line (which pushed us around big-time), that doesn't mean they can't be dangerous. If Matt Ryan plays, our secondary had better be on its toes.
BC's style is to "dink and dunk," as Plyler would call it. They'll hit you with short, dump-off passes toward the sidelines, similar to the West Coast offense. They'll only bust the big play if the coaches are dead-sure it's going to work. But they practice patience on offense and work methodically down the field, like the little putter engine that plods along at a snail's pace, but keeps on going until it reaches its destination. I wasn't too impressed with their ground game last week, but again, we haven't seen all their possible formations.
Tommy Bowden has spoken again and again how our veteran O-line needs to dominate. That will be particularly critical in this game. I look for the starters to play more, and the coaches to sub much less. But giving Proctor the time he needs to sit in the pocket or hand off will be the key to maintaining rhythm and staying on the field. Have to play mistake-free football. That's why four turnovers against FAU was such a concern last week. We can get away with it against them because of superior talent. Boston College will make us pay if we turn the ball over.
In short, discipline, fundamentals, and some good-ol-fashioned hard nosed tackling are what Clemson has to do to win on Saturday. Losing Anthony Waters is huge, but I'm hoping that will merely give our reserve linebackers the extra fire they need to make a statement. Proctor will have a better game with the starters in longer, Davis & Merriweather will run the BC line breathless, and we walk out of Boston with a tough, grind-it-out victory and most importantly, an undefeated ACC record heading into Tallahassee next week. Here's hoping.
Clemson - 28
Boston College - 21
Many people are already dismissing Boston College after they struggled to put away Central Michigan in their opener last Thursday night (they won 31-24). Not so fast. While the Eagles lost much of the talent they reaped last year on the offensive line (which pushed us around big-time), that doesn't mean they can't be dangerous. If Matt Ryan plays, our secondary had better be on its toes.
BC's style is to "dink and dunk," as Plyler would call it. They'll hit you with short, dump-off passes toward the sidelines, similar to the West Coast offense. They'll only bust the big play if the coaches are dead-sure it's going to work. But they practice patience on offense and work methodically down the field, like the little putter engine that plods along at a snail's pace, but keeps on going until it reaches its destination. I wasn't too impressed with their ground game last week, but again, we haven't seen all their possible formations.
Tommy Bowden has spoken again and again how our veteran O-line needs to dominate. That will be particularly critical in this game. I look for the starters to play more, and the coaches to sub much less. But giving Proctor the time he needs to sit in the pocket or hand off will be the key to maintaining rhythm and staying on the field. Have to play mistake-free football. That's why four turnovers against FAU was such a concern last week. We can get away with it against them because of superior talent. Boston College will make us pay if we turn the ball over.
In short, discipline, fundamentals, and some good-ol-fashioned hard nosed tackling are what Clemson has to do to win on Saturday. Losing Anthony Waters is huge, but I'm hoping that will merely give our reserve linebackers the extra fire they need to make a statement. Proctor will have a better game with the starters in longer, Davis & Merriweather will run the BC line breathless, and we walk out of Boston with a tough, grind-it-out victory and most importantly, an undefeated ACC record heading into Tallahassee next week. Here's hoping.
Clemson - 28
Boston College - 21
posted by david @ 3:07 PM
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