Clemson Tigers 2017

Following on from a National Championship season led by a soon to be starting NFL quarterback, the Clemson Tigers nonetheless have high expectations to return to the College Football Playoffs again this year.

Although the ACC has had a gradual resurrection of talent and performance in the last five years since the Florida State Seminoles led by Jameis Winston made headlines. Those Noles are going to be knocking on the door, as well as the NC State and the returning Lamar Jackson at Louisville who will provide highlight plays in abundance.

The task of repeating as champions is a difficult one in any year for any team due to players leaving for the professional game or graduating, in this instance it will be a tougher one for these Tigers but lets look at what they have going for them.

The obvious positon to start is under center at Quarterback. The expected starter for season opener versus Kent State is Kelly Bryant who was the back up to Deshaun Watson for two years, and is due his opportunity. Key points for Bryant is to translate what he does on the practice field into the real game situation, he shows poise in some practice set ups and good progression through receiver options but the main query must be about confidence.

In these early games, he needs to instill himself and the coaching staff with confidence; this works two ways as they need to give him easy passes and completions from a new but exciting receiving core.  Deon Cain is the likely heir apparent to fill the shoes of former Clemson receivers who have made the leap to the NFL such as Sammy Watkins and DeAndre Hopkins, he has speed on the outside to be the deep threat and last year had seven receiving touchdowns from 724 yards.

Coupled with Cain will be Hunter Renfrow, who is the target on third downs and has good hands as well as the size to combat physical defensive play from the slot.

However, the biggest question will be to replace the hole at running back left by senior Wayne Gallman who had 30 touchdowns over two seasons. Gallman was not only the threat but the three down workhorse which left the next generation with little carries and snaps on the field.  The answer may well be in CJ Fuller, he showed the power to grind for tough yards last season versus NC State when Gallman went down but he also has a knack to make big catches in the backfield which changes the course of the offense and can lead to instilling confidence in Bryant at QB.

To maintain an ACC Championship drive, the Tigers will need to step up on defence and on the defensive line they have some returning quality in Dexter Lawrence who has unnatural athleticism for a 340lb, 6' 5" frame. Clelin Ferrell has the mixture of strength and speed to break tackles and get to the quarterback or running back forcing turnovers - he had double digits last season - and six sacks.

The mark of any lauded College program is to keep the level of quality returning year on year, Clemson have been something of a noise for sometime and the fact they are National Champions adds to the cache. The abundance of talent at their disposal will lead to them getting big wins in a tough division with road trips to NC State and Louisville (in Week 3).

Dabo Swinney always takes teams and exceeds expectations, many people did not think they could beat Bama in the title game yet they did. This season will be a different kettle of fish in that, many are not expecting them to return to the Playoffs, if they do, the season will be a success for the Clemson Tigers.

This article features on the UK Draft Guide from 40 Yards Scouting run by Matt Phillips

2013 FCB Week 1 review

And we are off.  The race for the final BCS National Championship before the inaugural four team play-off next year has began in earnest.

Week One in College Football is a rare monster, not as traditional as Opening Day in Baseball, not as glamorous as week 1 of the NFL season yet due to the ESPN monster it is just as hyped an event.  These are the stars of the NFL future, although amateur by definition they are as feted as former college now NFL stars Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III.

Last year was Year One of Johnny Football and the huge rotation of Jadeveon Clowney's monster hit in January led to him being earmarked as the next Lawrence Taylor or Ray Lewis.  Fittingly, it was Clowney and his side, South Carolina Gamecocks who opened up the College Football season at home to North Carolina Tar Heels.  The Gamecocks scored on their opening drive, a huge 65 yard TD pass from Conor Shaw to Shaq Roland gave the #7 ranked Gamecocks a lead they never relinquished, winning 27-10.  The Tar Heels offered little on offence, a blessing considering Clowney's sub-par performance where he had no sacks and only three first half tackles.  An upset stomach was apparently too blame, although the humidity at the 6pmEST kick-off could be as much at fault.

National Champions, Alabama Crimson Tide opened on neutral territory at the Georgia Dome versus the Virginia Tech Hokies.  Although the scoreline looks lopsided 35-10, the Tide were helped by Christian Jones scoring a kickoff return TD, a punt return TD and a reception TD for 256 total yards.  The Hokies exposed a new offensive line for Alabama who lost three four-year starters to the draft this year; they packed the box with eight defenders prompting confusion and panic for QB AJ McCarron who finished with 10-23, 110 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT.  The same packed box allowed RB TJ Yeldon 75 yards of the 96 total rushing yards.

They may be National Champions but even champions have some weaknesses that were exposed and need rectifying before next week's huge match-up versus Texas A&M Aggies and Johnny Manziel.

Following on from his NCAA squabble about signing for paid autographs, Manziel was punished with having to sit out the first half of their home opener versus Rice.  At half time the Aggies needed him as they held a slender 28-21 lead over the unfancied Rice Owls.  Manziel answered the call with three TD passes to help them come out 52-31 victors.  Manziel seems to have this aura about him off the field which cannot be put into question in spite of his off-the-field behaviour.

Oregon may have lost Chip Kelly to the Philadelphia Eagles, but for new Head Coach Mark Helfrich it is the same old story as they decimated Nicholls State College 66-3 with three players having 100+ yard games rushing including QB Marcus Mariota had 113 yards in addition to his 234 passing yards.  The Ducks had 772 total offensive yards and remain favourites for the Pac 12 title this season with Mariota an under the radar Heisman selection.

Fresh for bowl eligibility this season, Urban Meyer hopes to lead the Ohio State Buckeyes to the National Championship after going undefeated last season.  They opened on Saturday with a 40-20 home victory over Buffalo Bulls.  Braxton Miller went 15-22, 178 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT but the impressive performance was RB Jordan Hall who had 2 TDs for 159 yards off 21 carries. However, there were moments of worry for the Buckeyes that many better teams would have taken advantage of.

However, that is why many ranked sides open up against easy opposition to give them the opportunity to iron out any creases on both sides of the ball in a real game time situation.  Some choose to open with a tougher opponent such as LSU Tigers who played Big 12 TCU at Cowboys Stadium and proved victorious 37-27 for a big non-conference win before the conference slate begins.  QB Zach Mettenberger went 16-32 for 251 yards, 1 TD and crucially no turnovers for the senior man, as his side had 448 total yards.  TCU led by Gary Patterson have been touted as a side who can step up and mix with the big boys of the SEC, whilst they did themselves justice they only had 259 total yards so to lose by only 10 points was some marker of their intentions and the grit in the side.  This close encounter was the game of the weekend.

And just behind was Georgia 35 Clemson 38 with two good QBs Aaron Murray and Taj Boyd trading blows but with Boyd coming out on top.  Clemson reside in the ACC but are now in the Championship talk after defeating an SEC side.  Boyd - who along with Teddy Bridgewater (see below) is NFL bound - had 270 yards passing and 3 TDs and also ran for two close to goal TDs for five in total.  Murray had 323 yards passing but one crucial INT with no TDs; and again he came up short in the big game versus a ranked opponent being sacked four times in the process. The Tigers of Clemson made sure their roar was heard on Saturday, expect them to replace Georgia as the #5 ranked side in country come Monday with the new rankings.

Sunday night, another Heisman favourite Teddy Bridgewater the No.1 ranked QB prospect for the NFL draft in 2014 started his campaign with his Louisville Cardinals as they attempt to seek perfection to get to the National Championship.  They made short work of the Ohio Bobcats winning 49-7 at home with Bridgewater going 355 passing yards and 5 TDs.  Louisville play in the ACC, a weak conference in comparison to the SEC, Big 10, Big 12 and Pac 12, they also have a weak schedule so need to run the table and hope teams lose games to their advantage.

College Football Kicks Off

The 2013 College Football Season begins in earnest with the Battle of the Carolinas kicking off the wall-to-wall ESPN coverage as the first weekend begins with a five day weekend long in America.

The South Carolina Gamecocks are ranked No.6 in the pre-season rankings led by defensive end and key focal point playmaker Jadeveon Clowney.  Clowney who was sixth in the Heisman trophy voting last year, made headlines with his hit of running back Vincent Smith in the Outback Bowl.

The hit – where Smith’s helmet went flying after impact – made Clowney a global talking point due to the ferocity of the hit.  Steve Spurrier has handled his star player with better care than Kevin Sumlin of Texas A&M has with Johnny Manziel; whose off-field antics have provoked much discussion about his ability to handle the limelight.  Manziel will sit out the first half of the Aggies’ opening game versus Rice University.

Clowney has got better in the close season, working on his skill set and making himself a better player, according to other defensive end Chaz Sutton:

“Any game we go into we just want to prove we can get to the quarterback quick and fast in a game,” Sutton said. “We just want to set the tone with our front four and be that way all night.”

South Carolina though still have options on offence although a slight injury concern over highly rated receiver Bruce Ellington will be one of concern.  The offense has to be the sort as marshalled by Trent Dilfer for the Baltimore Ravens in 2001 during their famous Super Bowl run when Ray Lewis’ defence rode shotgun over NFL offences.  Junior Dylan Thompson will be expected to make mistake free, efficient passing and get good field position to allow Clowney, Sutton et al to work their magic on the defensive side.

Expectations are for the Gamecocks to win, and get some momentum before a huge clash at No.5 Georgia next week (who themselves play rated Clemson of the ACC on Saturday). The Gamecocks are touted to win the SEC East thanks to a favourable schedule where they only face Arkansas and Mississippi State of the SEC West avoiding Alabama, Auburn and Johnny Football.

Although they should beware of North Carolina QB Bryn Renner who has thrown for 54 touchdowns in the last two seasons and is in charge of a high tempo offense, new head coach Larry Fedora employed at Southern Miss.

In the other curtain-raising game for the West Coast, #24 ranked USC Trojans travel to Hawaii hoping to have a better season than last year when they did not meet expectations and not helped by an injury suffered to Matt Barkley.

Barkley, receiver Robert Woods and safety T.J. McDonald have all left for the professional ranks. Yet they still have the No 1 receiver in the country in Marqise Lee and running back Silas Reed, with the option of two young sophomore quarterbacks in Max Wittek and Cody Kessler.

Kiffin will hope he has a better season, the Trojans lost five of their last six games and lost the Sun Bowl to Georgia Tech to finish 7-6 after starting the season ranked #1. In the Pac-12 where Oregon and Stanford are expected to duke it out, expect the Trojans to spring a few surprises again with a favourable schedule with Stanford having to come to the Coliseum in November.

It’s felt a long time since Alabama won the National Championship in January, now the five month bull rush can begin. And its the end of an era, this will be the last season of the BCS rankings before the four team play-off begins in 2014.

Notre Dame v Alabama Preview

Much like me writing for this preview, for Notre Dame there is no better time than the present.

In Miami tonight, the Fighting Irish take on the Crimson Tide of Alabama - the current National College champions - for all the marbles to be declared the National title winners and the best team in College Football for the year 2012.

Ever since this game was made in December leading to 40 days of anticipation and preparation, there has been much spoken of between the two teams and where the game will be won or lost.

Firstly, this game will not be a high-scoring classic akin to the game between Vince Young's Texas and Reggie Bush's USC when there was 70 plus points, you will probably have a lower scoring game like last year's 21-0 match between Alabama and the LSU Tigers.  Both teams will also score that is certain.

Throughout the season, you have two teams that have committed the fewest turnovers but also teams have converted those turnovers into points and wins.  Notre Dame with the ever-improving Everett Golson under centre have a quarterback who commits few turnovers, maintains control of the ball helped by the dual threat running backs of Theo Riddick and Cierre Wood. Tyler Eifert who can play tight end or wide receiver is a potent threat to any defence.

Alabama have the better quarterback in AJ McCarron - a competent player who is able to make the bigger plays.  That deeper threat may lead to more takeaways, but as he showed in the road win at Baton Rouge - McCarron can handle huge national exposure and pressure.

The defences will probably have more of a say than the offences; Notre Dame has a renowned front seven led by Heisman Trophy finalist Manti Te'o they can stop the run led by senior Eddie Lacy and the younger TJ Yeldon.

Yet watch out for the ND red zone defence which twice this season has goal-line stops to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.  Alabama are no slouches themselves on defence, yet the inability to create turnovers against Johnny Manziel led to their one defeat at Texas A&M; for the Tide to win they need to pressure the composed Golson.

This may come down to versatility - and like the Seattle Seahawks have shown in recent weeks - there ability to score a lot of points is down to the great field position from punt returns and kick offs.  If Golson has less field to score on, then that will put less pressure on him and allows the defence to make their statement.

Another factor to remember is that this game is being played at night, the body clock of college athletes can be manipulated to perform at the optimum peak level when required.  Notre Dame have played the majority of their games this season late starting at 8pm prime-time.  Alabama have played a lot of mid-afternoon kick offs of 3-4pm; it may not matter but the physiology of young athletes cannot be discounted.

My prediction is that this may well come down to a field goal, the score will be 20-17 to the Irish who will gain their first National Championship since 1988.

Follow me on twitter @JamieGarwood 

Big East loses Identity

The Big East has suffered recently with long established names such as Syracuse and Pittsburgh leaving for the ACC, following West Virginia's migration to the Big 12 conference this year.  There is also movement of Notre Dame to the ACC in a few years, and Rutgers to the Big 10 in 2014.

The Big East, as a conference is probably more established for its College Basketball programs, but with the departure of Syracuse and Pitt, with the inevitable departure of Louisville and Conneticiut, the Big East is slowly turning into the Big Sleep.  A conference that is losing relevance and is so snatching up schools that will jump at any carrot dangled in front of them.

The news on Tuesday (27th Nov) that they have added Tulane and East Carolina to the football Big East conference, has been met with some guffaws and feint praise. The two schools join in 2014, giving them 13 football members - UConn, Louisville, South Florida, Cincinnati, along with recent additions Temple, Boise State, San Diego State, UCF, Southern Miss, Memphis, Houston, Tulane and East Carolina.

That makes it 9 former Conference USA teams, two former Mountain West teams and a former Mid-American conference (MAC) member.

The Big East should just eat up all of C-USA and call itself that.  The reach of the schools across much of the midwest reaching towards California with San Diego State, makes them the Big Eat - a conference that gorges on other teams.  Boise State were due to be on a larger stage, but to go Eastwards instead of the Pac 12 means that the schools are just as bad as the conferences, taking up whatever money they can.

Most schools in C-USA get $750,000 each with their television deal, the prospective numbers for the Big East make it closer to $8m each; so who is fooling who is leading who here. All these schools are simply moving to the Big East for a bigger cut of the pie, the Big East is negotiating a new television deal and stressing on bigger markets in Philadelphia, Dallas and New Orleans

What is gained and who wins here? Tulane are nothing special, this season in C-USA they ended 2-10 (2-6 C-USA), both wins came against conference opponents vs SMU 27-26 and UAB 55-45, two teams that ended up 0-12 and 3-9 respectively.  Amazingly SMU jumped to the Big East first.

As for East Carolina, they have a better football program and are only joining for football in 2014; finishing 8-4 and 7-1 in conference, there only loss coming to UCF Knights who will play Tulsa in the C-USA championship on Saturday.  There pedigree is reads much better and will certainly improve with the added income, which is what such re-alignment is for.  However, conferences must always carry deadwood in certain sports.

Conference re-alignment is an understatement, surely conference rebranding is a better turn of phrase for the comings and goings of universities and schools moving from one conference to another under the pretence of joining a bigger and better conference.

Check out my writing at www.1amsports.com
Follow me on twitter @JamieGarwood

College Football Week 1 review

Week 1 in College football seems odd.  You had a game taking place in Dublin for the Fighting Irish, you had games on Thursday night for South Carolina, with the superstitious Steve Spurrier (say that fast 5 times) enjoying a tough road trip to Vanderbilt, but winning nonetheless.

The other mystifying occurence is the use of pre-season rankings before anyone has played a down.  So you had USC ranked #1 when they have not played yet, and having to back up all this potential.  The ranking works in two ways, they stay atop of them until they lose or play an absolute stinker in victory.  USC made short work of Hawaii, with Heisman trophy favourite and senior Matt Barkley throwing for 372 yards and four TDs; helped by wide receiver Marqise Lee who caught 10 passes for 197 yards and returned a punt 100 yards for a TD.  USC had so much on offence but the defence will face sterner tests throughout the year, most notably from Oregon, #5, who scored heavily as always 57-34 at home to Arkansas State.

The most impressive performance however was Alabama, the National Champions, who having lost a lot of defensive starters did maintain the offensive line and have a good QB in AJ McCarron.  In a tough opener at Cowboys Stadium against the respected Michigan Wolverines of the Big Ten, led by senior Denard Robinson, the Crimson Tide were never threatened scoring three 1st quarter TDs in a 41-14 victory.

The team they beat in New Orleans in January, LSU also won 41-14 but against lesser opposition in North Texas; at the moment though for LSU following the Tyrann Mathieu suspension, they need to go about their business and yet the Tide and Trojans enjoy the spotlight.

What did come to the fore however, is the gulf between the SEC and other conferences.  The depth of talent in the SEC is significant with victories for Georgia (#6, 45-23 v Buffalo), Arkansas (#10, 49-24 v Jacksonville St), Clemson (#14, 26-19 v Auburn; a real barn-burner to start the season) and Florida (#23, 27-14 v Bowling Green).

The best individual performance that put down a marker for the season was by Geno Smith, quarterback for the West Virginia Mountaineers, who in their first game in a new conference having moved from the Big East to the Big 12 defeated Marshall 69-34. Smith completed 32 of 36 attempted passes for 323 yards and four touchdowns, one rushing TD with no interceptions.

The Big 12 have some ground to make up on the dominant SEC but with the WVU high powered offence joining the powerhouses of Texas, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State expect West Virginia and Smith to be making some notable headlines this season.

What to look forward to?
In Week 2, a lot of programs have picked winnable games for home openers (South Carolina play East Carolina); but you still have some interesting contests.  The LSU Tigers host Washington, Missouri new to the SEC from the Big 12 host #6 Georgia.  However, the game of the weekend could be Nebraska visiting UCLA; as below the Bruins have a high powered offence led by QB Brett Hundley and RB Johnathan Franklin, they can score heavily unlike some of the Big 10 teams did over the weekend.

Notable performances
UCLA's Johnathan Franklin rushed for 214yds on 15 carries and 3 TDs against Rice in their season opener with a long of 78 and a 74 yarder. Not to be out done his QB Brett Hundley ran for a 72yd TD.  This was not a career night for Franklin, who ran for 216 in 2010 v Washington State.

Utah may be a sleeper in the Pac12 and opened with a 41-0 shutout over Northern Colorado; Jordan Wynn threw for 2 TDs (19-27, 200) and John White ran for 119yds in a one-sided contest.

Tyrann Mathieu

Here is a link to my newest post for 1amsports website (www.1amsports.com), about the dismissal of Tyrann Mathieu from LSU Tigers for substance abuse.

I am the US College Sports writer for this website; so expect some articles weekly regarding College Football moving into the Basketball arena come November/December.

It is a great website, full of like-minded individuals who love US sports and they cover all your favourites - MLB, NHL, NBA, NFL and Nascar also.

So please click on the link and enjoy:

http://1amsports.com/college-sports/college-football/the-dismissal-of-tyrann-mathieu

Regards
Jamie