3 scenarios for Thursday...

[ncjacket79]

I think scenarios 2 and 3 are important. Even though recruits may not see the game due to ACCN BS, they'll definitely get plenty of exposure to us giving them a scare or somehow winning. Either way, it will provide confirmation that we aren't just selling them hype. That's needed to turn an even bigger corner in recruiting.

I don’t think most recruits are stupid and understand how good Clemson is. The only thing I think could hurt is if we give up which I don’t expect at all.

 

[BuzzStone]

I think honestly if we score double digit points and hold them to under 48 that is a win for our program. Clempson is an elite program and every weakness we have will be exposed. This is a great opportunity for our players and our staff. We are in a win win situation. The only way we lose is if we quit.

 

[Fatmike91]

Scenario #4) They look like they're just not ready to play with a team like Georgia Tech and we more than cover the spread and blow them out by 40+ and look good doing it.

(Sorry I had to).

I think we establish a new identity with a fast aggressive defense. I think some fans may be surprised by the team that hits the field later this week. I don’t think the score or outcome of the game (unless we win ) will be the biggest reason for the change in perception.

/

 

[Gtbowhunter90]

I've stood by the fact that Trevor Lawrence is the best college QB I've seen in my 29 years. The possibility for him to win multiple Heisman Trophies and Championships is a real possibility. The only thing I've not seen yet, is how he composes himself after Tariq Carpenter knocks his damn head sideways.

You rattle him, he might start making errors that we haven't seen from him yet. I much more like our chances if we can force him to make a few bad passes.

In other words, kill him!

 

[gtrower]

We show flashes of potential early. Maybe it’s even close enough to pucker some Bholes. They wear us down in the 2nd half. Lose comfortably but cover.

 

[YJMD]

I don’t think most recruits are stupid and understand how good Clemson is. The only thing I think could hurt is if we give up which I don’t expect at all.

Didn't mean to imply that it would hurt to get our butts kicked. If not Clemson, then Miami, VPI, UVA, Dawgs or on to the next year. Just saying that many of the top recruits aren't going to see us as having the elite promise CGC sells without demonstrating capacity to achieve it.

 

[GoGATech]

Clemson is good and still returning a lot this year, but I don't see how some people have absolutely no faith in our guys. Let's take a look at last year:

We started the game and drove right down their throats in the 1st drive. Marshall got hurt and came out for a couple of plays and we stalled there. He was never the same after that and we really didn't know what we had with Tobias at the time. I honestly think Marshall played the rest of that game with a hurt knee and hindsight being 20/20, we may have been better off with Tobias running the offense the remainder of the game. Anyway, we were in field goal range, had a dumb false start and pushed us back into punting where we punted into the endzone. Didn't gain but about a net 20 yards with that punt. We held them to a punt, and you could visibly tell Marshall was not the same after that. Bad pitches, bad reads, bad fumbles. We fumbled away a scoop and score. Had another possession where we had a wide open guy for a 1st down, and Marshall threw it to the Clemson safety instead. I honestly think he forgot we weren't the white team. Had a completely busted coverage with no communication by DB's that led to a wide open quick Clemson score. Had a missed FG on another drive. We let Clemson score in a 2 minute drill before half like we did with EVERYBODY. Before that score, it could've easily been a 14-13 ballgame. Instead it was 21-7 and that made it 28-7. Clemson scored 3 TD's in the 2nd half. Lawrence was put back in the game, and led them to a TD drive in the final minutes of trash time. Six of our drives were only for 4 plays or less with 4 3 and outs. Having our defense on the field that much against their offense is not a good recipe. I think our defense will be much improved, and our offense will be better than last year. It may not end up being a close game, but I don't think they're gonna just have a cake walk.

Here's an interesting stat. The spread for this game is somewhere around 36 points. Last year's spread was 16.5. It was 17 at UGAg. Those were the highest spreads ever in the CPJ era. And the experts think we will play 20 points worse than that in this game.

 

[gtrower]

Clemson is good and still returning a lot this year, but I don't see how some people have absolutely no faith in our guys. Let's take a look at last year:

We started the game and drove right down their throats in the 1st drive. Marshall got hurt and came out for a couple of plays and we stalled there. He was never the same after that and we really didn't know what we had with Tobias at the time. I honestly think Marshall played the rest of that game with a hurt knee and hindsight being 20/20, we may have been better off with Tobias running the offense the remainder of the game. Anyway, we were in field goal range, had a dumb false start and pushed us back into punting where we punted into the endzone. Didn't gain but about a net 20 yards with that punt. We held them to a punt, and you could visibly tell Marshall was not the same after that. Bad pitches, bad reads, bad fumbles. We fumbled away a scoop and score. Had another possession where we had a wide open guy for a 1st down, and Marshall threw it to the Clemson safety instead. I honestly think he forgot we weren't the white team. Had a completely busted coverage with no communication by DB's that led to a wide open quick Clemson score. Had a missed FG on another drive. We let Clemson score in a 2 minute drill before half like we did with EVERYBODY. Before that score, it could've easily been a 14-13 ballgame. Instead it was 21-7 and that made it 28-7. Clemson scored 3 TD's in the 2nd half. Lawrence was put back in the game, and led them to a TD drive in the final minutes of trash time. Six of our drives were only for 4 plays or less with 4 3 and outs. Having our defense on the field that much against their offense is not a good recipe. I think our defense will be much improved, and our offense will be better than last year. It may not end up being a close game, but I don't think they're gonna just have a cake walk.

Here's an interesting stat. The spread for this game is somewhere around 36 points. Last year's spread was 16.5. It was 17 at UGAg. Those were the highest spreads ever in the CPJ era. And the experts think we will play 20 points worse than that in this game.

Part of that spread discrepancy is number of possessions. We’re going from having one of the lowest number of possessions per game to an up-tempo offense. More possessions means inflated spreads.

 

[GTJake]

Like was said it's only one game, but scenario #1 would take a lot of air out of our balloon ... I'd take scenario #2 in a heart beat !!

 

[stinger 1957]

For me the truth is, I have no "fricking" idea, but I think we show that we will be a program to reckon with going forward.

 

[lv20gt]

Last year the game was 42-7 midway through the third. We had 203 total yards and that was with them playing Lawrence 5 series I believe (4TDs and an INT I think).

Since then we have lost a lot of the production we did have from a season ago, are learning new systems on both sides of the ball, and we're now playing on the road.

And it wasn't just us. They beat a pretty good NCSU team 41-7. They beat FSU by 49. They won the ACCG by 32, and beat both of the playoff teams they faced by 4 TDs.

All the signs point to a lopsided game where the result is never in doubt. It could be something like 49-7, or it might be like last year where we manage to get some points to make it look a little nicer. It doesn't really matter to me. I'm more looking forawrd to see what type of things we want to do, even if we aren't able to do them against this particular team.

 

[GoGATech]

Part of that spread discrepancy is number of possessions. We’re going from having one of the lowest number of possessions per game to an up-tempo offense. More possessions means inflated spreads.

We're going no-huddle, but IIRC, I heard CDP or CGC one talk about that doesn't necessarily dictate the pace of the game. If tempo is working against them, we will use it. If not, we can still slow it down. Also, we didn't gain a lot of our TOP against Clemson last year during the majority of the game. We had a long 1st drive and a long one in the 3rd or 4th qtr. The rest were all very fast, 3 or 4 and outs with a couple of 5 and 6 play drives.

 

[knoxjacket]

If Lawrence started last year they could’ve put 70 on us. That game was not nor could’ve been close. We were completely outclassed.

 

[first&ten]

We're not going to win. Tech needs to make first downs and play control, but Clemson's D line will have alot to say about that. This is the #1 team in the country guys. If our O line can't make holes for our very good running backs and our QB don't connect on short passes, it will get very ugly. That said, I'm going to sit back and enjoy every game this season and watch or guys play hard for a coach that really has Tech's back and know better days are ahead!!

 

[Jerry the Jacket]

Well nobody knows what is going to happen and that is why you play the game. They should win but there are no guarantees in life. I think we will play hard and give the a good battle. Hoping for a Yellow Jacket victory as I always do.

Go Jackets!