As Spring Practice Ends, Questions Loom

As the Clemson Tigers finished up spring practice with the annual Orange and White Spring Game, several questions remained unanswered regarding the upcoming season. Now let's get this straight, I'm not claiming to have the answers to these questions, but I can give my opinions on them for sure. Here's a few in particular that I am wondering about:

Stoudt practices as Watson looks on

1. What is the QB situation?
This was somewhat cleared up recently when Cole Stoudt was named the starter after the departure of Chad "Swag" Kelly. However, questions still remain, such as are we looking at a 2-QB system this season, with heralded freshman Deshaun Watson getting some snaps? Personally, I think both Stoudt & Watson will play against Georgia, & there will be packages for Watson when he comes in. Watson is too talented to keep off of the field, and if you're not going to redshirt him you have to play him some.

2. How hurt is Watson?
We know that Deshaun had to miss the last week of practice and the Spring Game due to a cracked collarbone. What everyone wants to know is how long he will be out. There hasn't been a consensus timeline yet, but I believe he will be back for summer workouts. 

3. How good is Mackenzie Alexander?
This guy was supposed to be the Tigers' savior in the secondary last year, but instead, injuries forced the trash-talking, lockdown, defensive back to redshirt. Mack seems to be back at full-strength & has been getting rave reviews from the coaches. I believe the new #2 will be a starter and a big-time corner this fall. 

4. Starting safety?
Last season saw Jayron Kearse come on strong thorough out the season and people had him penciled in to start. However, Jadar Johnson was slated as first team in a recent depth chart. Basically, these two are the opposite of one another: Kearse is the big-hitter and better against the run, while Johnson is better in coverage and against the pass. I see Kearse eventually taking over the position, as he has too much talent to not be on the field.

5. What's going to happen at RB?

Brooks hauls in a touchdown against Georgia

Well, who knows. D.J. Howard and Zac Brooks are the veterans, Tyshon Dye is possibly the most talented but can't stay healthy, C.J. Davidson is a former track guy and walk-on, Wayne Gallman is possibly the best combo of runner, blocker, and pass-cather, and who knows what you'll get from the freshmen Adam Choice, Jaelon Oglesby, and C.J. Fuller who are yet to get on campus. I think Howard is garbage, but Dabo will probably play him because he's a veteran and from Alabama. I like Brooks and am a big fan of his pass catching ability, but he can't stay healthy. I don't think Dye will be a huge factor coming off of the achilles injury. I really hope that we can give a bulk of the carries to Gallman and Brooks, with some Davidson mixed in as well. That way we can redshirt all of the freshmen and they can bulk up for next season.

6. Who's the #1 WR?
With the departure of Sammy Watkins and Martavis Bryant to the NFL, a lot of people think Mike Williams or Adam Humpries may step into that role. However, they're forgetting about Charone Peake coming back from injury. Peake was poised for a big season last year before tearing his ACL in practice. For people who don't remember, Peake was rated higher than BOTH Bryant and
Watkins coming out of high school, and both of those guys are about to get paid. I think Peake will have a big season at wideout for the Tigers. Another guy I like is the freshman Artavis Scott. He's explosive and quick and I think he'll be a major factor this fall.

Steward forces a fumble on a sack

7. Is Tony Steward ready?
You guys remember Tony, the former 5 star prospect who has torn both of his ACLs over the last 3 years. He'll be stepping into a starting this role this season, and Clemson will need some big plays from him, similar to the one that he made against Boston College this past year where he sacked the QB and forced a fumble that led to a Vic Beasley scoop and score. I think Tony is finally ready to breakout, and he'll have an outstanding season. I think he'll be a guy who will be getting drafted in 2015 for sure.


8. With Cat-Man gone, who's next?
For the past 4 seasons, Clemson's field goal kicking has been extremely solid (a big change from previous seasons), and that was due to Chandler Catanzaro. He made several big kicks and game-winners over his career (LSU, Wake Forest) and will be sorely missed. So who's going to take his spot: the easy money is on Ammon Lakip, who's a veteran guy. The other option will be freshman Alex Spence. I think Lakip will have the job coming out of fall camp, but I don't expect him to be the next Cat-man by any means.

That's just a few of the questions that I currently have, but there are many more and I'm sure you guys have some of your own. If there's a question you have, feel free to post it in the comment section.

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A First Glance at Clemson's 2014 Schedule

The ACC released the 2014 football schedule this past Wednesday afternoon, which was a lot sooner than usual. The schedule usually isn't released until sometime in February, so Swofford was really on the ball this year. It's clear the reason the schedules used to take so long to come out was Maryland, who is now leaving the conference to go to the B1G. God, Maryland I hate you so much go away. I'm glad those Terp clowns are leaving, good riddance. Anyway, I digress. Here's a few quick thoughts on the 2014 Clemson Tiger Football Schedule:

August 30th at Georgia
-Two teams with new quarterbacks, should be a good one. Personally, I'm looking forward to heading down to Athens for the first time.

September 6th vs. South Carolina State
-Can't wait to hear their band again.

September 20th at Florida State
-Great to have a bye before the Seminoles, but they have one the week before too, so I don't know how much it will help. I'm ready to head back down to TallaNasty though, I already hear Bullwinkles calling my name. ($10 all you can drink FYI). *Also, going Athens and Tallahassee within a month of each other is going to be a hell of a lot of fun.

September 27th vs. North Carolina
-This game looks really tricky coming off of the FSU contest. I am excited to see T.J. Logan come to town.

October 4th vs. N.C. State
-Second home game in a row. Should be starting to cool down some by this game so hopefully it won't be scorching.

October 11th vs. Louisville
-First contest against the new conference foe. Bobby Petrino's offense scares me, but luckily they lost Teddy Bridgewater and hired Todd Grantham to coach the defense.

October 18th at Boston College
-I have heard it's a fun trip, but I doubt I'll be making it this year. I think Steve Addazio has this team going in the right direction.

October 25th vs. Syracuse
-Man, I hate these guys so much already. I hope we curb stomp them in the Valley and Dabo puts Shafer's sorry a** in a Crippler Crossface at midfield after the game.

November 6th at Wake Forest
-Thursday night game that could be a little tricky. However, the Demon Deacons have been severely lacking in the talent department the past few years so they should be no problem. (HA! that reminds me of the line in Angels in the Outfield where Danny Glover says, "There's a thing called talent, they don't have it!")

November 15th at Georgia Tech
-Screw the triple option.

November 22nd vs. Georgia State
-Ho hum, another snoozer. It's also probably going to be freezing at this point in the year.

November 29th vs. South Carolina
-There's nothing to be said. I'm already excited for this one.


Overall, I think this is as good of a schedule that Clemson could've hoped for. Bye week before FSU, ten days to prepare for GT, and a cupcake before the Gamecocks. Should be good season, I can't wait for August. Spot the damn ball.

Follow me on twitter @K_Mart10

R.I.P. Jugheads

When I got on twitter Sunday night, I wasn't expecting anything really, I was just going to read some tweets to see what my friends were up to. Instead, I received some most disturbing news, Jugheads was closing. My twitter timeline was filled with people tweeting about Jugheads closing and how sad and heartbroken they were. It was like a bomb had been dropped on me. Like I had been stabbed in the heart with a dagger. I couldn't believe it. I was shocked. I even tweeted, "Wait, Jugheads is closing? WHY, GOD WHY?!"

For you guys that don't know about Jugheads, it was this great hotdog place in downtown Clemson with hotdogs named after former Clemson greats. My personal favorite was The Terry Allen, which came with chili and cheese. Get an order of sweet potato fries on the side and I was set.

I loved going to Jugheads for more reasons than the food, though. I always enjoyed the atmosphere and talking with former Clemson and Chicago Bears Tight End, Keith Jennings. They also had the best window seats of anywhere downtown to sit and watch people walk by. I had a lot of good times at Jugheads. From me and my buddy Brett eating at the window and shooting the breeze with Keith about the scenery walking by to all the nights after going DT where I decided that I had to have a hot dog.

One of my favorite memories was one night after DT when I ran into former Clemson & NFL Safety Michael Hamlin in Jugheads. I asked him where the "Mike Hamlin" was on the menu and told him he had to get Keith to put him on there. He thought it was hilarious and we joked to Keith about it all night and actually had a twitter conversation about it that night and the next day. Good times, good times for sure.

But anyway, I digress, I guess the old saying is true, "you don't know what you have until it's gone." I'd love to have one more Terry Allen. I hope that somewhere down the line Jugheads will reopen somewhere else in Clemson so that classes to come can enjoy it's awesomeness. Until then, I guess I'll have to keep reminiscing on the good old days.

Jugheads, gone but never forgotten.





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Battle for the Hardee's Trophy

Precursor: I'm sorry guys, it is just so hard for me to write about this game. My brain is just frazzled and I can't focus on anything so I know this blog is kind of all over the place. I'm so excited. I do hope I gave you guys some good information though. I hope you all have a good weekend, and if you head up to the game I hope you stay warm, safe, and have a great time.

It's Rivalry Week. One of the best weekends of the year in college football. Michigan-Ohio State, Oregon State-Oregon, Florida-Florida State, Alabama-Auburn, etc., and of course the one that means the most in my home state, Clemson vs. South Carolina. I've tried to stay somewhat reserved this week, getting too jacked up probably wouldn't have gone over too well with Thanksgiving and family coming into town, but man oh man this is a big game. I mean, this is the first time ever both teams have been ranked in the top-10 when they meet. The Gamecocks have won 17 straight at home. Connor Shaw has NEVER lost a game he started in Williams-Brice Stadium. The Tigers are playing for a spot in a BCS game. The past two years, I've felt supremely confident that Clemson was going to beat South Carolina, and everyone knows how that ended up. This season, I don't feel as confident in the Tigers, maybe that's a good sign for Clemson, maybe it's a good sign for the Gamecocks, who knows? It's gonna be a hell of a ballgame. Two top-ten teams, why wouldn't it be? The Vegas power polls have these two teams very close as well. I've seen them at 5 & 7, 6 & 10, 12 & 15, and 10 & 12. About a month ago, I thought that USC was going to win for sure. But now, slowly but surely, I've started to feel a little better about Clemson's chances.

The Breakdown

•               The key to this game comes down to the line of scrimmage, and whether or not Clemson can block South Carolina's front seven. The past few years, the Gamecocks have dominated up front. The Tigers seem to be better prepared to hold their own this season, however. The insertion of Isaiah Battle into the starting lineup the past two games has made a huge difference and really improved the right side of the O-Line, especially at right tackle. Battle has the potential to be a an NFL tackle one day and he'll have to play very well this weekend. He will have his hands full with Chaz Sutton, and I also believe the 'Cocks will move Jadeveon Clowney to that side to give him some snaps against Battle. Clowney dominated the game last season, totaling 4.5 sacks. Brandon Thomas will have to be on his game to somewhat contain No. 7. The guy on the SC D-line who really scares me however, is Kelcy Quarles at defensive tackle. He has had a great season and is a big player in the middle of the line. Last season, the Tigers tried to single block Clowney way too often, and I expect them to give Thomas some more help this season and chip him some with a TE, H-Back, or RB. Stanton Seckinger, Sam Cooper, Darrell Smith, and Roderick McDowell have to be up to the task. The Tigers have to run the ball effectively with quarterback Tajh Boyd, and call more designed runs for him. Clemson also has to utilize the screen game to the running backs and the tight ends. These two things will help contain the USC pass rush.

•               Clemson's offense has been somewhat vanilla since the Georgia game. In their other big game, Florida State, they were out of it before they had the chance to roll any new wrinkles out there. The Tigers have pretty much blown everyone else out, so they haven't need to break out a whole lot of new stuff. I expect they have some new things to throw at South Carolina this Saturday night.

•               One of these wrinkles could be Sammy Watkins running some wildcat. It was rumored that Clemson worked on it a lot the week before FSU, but got behind so quickly they never broke it out. 

•               Clemson has to run the ball effectively, and stick with it. A year ago, offensive coordinator Chad Morris went away from the run way too early, and it allowed the South Carolina defensive line to pin their ears back and go after Boyd.

•               Keeping Tajh upright is huge. If he can have time, he will be able to complete passes downfield on what I feel is a not a great secondary for the Gamecocks. Hampton is solid, but who knows how healthy Brison Williams will be and the other safety Chaz Elder is a freshman. With the emergence of Martavis Bryant over the last few games, teams won't be able to focus on Sammy Watkins as much. Watkins is due for a big game against the Gamecocks by the way, only totaling eight catches for 76 yards in his two career games against his rival. Both of these guys have the ability to have big games, and the Tigers will need them to do so.

•               Defensively, Clemson is much improved from a year ago. I think the question of how South Carolina will block Clemson is just as important as the other way around. Vic Beasley, Grady Jarrett and crew have had a great season pressuring the quarterback, and they have over 100 tackles for loss. 

•               Clemson has to stop Mike Davis, have to. If he gets going, it will be a long night. They have shown the ability to do so though, as they contained 2,000-yard rusher Andre Williams to just 70-something yards. 

•               Two years ago, Connor Shaw killed the Tigers with his legs. He doesn't run as well as he used to, and the Clemson defense has improved against mobile quarterbacks.

•               The Tigers have to get off the field on third down. They're one of the best in the country (3rd, I believe) doing so this season, and they have to be able to do that and get their offense back on the field.

•               TE Busta Anderson is a baller for SC. He's tall and fast, and the Tigers have to make sure they have someone on him at all times.

•               Also, I totally expect Spurrier to call one of those play-action deep passes on the first drive of the game to either Shaq Roland or Damiere Byrd.

THE Game Prediction

Five years. Five longgggg years. Four in a row for the first time ever. South Carolina expects to win, and quite frankly I'm not sure if their players respect Clemson. 

“I can tell Tajh Boyd is scared back there. He ain’t no sitting duck, but you can see it in his eyes. He’s scared of our D line. We know that, coming into the game, we’ve got him shook already. Just get a couple hits on him, and it changes the whole game. He’s scared every time we play him.” - Jadeveon Clowney stated during SEC Media Days this summer. 

"@TajhB10 u kno u have never completed a pass on me are u gone change tht this yr?" - Victor Hampton tweeted at Tajh Boyd this past June. Tajh is pissed. Dabo Swinney is especially pissed. My sources tell me that Dabo was VERY pissed last year when D.J. Swearinger yelled/pointed at him on the sideline during the game. Dabo devoted extra film time to this game this past summer, and he will have this team ready to play. The key is for them to not be too uptight.  

However, this attitude doesn't just extend to South Carolina players. Their fans' thoughts on the game have totally changed. I was sitting at my little brother's basketball game the other night, and their were some young kids sitting a couple of rows in front of me. They were maybe 10-12 years old. An old man beside me leaned down and asked them who was going to win this weekend. Without hesitation, they said "the Gamecocks of course, Clemson's no good." This really hit home to me. All these kids know of is South Carolina winning four in a row over Clemson. I mean, they may not have even been born for 63-17! They don't realize they're down 65-41-4 in the all-time series, they use to lose all the time. We have to change that mentality back. Like my dad said to me a month or so ago, "I'm 55 years old, I've never had to put up with this. I've never seen them win four in a row, hell, barely even three in a row." My dad's tired of it. I'm tired of it. Clemson fans everyone are tired of it. Dabo's tired of it. Tajh is tired of it. Sammy is tired of it. The whole team is tired of it. 

South Carolina is just not as good as they have been the past few years. Their depth on defense isn't as vast as it has been, and the Tigers are going to take advantage. The offensive line will come to play. Watkins and Bryant have huge games. Vic Beasley goes off. Tajh Boyd has a game that cements him as the best quarterback in Tiger history, and gets his jersey retired. It's time to make the world right again and change things back to how they're supposed to be. We get another tombstone. The streak ends Saturday.

Clemson - 31

South Carolina - 24

It's about damn time.

Follow me on twitter @K_Mart10

THE CLEMSON MEGA-BOWL. #TURNUP

College GameDay. No. 3 vs. No. 5. 8:00 Primetime on ABC. Top 5 Showdown. The two schools with the most ACC Championships. Man, is it going to be a huge weekend in Clemson or what? I don't know about you guys, but I've been jacked up all week. I mean, I cannot wait until Saturday night. This is probably the biggest game I have ever been to, and it's going to be wild. I've been tweeting, making vines, everything. Here's a few of my vines so far, you guys should watch them and give me a follow, there are more to come: Vine 1 Vine 2

I'm not going to give you guys a complete breakdown of the game because I've already done it on my podcast. Here's the link, you guys should be sure to check it out: The OT with KT. My buddy Brett Hester and myself broke down the FSU Offense against the Clemson Defense, the Clemson Offense against the FSU Defense, and then gave picks on the game. There's lots of good stuff in there, stats and what not. Vegas has Florida State as a 3-point favorite on the road, and if you're listening to the media, you'd think the 'Noles are just going to trounce the Tigers. But hey guys, let me tell you a secret, WE CAN WIN THIS. Here are just a few main thoughts for you: Look for Tajh to run more for this game, and on defense the key is the Tigers front four getting pressure.

A Few Other Stats/Comments I Don't Know Where To Put

• College GameDay from 9-12 on Bowman Field. Rumor is the guest picker may be Brian Dawkins
• Nissan Heisman House also on Bowman from 12-8. Michael Dean Perry, Woody Dantzler, and Neil Everett, and a real Heisman Trophy will all be there.
• Official kickoff time is 8:22pm. ABC will be covering the team's entrance again.
• 20% chance of rain at this time.
• FSU is bringing their Spirit Drum.
• FSU has deemed this a "sod game."
• 1st game of 2 top-5 games in the state of South Carolina's history.
• FSU hasn't won in Clemson since 2001. Jameis Winston (Famous Jameis, Jameis Christ) was 7.
• Dabo is 8-0 in home games against ACC teams he lost to the previous year on the road.
• First time since '07 GameDay has gone to the same location twice in a season, & the first time they ever have in the first 7 weeks of the season.
• Clemson may break out the orange pants.
• Some Vegas Power Rankings have Clemson 14th and FSU 3rd.
• Clemson's opponent 3rd down percentage conversion rate: 20.25%, #1 in the country.
• CU opponent 3rd down conversions per game: 3.2, #5 in the country.
• CU opponent yards per play: 5.1, #37 in the country.
• Tigers also lead the nation in sacks and tackles for loss.
• Everyone has a plan until they're punched in the mouth.

My Prediction

Clemson is at home. We have the better defense. We have the three best players in the game.

Tigers-38

Seminoles-34

We Too Deep

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