Lotta good stuff to point out about last night

Oct 2, 2016, 5:05 PM

Just some random Sunday post-game thoughts in no particular order....

*We've been waiting for somebody, anybody to arrive off the edge and Christian Wilkins answered the call on the strongside...the problem there is, we already knew he was a great player, now we just know he can dominate at SDE as well as the "under" tackle...actually, he can dominate on the nose too, so you can probably safely pencil him in as a Top-5 draft pick next year since virtually every NFL team can use a dominant player at one of those three spots and the fact that he can play all of them just sorta adds to his value. But Clelin Ferrell finally showed up big-time last night on the weakside. He got at least two sacks last night, largely kept the edge sealed, and was in the backfield the entire game. Also saw plenty of signs of the same from Richard Yeargin...he wasn't as dominant as Ferrell and messed up setting the edge for at least one of Jackson's long scampers but his first step and explosion off the edge was clearly visible last night. We may have some speed rushers after all. If we can get Austin Bryant back up to speed the next couple weeks we may finally have the desired depth on the edge for a deep playoff run we simply did not have last year.

*Also noticed Albert Huggins playing, and playing well, and playing in key situations last night...which means Huggy Bear has probably officially forced his way into the rotation. That's a tall order considering the company he's keeping - no team in America has the kind of DT's Clemson does, no exaggeration - but his ability to penetrate, disrupt, and hold the point was clearly visible last night. In the past two Springs I'd seen him playing high and letting guys root him out and then roller-skate him; he was visibly playing with much better knee-bend last night. Huggy Bear's another NFL player for Clemson if he corrects his pad level and it looks like that light is on...again, which is very good for Clemson's DL depth, down the stretch.

*Speaking off guys maybe finally arriving, hey, did anybody else notice this kid called Deon Cain last night? After spending the offseason in the doghouse post-playoff suspension last year, and starting with more drops and gaffes than we care to remember, it is not an exaggeration to say his athleticism broke the game last night. On the first long TD pass - after Deshaun Watson had already missed several, yet again - Cain made the catch and TD by demonstrating he could jog backwards faster than his CB could run forwards and took the top off the D even on what was (cough) another underthrown ball. He snagged the second long TD with his hands, tracked it like a boss, and then made no mistake getting his body under the ball and securing the catch...it looked a little awkward but it might as well have been a training video for: "how a raw converted QB becomes an elite receiver." He caught 4 balls for 98 yards and 2 TD's and they were all big.

*MUCH better effort by the OL last night, and it very much suggests the problem was assignment soundness and not talent. Clemson's historically had a ton of problems with odd fronts but they pretty much clubbed Louisville over the head all night long...Wayne Gallman ran 16 times for 110 (6.9ypc), and Deshaun 14 for 91 (6.5ypc), and if you watched, Jay Guillermo and Tyrone Crowder were absolutely crushing people. Crowder, shockingly, was pulling a lot from the RG position, a wrinkle I haven't seen much before - usually the LG in Clemson's system is the pulling guard - and Guillermo might as well have been wearing a neon sign that said: "DRAFT ME". By far the most dominant display, and against a very good D, that I've seen from those two, and I can promise you it did wonders for their draft stock. Hearn still had his bad moments but he was actually moving around pretty well and getting into people, which is what you want from a guard of his size, and they were seemingly usually the right people too, which had been a problem the first few games.

*Two words: Jadar Johnson. Guy is like the Human Flyswatter and outplayed Josh Harvey-Clemons - everybody's favoriate pick for the #1 strong safety in the upcoming draft - badly last night. He was seemingly everywhere and is really showing his range and centerfielder skills. He doesn't hit like Jayron Kearse did - well, at least the way Kearse did the first half of last year - but he's still reasonably physical and if it's in his zip code, he's probably going to swat it. Best pure centerfielder I've seen in quite awhile at Clemson and he's getting better, and seemingly more confident, with every passing game. He claims he didn't get enough snaps last year...and from what I'm seeing he probably has a legit beef. JJ is shocking me with how good he's been, whatever.

*Good to see an Artavis Scott and Jordan Leggett sighting too. Scott showed up looking lively in the slot and was wide open for some deep balls that Deshaun Watson unfortunately missed, but he was abusing the guys trying to cover him last night and his late return was absolutely key and Clemson would likely not have made its comeback last night without it. Leggett's fumble on what was a near-certain TD was, uhm, not pretty, but he made amends by getting another long TD late...and again, he was beating the pundits' aforementioned favorite safety in the upcoming draft, Josh Harvey-Clemons, like a drum. We thought these guys were impact players, and it was nice to see them show it last night after being largely AWOL the first month of the season.

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> I would remind you we were also favored versus FSU in
> 2013. This feels like that.

Yup. Absolutely delighted to be wrong.

The thing I was looking at was our offense minus the deep ball. Watson, frankly, had been terrible on it...and opposing defenses were creeping further and further up, stuffing the run, keeping Watson bottled up inside the pocket...and daring us to go deep.

Until we showed the ability to do that, especially against a team like Louisville that was going to put up yards and points - we were hosed.

It didn't happen in the first quarter and I thought, once Louisville stopped looking deer-in-the-headlights because, well, Death Valley at night is a bit different than the old Big East - that the rout was going to be on. But Watson finally got going with that Cain-jogs-backwards pass that took the top off the D and then you could see his confidence climbing, and voila, he hit a bunch more over the course of the game. You could hear the mass exhalation of the Clemson offensive staff because if that doesn't happen, Clemson's season goes down the drain, and pretty much right there.

Trust me, nobody was whooping and hollering louder than me when Watson started going downtown with success, in that second quarter. We needed that, and in the worst way.

Lotta good stuff to point out about last night

loving JJs play this year. Huge difference maker IMO

much appreciated post...Thanks***

Yeah..thX Q since always my fav assessment FB expert.

quoz... Thoughts on Van Smith?***

Re: quoz... Thoughts on Van Smith?***

I fully believe Watson will start hitting his stride

better than this one earlier

Re: better than this one earlier

Outstanding Post

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