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YOUR BALANCE
Is ND the best D we have played?
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Is ND the best D we have played?


Dec 28, 2018, 8:41 AM

I know their Secondary is highly rated by the media. Love and Pride are a great CB duo but they are short. They have 2 dang good backers and I have heard their DL is solid. I have not watched many of their games this year so just wondering what you guys think?

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Re: Is ND the best D we have played?


Dec 28, 2018, 8:54 AM

Watched their home game against Pitt and noticed that there DB's and LB's are slow to the perimeter, just where we like to operate.
I'm sure we'll mix up a lot of wheel routes, jet sweeps and skinny posts just to keep them playing honest D. Then of course the middle opens up for rushing plays and passes to the best slot receiver in CFB.
Their D be worn out at the end of the 1st half and then middle of the 3rd.

Clemson is so versatile and well balanced that D Coordinators will not be lucky every play.

https://youtu.be/0q9VANumeqE

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but if i'm an ND fan i rest assured that Clemson secondary


Dec 28, 2018, 11:27 AM

is undisciplined and can't cover with any consistency. I would say run play action, mis direction alot and leak out over the middle for easy chunk yards. I would say Clemsons safety play is spotty and can tend to get out of sorts and confused. I would also say that at any moment we can bust a big play on this team throwing the ball over the middle and get back in the game. And if we do it often then by the 2nd half we start wearing down that pass rush.

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alright i'm done talking up ND,just know it'll be a dogfight


Dec 28, 2018, 11:32 AM

go tigers!!!

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Re: Is ND the best D we have played?


Dec 28, 2018, 8:57 AM

Based on S&P+ rankings:

Clemson has the #1 D, ND has the #4 D and BC is the best D we have played at #28.

https://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/ncaadef

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no doubt about it...i don't know where all this


Dec 28, 2018, 9:55 PM

downplaying of Notre Dame has come from. Clemson hasn't played anyone all year. Which means our defensive stats have been a bit over-enhanced b/c we played a bunch of scrubs this year. (not our fault by the way but is something to remember) Texas Am was the best team we faced when it was all said and done and they were an 8-4 team.

This will be Trevor's biggest test all year and to beat them he will have to play sound, take some chances when necessary, but throw the ball away when there's nothing there the majority of the time. Notre Dame has been disrespected the entire time they've been in the top 4 and we've been praised the entire time. I never like that scenario. Book is going to take shots down the field, he plays better when he's on the run, we better contain him. And for goodness sakes can our secondary finally lock someone down. Do we have to let people run scot free? They use alot of tight end release plays and that has been our achilles heel for the past 5 years.

All that said... I don't see how this isn't a tight game that will have to be won by our experience in these playoffs. Good for us we have seniors that have been there and done that. We will need a big play in the 4th qtr. to pull us out of the hole. I think Notre Dame leads this game the majority of the game but we finally get our crap together in the 4th and will need a big play from a RB or a big pass play to get us back in it.

Clemson 35 Notre Dame 31

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Re: no doubt about it...i don't know where all this


Dec 28, 2018, 9:34 AM

Ok... but who has ND played???

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Michigan is their best win. That was with


Dec 28, 2018, 9:42 AM

Wimbush starting, so it made Michigan look better than they are.

Other than them, their schedule is weak. Not their fault, just as it was not our fault our schedule was soft.

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The definition of awesome!


a full power 5 schedule and a top 10 michigan team


Dec 28, 2018, 11:02 AM [ in reply to Re: no doubt about it...i don't know where all this ]

i'm not saying notre dame is the best team in cfp history but they are the best team we have faced. And if you'll look back at the Texas AM, Syracuse, BC, Duke games we had some shaky parts and could've had problems if the other team had equal offensive talent. I think ND has the best offense/defense that we've faced.

The fans are the one's i'm worried about. B/c of this narrative that Notre Dame is inferior, should we get beat (and thats a real possibility) then we'll have a ton of people who are taken off guard and blindsided.

Bottom line, top to bottom, Clemson has the better team as a whole. But you gotta execute. Need our playmakers to make the plays that are there. No dropped balls or whiffed tackles or shanked punts. If both teams play to their standard we should be a td better than them.

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yeah to hear some talk we are about to


Dec 28, 2018, 11:35 AM

play louisville a second time...any team that wins 10 games against power five teams is a good team you dont just do that by being a bad team

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Re: no doubt about it...i don't know where all this


Dec 28, 2018, 11:03 AM [ in reply to no doubt about it...i don't know where all this ]

C'mon man , you really think with 3 weeks of prep that ND will score 31 on our defense ?
I think we hold them at or below 20 .

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DB23


well we lost a huge piece of our defensive line this week


Dec 28, 2018, 11:19 AM

and our secondary has routinely been gashed by the formidable offenses we played this year. Unless we have figured out how to cover the middle, which we haven't all year, then yes i think ND will put up yards and points on us.

The reason DEX is a huge loss is because he wears down offensive lines b/c he's so big and lumbering. Which by the 4th qtr we are able to get constant pressure. And if we don't get constant pressure then our secondary is not good enough to take care of themselves...at least i haven't seen it this year yet.Which presents some opportunities to a good QB.

WE'll need our ends to have outstanding games and get sacks throughout.I know we can do it and i'm hoping for our secondary to finally be dominant like i thought they were leading into the season. But they gotta be dialed in and not play out of position like they tend to do.

TL and company are going to score a decent amount we just gotta hope our defense eliminates the mental lapses.

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I think overall, yes.***


Dec 28, 2018, 9:07 AM



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Re: Is ND the best D we have played?


Dec 28, 2018, 9:08 AM

Between them and A&M obviously.

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Re: Is ND the best D we have played?


Dec 28, 2018, 11:51 AM

I may be in the minority but I didn't think A&M was as good as we made them out to be. Mond got in a zone but he got lucky not getting picked off 4 times and got bailed out on several passes by his WR's. Even still he got hit constantly and was running for his life also. With that said they did some things that exposed our back 7.

Even with no real direction off the offense...switching QB's on and off I feel is what kept the game close and ultimately stalled us out long enough for them to come back. I feel like if we played them again it would not be close and we win by 3 scores.


Of course ND will be the best team we faced...they are undefeated and in the #### playoffs.... just like we will be the best team they played.

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ND Defense is ranked higher......


Dec 28, 2018, 9:13 AM

.....than any team we have played this year.

Our ACC competition looks weak in the postseason. Looking backward it seems that our toughest games were against TAMU, Syracuse and South Carolina. All those teams gave us a run for our money because they could and did score against our defense.

I think our defense and our offense will be tested and that ND is the best team we've played this year. We played 'Cuse and SC in Death Valley. I hope we play well. I suspect and hope that we will.

I think ND will cover the spread. TL needs to have a good game to give us the margin we need to win.

Go Tigers!!

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The ACC teams we played are 2-1 in bowl games so far


Dec 28, 2018, 9:22 AM

I get the acc sucks stance that everyone likes to take, but 2-1 is about as good as can be expected.

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And BC was up early


Dec 28, 2018, 9:32 AM

As an underdog against Boise. Miami is a mess but I think everyone knew that going in (I had Wisco at my highest confidence level left in Bowl PickEm) but Duke showed well and Wake had a gutty victory. They were both against AAC teams so take that with a grain of salt.

ND will be our biggest test but the teams that have given us trouble offensively all have speed. I don’t think ND matches up to A&M or the Coots in that regard. They’re built like a B1G team and I like our chances in that matchup

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Re: ND Defense is ranked higher......


Dec 28, 2018, 9:27 AM [ in reply to ND Defense is ranked higher...... ]

Don't forget that the USuC game we were without Tre Lamar and Mark Fields. Both tough against the short pass.

Also ND beat Michigan for their 1st game of the year, so who did Michigan lose to the game before that?
That's right, the chickens.
MI improved throughout the year. If they played ND later in the season the outcome would have been different.

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Re: ND Defense is ranked higher......


Dec 28, 2018, 9:29 AM [ in reply to ND Defense is ranked higher...... ]

Yes, this will be our toughest D and team we’ve seen. ND is legit and got better through the year. As Harley stated, it will be Trevor’s toughest game to date. They’ll give him looks he thinks are open but won’t be.

He’s going to have to fit the ball in very tight windows. They won’t have to blitz much to get pressure. If we don’t win our one on ones up front, it could be a long day.

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Is Clemson the best O that ND has played?***


Dec 28, 2018, 9:35 AM



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Yes


Dec 28, 2018, 9:37 AM

By a wide margin

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Re: Is Clemson the best O that ND has played?***


Dec 28, 2018, 9:38 AM [ in reply to Is Clemson the best O that ND has played?*** ]

Serious questions only please.

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Re: Is Clemson the best O that ND has played?***


Dec 28, 2018, 9:52 AM [ in reply to Is Clemson the best O that ND has played?*** ]

Without any doubt. That’s what is going to be fun watching on the outside battles. They got legit D speed. not all are big and slow as I’ve read on some other posts.

I do know one thing, we may have to let Trevor work through a couple mistakes and not handcuff him as we have most of the year. He’s a big boy now playing big boy football... give him the entire field.

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Probably, but they have matchup problems


Dec 28, 2018, 9:52 AM

with our O. We'll probably test them early with our run game and they will hold up very well. After a few series, however, the play action game will exploit their lack of speed. 5, 3, 8 will have big games. They can't match our speed or athleticism.

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The definition of awesome!


Re: Probably, but they have matchup problems


Dec 28, 2018, 9:58 AM

They got several that can match up with us. I think this one may come down to our gameplan.

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Like getting them to bite on the run game


Dec 28, 2018, 1:25 PM

only to exploit the 1-on-1 matchups on play action

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The definition of awesome!


Re: Is ND the best D we have played?


Dec 28, 2018, 10:20 AM

I watched parts of 4 Irish games, so i know just enough to be monumentally stupid.
I actually think A&M is built to be a better D but their corners aren't as skilled as ND.

I think ND in general is not built to be an elite team. I mean no disrespect; for several years we thought we were elite as a team, but the coaches were plugging holes and using patchwork lineups to overcome matchup problems. We even played for a championship with a slow, short-armed overachieving starting LB who wouldn't have even had a scholarship if it weren't for his head and his heart. So between ND's IQ, size, strength, skill and playcalling, they may overachieve one more time if we don't execute well enough to overcome their overall lack of speed.

Most coaches build their defenses from the middle out so their speed guys have a chance to cover the whole field. Only an elite team also has speed on both perimeters. That's us in 2018 vs us in 2015. The Irish are us in 2015.

I do believe the Irish have speed in the critical positions, so execution will be the key. Those 4or 5 guys they really rely on are going to have a very long day.

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TL rushes 65+ yards & Feaster takes a screen to the house ..


Dec 28, 2018, 10:33 AM

ND will be geared to stop ETN and deep slants.

TL wii have to hit outs - hopefully in stride with enough room to cut up field. NDs CBs haven’t seen the arm strength TL brings and may get caught playing underneath not expecting the ball getting there so quickly.

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the biggest thing for us is avoiding the coverage busts....


Dec 28, 2018, 11:10 AM [ in reply to Re: Is ND the best D we have played? ]

they use their Tight Ends alot with release routes and seam routes which routinely kills us in these games. We always allow huge plays on seem to always have a coverage bust or two or three or four like TExas AM game. ITs always over the middle on a post or seam route. I got a feeling ND will be setting us up early for one of those to break free at some point. And in A&M game we never really figured it out which was troubling for me. WE can't do that this game. We have to defend over the middle and we have to lay licks on anyone testing that middle area. SEcondary has to put up or shut up. If we defend the middle then we can win easily. I just haven't seen it yet against any of the decent teams we faced. Venables is not a stupid man and i'm sure has been working on our secondary's eyes and reaction speed over the break.

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Re: Is ND the best D we have played?


Dec 28, 2018, 12:17 PM

One thing you failed to mention...

Only person positioned as starter for Clemson does not have playoff or big game experience...Literally everyone on the field does except TL...I like that in our advantage.

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"We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution." - Abraham Lincoln


Re: Is ND the best D we have played?


Dec 28, 2018, 1:27 PM

Plus... TL plays against a top 5 defense every practice.

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