Better know a ’12 opponent: Clemson
We resume the team-by-team looks at the Hokies’ 2012 schedule. Up today: Clemson.
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Coach: Dabo Swinney (fourth full season at Clemson,29-19 in four seasons, assistant at Alabama and Clemson)
2011 record: 10-4 (6-2 ACC, 1st Atlantic), lost 70-33 to West Virginia in the Orange Bowl
Looking back: Clemson will have a season many won’t soon forget, both for the memorable highs and the embarrassing ending. First, the good. The Tigers won the ACC for the first time in 20 years, jumping out to an 8-0 start and No. 5 national ranking, in large part thanks to the up-tempo, spread offense of first-year coordinator Chad Morris and the standout play of quarterback Tajh Boyd and freshman receiver sensation Sammy Watkins. Then, a lull. Clemson lost three of its next four, including mind-boggling back-to-back defeats to N.C. State (37-13) and South Carolina (34-13) in which the offense was a no-show. Somehow, the Tigers righted the ship in the ACC title game, hammering the Hokies 38-10 to complete a lopsided season sweep. The Jekyll and Hyde season continued, though, with a shocking 70-33 loss to West Virginia in the Orange Bowl, a blowout that cost defensive coordinator Kevin Steele his job. Overall, it was one of the more bizarre championship seasons you’ll ever see.
2011 stats/rankings:
- Rushing offense: 158.50 ypg (59th nationally, 5th ACC)
- Passing offense: 282.29 ypg (21st nationally, 1st ACC)
- Total offense: 440.79 ypg (26th nationally, 2nd ACC)
- Scoring offense: 33.57 ppg (24th nationally, 2nd ACC)
- Rushing defense: 176.86 ypg (83rd nationally, 10th ACC)
- Passing defense: 217.50 ypg (50th nationally, 6th ACC)
- Total defense: 394.36 ypg (71st nationally, 9th ACC)
- Scoring defense: 29.29 ppg (81st nationally, 10th ACC)
- Turnover margin: -.07 (66th nationally, 7th ACC)
Offensive starters returning/lost: 6/5
Defensive starters returning/lost: 7/4
Losses: RB Mike Bellamy (343 yards, 3 TD), TE Dwayne Allen (1st ACC, 50 catches, 598 yards, 8 TD), LT Phillip Price (HM ACC), LG David Smith, RG Antoine McClain, RT Landon Walker (HM ACC), DE Andre Branch (1st ACC, 85 tackles, 17 TFL, 10.5 sacks), DT Brandon Thompson (2nd ACC, 77 tackles, 8 TFL, 2.5 sacks), DT Rennie Moore (58 tackles, 10 TFL, 4 sacks), CB Coty Sensabaugh (40 tackles), P Dawson Zimmerman (41.8 avg.)
Returnees: QB Tajh Boyd (1st ACC, 3,838 passing, 33 TD, 218 rushing, 5 TD), RB Andre Ellington (2nd ACC, 1,178 yards, 11 TD), WR Sammy Watkins (1st ACC, 82 catches, 1,219 yards, 12 TD, 25.0 KR avg., TD), WR DeAndre Hopkins (72 catches, 978 yards, 5 TD), WR Jaron Brown (31 catches, 406 yards, 4 TD), OL Dalton Freeman (1st ACC), G/T Brandon Thomas, DE Malliciah Goodman (59 tackles, 4 TFL, 2 sacks), LB Corico Hawkins (80 tackles, 5 TFL), LB Jonathan Willard (75 tackles, 2.5 TFL), LB Quandon Christian (36 tackles, 1.5 TFL), LB Stephone Anthony (32 tackles, 6 TFL, 2 sacks), S Rashard Hall (89 tackles, 3 TFL, 2 INT), S Jonathan Meeks (61 tackles, 3 INT), CB Bashaud Breeland (53 tackles, 2 INT), CB Xavier Brewer (60 tackles, 3 TFL), PK Chandler Catanzaro (2nd ACC, 22-27 FG)
2012 schedule:
- Sept. 1: vs. Auburn (at Georgia Dome in Atlanta)
- Sept. 8: vs. Ball State
- Sept. 15: vs. Furman
- Sept. 22: at Florida State
- Sept. 29: at Boston College
- Oct. 6: vs. Georgia Tech
- Oct. 20: vs. Virginia Tech
- Oct. 25: at Wake Forest
- Nov. 3: at Duke
- Nov. 10: vs. Maryland
- Nov. 17: vs. N.C. State
- Nov. 24: vs. South Carolina
Strengths: The skill players on offense might be the best in the country. Boyd returns after a 3,838-yard, 33-touchdown season. Ellington is back at running back. And so are Watkins (eventually, after a likely suspension for an offseason arrest) and Hopkins at receiver. That’s a scary group, especially as it enters its second season in Morris’ system. Defensively, almost the entire linebacking corps and secondary is back, only now under the tutelage of new coordinator Brent Venables, who came from Oklahoma.
Weaknesses: The Tigers lost a ton on both lines. Three starters are gone from the offensive line. So is Allen, one of the top tight ends in the country, and someone who was a mismatch for every defense he faced. Defensively, the heart of the group — the line — is gone. Branch, Thompson and Moore were a big reason Clemson was able to do as well as it did last year. The pressure they put on the quarterback made up for a lot of shortcomings on the back end.
Fun fact: (Via Wikipedia) “In the early 1960s, a rock was given to then head coach Frank Howard by a friend, Samuel Columbus Jones. It was presented to Howard by Jones, saying ‘Here’s a rock from Death Valley, California, to Death Valley, South Carolina.’ Howard didn’t think anything else about the rock and it was used as a door stop in his office for several years. In September 1966, while cleaning out his office, Howard noticed the rock and told IPTAY executive director Gene Willimon, ‘Take this rock and throw it over the fence or out in the ditch … do something with it, but get it out of my office.’ Willimon had the rock placed on a pedestal at the top of the east end zone hill that the team ran down to enter the field for games.”
Series with VT: Clemson leads 19-12-1
In the last 25 years:
- 2011: No. 21 Clemson 38, No. 5 Virginia Tech 10, in Charlotte (ACC Championship)
- 2011: No. 13 Clemson 23, No. 11 Virginia Tech 3, in Blacksburg
- 2007: No. 15 Virginia Tech 41, No. 22 Clemson 23, in Clemson
- 2006: Virginia Tech 24, No. 10 Clemson 7, in Blacksburg
- 2001: No. 6 Virginia Tech 41, No. 16 Clemson 20, in Jacksonville (Gator Bowl)
- 1999: No. 8 Virginia Tech 31, Clemson 11, in Blacksburg
- 1998: Virginia Tech 37, Clemson 0, in Clemson
- 1989: No. 7 Clemson 27, Virginia Tech 7, in Blacksburg
- 1988: No. 4 Clemson 40, Virginia Tech 7, in Clemson
- 1987: No. 10 Clemson 22, Virginia Tech 10, in Blacksburg
- Georgia Tech — Team overview | Ask a beat writer
- Austin Peay — Team overview | Ask a beat writer
- Pittsburgh — Team overview | Ask a beat writer
- Bowling Green — Team overview | Ask a beat writer
- Cincinnati — Team overview | Ask a beat writer
- North Carolina — Team overview | Ask a beat writer
- Duke — Team overview | Ask a beat writer
June 14, 2012 - 12:57 AM
There is enough information here to get to know an opponent.
They best us like a rented mule, twice, last year. We’re going to have to really step it up to reverse that this year. I sure am hopeful for more offensive play variety than we seemed to use against them last year, especially in the ACC Championship game.
Anyone know about who will be replacing the starters on both lines?
Al I agree with you. But I’m afraid this year the D will have to dominate for us to win. LT is great but he has virtually no starters returning. And let’s face it, this is VT’s O, which even under the best of circumstances takes more than half the season to gel. If my memory is correct, when we last beat them in ’07, the D and special teams took them out of the game early and we coasted to a W. Without the dominating special teams of the past, I’m afraid it will all be on the D this year, with a little help from their friends…
They will have had a couple real tests by the time we see them. I hate that we have to face them in Death Valley this year. Those fans know how to hate.
Overall I have to think this will be a real test of how good we are assuming we are undefeated by the time we get there. Here’s hoping they aren’t playing “Tiger Rag” at every bar across the state all night long once the game is over.
I still have us going 12-0 this year. Hope Spings eternal in the Spring.
More news on Danny Coale. Surgery went great and the Cowboys expect him to be 100% by summer camp. They apparently expected him to be their starting slot guy on opening day as a rookie. Now they think he will have lost enough reps (by missing mini-camp) that his development will be delayed. With no further problems they believe he will contribute this year and (maybe) start a couple games before the end of the season.
Two things to watch: First, how well does he communicate with Romo? Their offense requires a whole bunch of reads and anticipation by the slot. Coale will have to see the play and anticipate what Romo anticipates as plays develop. If Coale is where Romo needs/anticipates him to be then Coale will be a star. If not, he’ll be called “stupid” (as Romo has done with others) and he’ll be gone. This is the part of the Cowboys offense that is under appreciated by fans. It is TE Whitten’s big strength. Coale is viewed as having developed this 6th sense with Thomas and they hope he can do it with Romo.
And second, can Coale continue to make “the tough catch”. The Cowboys scouts rated Coale as their guy because he made impossibly difficult catches (their view) routinely. They rated him very high in this regard and view it as an innate ability rather than a honed skill. They viewed this as far more important than his combine beauty scores.
The Boys seem to view Coale as a classic example of a player who will end up being a late round “find”. They would have taken him higher but correctly predicted that his beauty scores would lower his draft ranking.
The press here is unmerciful to Cowboy players who disappoint, even when it isn’t their fault. The press is being very very kind to Coale and very upbeat about his future. One has to suspect that the Cowboys media machine is sending a public message as well as what the coaches say privately.
I am hoping Coale has a big future. We’ll see. But it sure looks like he will have every chance to develop in Dallas.
I feel that Clemson may become a force to reckon with. Chad Morris have made a huge difference and I would imagine the same is said of Venables.
Ironically, Steele may have lost his job, but Venables’ Sooners’ defense were torched by a highly motivated West Virginia squad.
Was the rock a meteorite ?
hokies better watch film from 2012 orange bowl over and over. mountaineers made them look foolish. shovel passes accounted for many TDs. if not, then the hokies better pray in death valley. the hokie offensive weapon of those two games was the kicker only. cant say his name cause on this blog site you will be labeled a communist. better embrace that kicker cause the backfield is weak and shaky. once again we pull for old Bud and his boys to pick up the offensive slack. andy you are putting in long hours with this site and i commend you. thanks.