Clemson vs. Charleston Southern picks: Tigers need to use home opener to get back on track |
Yes, after an offseason of expectations and hope, Monday night’s game became a clunker.
But we only get seven times a year to be in Death Valley, and this is one of those times. So get off the couch and enjoy it. This is what it’s all about, even if the opposition is underwhelming. NO. 25/21 CLEMSON (0-1, 0-1 ACC) vs. CHARLESTON SOUTHERN (1-0, 0-0 BIG SOUTH) WHEN: SATURDAY, SEPT. 9, 2:15 P.M. ET NOTABLE *Saturday has been designated as Football Reunion Day, as Clemson will honor members of the 1973, 1998, 2013 and 2018 squads. *Head Coach Dabo Swinney is attempting to win his 162nd career game to pull within three victories of College Football Hall of Famer Frank Howard’s career record at Clemson (165). *Clemson is attempting to avoid losing back-to-back games at home (including its 2022 home finale). Clemson has not lost consecutive contests at Memorial Stadium since 2008 in Tommy Bowden's final home game as head coach and Dabo Swinney's first home game as interim head coach. *Clemson is facing Charleston Southern for the first time in program history. *Clemson is facing a new opponent for the first time since facing Iowa State for the first time in the 2021 Cheez-It Bowl. *Clemson is facing its 108th different opponent in program history. Clemson is 65-38-4 all-time in its first meeting with its 107 existing opponents, including a 16-1 mark in first meetings since 2003. Clemson has won 18 of its last 20 games when making its all-time debut against a new opponent. *Clemson is attempting to improve to 38-0 against Football Championship Subdivision teams since the NCAA formed the division known previously as Division I-AA prior to the 1978 season. *Swinney is coaching against Charleston Southern Head Coach Gabe Giardina. Giardina served as a placekicker and holder on the 2000 Alabama Crimson Tide squad for which Swinney served as wide receivers coach. THE GAME There won’t be the usual breakdown for this game. The Buccaneers needed a late rally to survive against North Greenville by a 13-10 score last week. CSU has a good field goal kicker in Sam Babbush, who hit two last week. But the Bucs tallied just 252 total yards, struggled in the passing game (just 7-for-20) and had trouble running the football at times. Defensively, Charleston Southern recorded seven TFLs, two coming from Laron Davis and two coming from Darrius Bell. Malik Barnes and Bryce Llewellyn each recorded six solo stops. Davis also added an interception. But you get it, the Bucs are just a tad overmatched in this one, no matter how bad Clemson played last week. That’s why this game serves as a springboard of sorts for the rest of the season. Having success offensively won’t mean everything is fixed, simply because the competition isn’t what the Tigers will see later on, but it’s a start. Offensively, quarterback Cade Klubnik needs just to settle in and play his game. Stand in the pocket. Run when he needs to do. Wait for routes to develop. And use proper mechanics. Too many times last week, he threw off his back foot and panicked too early. Clemson can simply go out and hand it to Will Shipley and Phil Mafah and the backs and win the game, but this passing game needs work. The tight ends need to get more involved, and the wide receivers must show they can gain separation from somebody. Frankly, I would come out throwing it all over the field, especially down the field. Yes, a novel concept called the vertical passing game. Defensively, the Tigers were good for three quarters against Duke but finally wore down. What do you need to see here? Better angles to the football. Better tackling. Some intensity and fire? And most of all……attack. I understand why teams play three-man fronts and play the corners way off the line of scrimmage. But it would be nice to see the defense back on the attack. And on special teams….BT Potter struggled with kicks in the Orange Bowl, and Robert Gunn missed two last week. The punting game was fine, but field goals are another matter. It needs to be fixed before the return to the conference schedule. WHAT WILL HAPPEN Maybe there will be a bit of a hangover effect from the loss at Duke. Maybe playing on short rest means a slow start. But they will eventually get it going, and hopefully, the weather holds off enough to get the game in without any delays. FINAL SCORE: CLEMSON 56, CHARLESTON SOUTHERN 3 More TigerNet picks
WHERE: MEMORIAL STADIUM (81,500) CLEMSON, S.C.
TELEVISION: ACC Network (Drew Carter, Dustin Fox & Alex Chappell)
RADIO: Clemson Athletic Network (Don Munson, Tim Bourret, Reggie Merriweather)
SATELLITE RADIO: SiriusXM 104 or 193
Mickey Plyler - The Roar 105.5 morning show host - 56-0 Clemson
Nikki Hood - Staff writer - 42-10 Clemson
Brandon Rink - Associate editor - 52-3 Clemson
Tony Crumpton - Associate editor - 45-6 Clemson
Pigskin Prophet - 60-13 Clemson
Ryan Kantor - Contributing Writer - 41-10 Clemson
Ariana Pensy - TigerNet Intern - 21-14 Clemson
Merrell Mann - Photographer - 45-3 Clemson
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