|
Replies: 12
| visibility 2,193
|
Varsity [206]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 203
Joined: 12/5/98
|
Sapakoff: A never too early look at 2016 for Clemson, USC
Jan 18, 2016, 10:42 AM
|
|
Sapakoff: A never too early look at 2016 for Clemson, USC
Jan 16 2016 6:14 pm
Coach Dabo Swinney’s Clemson Tigers will be favored to win the ACC Championship again as long as quarterback Deshaun Watson stays healthy. Gwinn Davis/SC News Exchange
Coach Dabo Swinney’s Clemson Tigers will be favored to win the ACC Championship again as long as quarterback Deshaun Watson stays healthy. Gwinn Davis/SC News Exchange
The 2016 college football season is just around the basketball corner. The dog days of February thaw out into spring practice. Only six more months until SEC Media Days and ACC Kickoff talkfests featuring such old, familiar newcomers as Will Muschamp and Mark Richt.
A sneak peek at what’s ahead for Clemson and South Carolina:
Clemson
2015 record: 14-1
Overview: The bar is College Football Playoff-high as long as Deshaun Watson wears orange. Add wide receivers Mike Williams (injured) and Deon Cain (suspended) and bluechip running back prospect Tavien Feaster to the returning skill-position cast that scored 40 points on Alabama in the national championship game. Defense? Early NFL defections create opportunities, to put it mildly. Average Clemson score next fall: 56-38. Or way higher vs. Baylor in a playoff game.
Gene Sapakoff Columnist
Gene Sapakoff
Email
@sapakoff
Five toughest games in 2016: 1. At Florida State, 2. Louisville, 3. At Auburn, 4. Pittsburgh, 5. At Georgia Tech.
Goal: Tampa or bust.
Theme: Keep Deshaun Watson healthy until the Heisman Trophy show and beyond.
Strength: More skill-position talent than any team in the country.
Weakness: Depth on defense (a larger talent drop-off than from 2014 to 2015).
Impact newcomer: Running back Tavien Feaster (Spartanburg High School) is a C.J. Spiller, track star-type who can catch.
Breakout candidate: Christian Wilkins (4½ tackles for loss as a freshman) is the next big thing on the defensive line, and he caught a 31-yard pass in the Orange Bowl on a fake punt play.
Comeback player: Just in time, hybrid linebacker/safety Korrin Wiggins returns after missing the 2015 season with a torn ACL.
Best case: Clemson gets off to a roaring start at Auburn and wins in Tallahassee for just the second time since 1989 on the way to another College Football Playoff game.
Worst case: Injuries add up. Or something else happens that influences a loss that costs a playoff spot.
2016 regular-season record: 12-0.
South Carolina
2015 record: 3-8
Overview: The Will Muschamp Era begins with mixed reviews on the hire, but Muschamp and almost every member of his staff are hard-nosed recruiters and this program needs players. While the Gamecocks lose playmakers Pharoh Cooper, Brandon Wilds and Jerrell Adams, the schedule is friendlier, including home games against East Carolina, UMass and Western Carolina.
Five toughest games in 2016: 1. At Clemson, 2. At Florida, 3. Georgia, 4. Tennessee, 5. At Mississippi State.
Goal: Get to a bowl game, any bowl game.
Theme: It can’t get worse.
Strength: Senior linebackers Skai Moore and Jonathan Walton are already good and will improve with the tutelage of Muschamp and Coleman Hutzler, their new stickler position coach.
Weakness: No quarterback on the roster has more than one win as a starter.
Impact newcomer: It’s hard to measure high school talent against the unforgiving SEC curve but freshman quarterback Brandon McIlwain has demonstrated major poise on big-time stages — in elite showcase baseball tournaments with millions of dollars riding on his performances. That has to help with football character.
Breakout candidate: If it’s not skilled but inconsistent running back David Williams, the Gamecocks might be in trouble.
Comeback player: Marquavius Lewis came from junior college as a pass rush specialist but finished with three sacks. The combo of Muschamp, defensive coordinator Travaris Robinson and defensive line coach Lance Thompson will find ways to do better.
Best case: A young team wins twice on the road in September and starts 3-1. McIlwain is the real deal. The defense flies around the ball as Muschamp teams do at their best. Fans get excited.
Worst case: An opening night loss at Vanderbilt delays progress. A quarterback shuffle ensues. The likes of Kentucky and Missouri are better than expected.
2016 regular-season record: 6-6.
Follow Gene Sapakoff on Twitter @sapakoff
|
|
|
|
 |
Orange Blooded [3968]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 3228
Joined: 10/20/11
|
#### 6-6, that's pretty generous***
Jan 18, 2016, 10:46 AM
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
CU Medallion [64519]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 88961
Joined: 3/27/01
|
5 - 7 at best***
Jan 18, 2016, 10:48 AM
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Orange Blooded [4982]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 5809
Joined: 8/7/01
|
|
|
|
|
|
All-TigerNet [13036]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 22353
Joined: 4/24/04
|
6-6 looks like best case for them given what little talent they have.
Jan 18, 2016, 11:14 AM
[ in reply to #### 6-6, that's pretty generous*** ] |
|
UMass and western Carolina are wins, but they arent a lock to win anything else. Probably a favorite vs ECU, but Vandy, Kentucky, and mizzou are probably coin flips and 2/3 are on the road. Any other win would be some degree of an upset.
5-7ish maybe.
|
|
|
|
|
|
CU Medallion [64519]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 88961
Joined: 3/27/01
|
Translation....
Jan 18, 2016, 10:48 AM
|
|
$CU continues to drag-down Clemson's Strength of Schedule rating.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Legend [15212]
TigerPulse: 98%
Posts: 18245
Joined: 6/10/09
|
Not a chance SCar can win more than 5 games.
Jan 18, 2016, 10:48 AM
|
|
6-6 would be a miracle.
|
|
|
|
|
|
CU Medallion [64519]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 88961
Joined: 3/27/01
|
Even with an easier schedule, 6 wins is a long shot***
Jan 18, 2016, 10:50 AM
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Orange Blooded [2659]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 3113
Joined: 1/26/12
|
in summary for USuCk .........
Jan 18, 2016, 11:31 AM
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
110%er [5701]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 7026
Joined: 8/3/05
|
I neither understand this statement or what it has to do ...
Jan 18, 2016, 12:36 PM
|
|
... with football:
"... in elite showcase baseball tournaments with millions of dollars riding on his performances."
Someone please explain.
|
|
|
|
|
|
All-In [30593]
TigerPulse: 99%
Posts: 28685
Joined: 8/17/05
|
pretty sure he was TRYING to find something good
Jan 18, 2016, 12:41 PM
|
|
to say
|
|
|
|
|
|
CU Medallion [64519]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 88961
Joined: 3/27/01
|
It means....
Jan 18, 2016, 1:17 PM
[ in reply to I neither understand this statement or what it has to do ... ] |
|
he's a much better baseball prospect than he is a QB prospect.
Clemson will have four (4) QB's on its roster all of whom are rated higher than the guy $CU fans are already proclaiming as their next savior.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Legend [15863]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 28958
Joined: 9/18/01
|
Theme: It can’t get worse.
Jan 18, 2016, 12:44 PM
|
|
true
#sunshine
|
|
|
|
|
|
Replies: 12
| visibility 2,193
|
|
|
50
