We are a better team than last time

We are overdue to make one play and win by one point this season. Maybe this is the game. Bryant's ankle is not 100%, so we might be able to limit their running game. Looks like Brad Morgan will be back this week to give us more depth on the OL. I'm hoping that their week off and looking ahead to NCS will turn out to be a good opportunity to catch Clemson on an off night.
 
Clemson is also a worse team than the last 2 years. It doesn't make me confident, but we'll see. If we can move the ball somewhat offensively then I see this as a very good game. If we get blown up for TFLs early and become indecisive, fumble the ball, miss reads, etc. then it could go the way of the prior 2. Otherwise, even with Bryant, Clemson has not been able to be very consistent on O. I also see their D as being weaker than prior years although more capable of making big plays (especially sacks). Syracuse was able to consistently keep Clemson on their heels and had no trouble getting their O rolling. We have potential to do the same but will need to be decisive and resilient.
 
BigDanT said:
In fact I think we are much better than last year, and certainly better than 2015.

Don't think this Clemson D will stone wall us, and think we can do enough on our D to win.

Mind right
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I would disagree with you that we are better than last year. We are not as good offensively, but we are better defensively. We are betting in the punting game, but far worse in the kicking game.

Clemson is also a step back from where they were last year, although I think a big part of their struggle against Syracuse was due to their QB being hobbled then knocked out of the game. They also lost a lot of talent on defense and haven't replaced it in kind.

We can certainly win the game, but it will be a challenge in the valley of death with potentially crappy field conditions due to the rain.
 
What'll be tough about this game is that we could play well and play close, still lose, and a lot of our fans & local/national media will see it black or white and point to a 4-3 record being "mediocre". Timing of this game is terrible, would be great to play UVA or Duke this week instead + Clemson not having a bye last week. But, IIWII
 
Clemson's offense is markedly worse than last year's and our Defense is better than last year's. I think we'll hold 'em to under 20 pts.

The offense needs to do better than the 280 yds it put up against Miami.

If we score 20+ pts, we will win.
 
I know it's old news, but we really are a a couple plays away from this being a matchup between top 10's. Dabo pointed out as much. We're rightful underdogs, but I see no reason not to give us a fighting chance. I do have concerns about the weather, though.
 
Rain in the forecast, they had an extra week to mull over their loss to cuse and prepare for us, our injuries are mounting, we're in primetime, it's in their stadium.... I don't see how this could possibly go bad.
 
Here's our rushing totals against Venables. Last 4, 3, 2 years we are averaging ~22, ~19, ~14 points per game.
2013: 248 yards vs. 299 ypg (-17%)
2014: 251 yards vs. 342ypg (-26%)
2015: 71 yards vs. 256ypg (-72%)
2016: 95 yards vs. 258ypg (-63%)

I'm not saying it is impossible that we run all over Clemson. I'm just saying Venables has typically played CPJ's offense very well. I'd speculate he probably the best performance against CPJ among DCs CPJ has faced during his time at GT. My guess? Defense will need to keep Clemson's offense to 17 to win this game.
 
coit said:
We are not as good offensively, but we are better defensively. We are betting in the punting game, but far worse in the kicking game.
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Statistics may not tell the whole story, but by some yardsticks, we are as good or better offensively than last year. This is the first year under CPJ that Tech has had over 400 yds rushing in 4 games (and we still have 5 games to go). We don't have as much of a passing threat yet as we had under JT, but partly that's because we have a QB that can run the dive and the follow, so we don't see ABs and WRs getting involved as much. It's just not as exciting an offense this year, so it looks less successful.
 
coit said:
I would disagree with you that we are better than last year. We are not as good offensively, but we are better defensively. We are betting in the punting game, but far worse in the kicking game.

Clemson is also a step back from where they were last year, although I think a big part of their struggle against Syracuse was due to their QB being hobbled then knocked out of the game. They also lost a lot of talent on defense and haven't replaced it in kind.

We can certainly win the game, but it will be a challenge in the valley of death with potentially crappy field conditions due to the rain.
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Our offense has differed from last year because we have the relatively the same amount of explosive plays but can still (mostly) consistently move the ball. Our offense has just had more turnovers than last year.
 
coit said:
I would disagree with you that we are better than last year. We are not as good offensively, but we are better defensively. We are betting in the punting game, but far worse in the kicking game.

Clemson is also a step back from where they were last year, although I think a big part of their struggle against Syracuse was due to their QB being hobbled then knocked out of the game. They also lost a lot of talent on defense and haven't replaced it in kind.

We can certainly win the game, but it will be a challenge in the valley of death with potentially crappy field conditions due to the rain.
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I agree and would add that Clemson's defensive issues have more to do with their defensive backfield, which doesn't help us because we cannot take advantage.
 
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