ACC power shift?

The ACC has far greater problems right now than the balance of power between its two football divisions.

Defense in the HUNH

We've exhaustively covered the infusion of Chad Morris' new Hurry-Up, No-Huddle offense in part by examining the success of the man who invented the approach.

In this piece that ran a few days ago, we cited excerpts from Gus Malzahn's book "The Hurry-up, No-Huddle: An offensive philosophy" in a story that delved into Malzahn's first year at Auburn in 2009.

Malzahn also touched on the ideal defensive philosophy to pair with a HUNH offense, and the following excerpt from the book is interesting from a Clemson context:

"You also need to be aggressive on defense. One of your biggest fears would be for a team to hold the ball with long drives and shorten the game."

Aggression is one of the fundamental parts of Dabo Swinney's overall approach as a head coach. It's one of the reasons he decided to part ways with Vic Koenning in 2008, and it's why he went after Kevin Steele as Koenning's replacement.

Clemson's number of big plays allowed has gone up under Steele, but so have the tackles for loss and sacks. Steele has been aggressive, and that ain't gonna change this year. In fact, the mentality might be enhanced given the circumstances.

The biggest concern right now on defense is depth on the defensive line, and struggles up front could theoretically allow opposing offenses to have better success running the ball and thus play this game of keep-away that is feared by Malzahn and Morris.

Another interesting quote from the book:

"One of the biggest challenges a coach will face when using the hurry-up, no-huddle philosophy is that you have to have the mentality that if you get beat, it may be by a lot because you are lengthening the game. We have been in a few games where we were behind three or four touchdowns early in the game. If we had not had this mentality, we would have lost them all. The hardest losses for coaches are the close ones. ... More often than not the blowouts seem to be a little easier to live with in the long run."

Fans in these parts don't need to be reminded that Auburn was down big in the third game last season, 17-0 at home to Clemson, only to come back and win in overtime. Auburn was also down double digits to South Carolina before coming back to win.

And, of course, there was the mother of all comebacks in the regular-season finale at Alabama -- the rebound from a 24-0 deficit is still hard to believe, all these months later.

On to some Tuesday links...

Gene Sapakoff fires up his Braggin' Rights Barometer and gets a preseason readout of Sakerlina 24, Clemson 17. Sounds about right for now.

The ACC Sports Journal presents its preseason power rankings and ... wow on Maryland at No. 3. Clemson, by the way, checks in at No. 6.

Here's a Q&A with Paul Johnson, and he correctly diagnoses the Jackets' biggest problem last season.

"I think turnovers will be huge. We’ve got to do a better job of taking care of the ball, and we’ve got to get it more. And I think if we do that, we’ve got a chance to be OK. We would have won a lot more games last year if we’d have done that."

The Dothan Eagle quotes Dabo Swinney saying he knows Troy won't be intimidated Saturday.

Swinney, who grew up in Alabama and played and coached at the University of Alabama, is very familiar with Troy head coach Larry Blakeney.

He’s also aware of Troy’s recent history with big-name schools, including victories over Missouri (2004) and Oklahoma State (2007) at home. He knows about Troy taking a 31-3 lead at LSU in 2008 before falling 40-31, and is aware of the Trojans’ 41-38 loss last year at an 11-win Oklahoma State team.

“They’ll be coming here to win, I promise you that,” Swinney said. “They’ve been to Nebraska, Florida State, LSU… they’ve been everywhere. They’ll come here to win. That’s a fact. I’ve watched them my whole life. I’m very respectful of their program.”

Saturday's matchup to watch: LT Phillip Price vs. end Jonathan Massaquoi.

“He is probably as good a rush end as we’ll see all year,” Swinney said. “He’s a really good player coming off the edge. That’ll be a challenge for our tackles."

Richard Deitsch has an excellent college football roundtable with two of my favorite scribes, but I think Andy Staples and Stewart Mandel are way off on their Brent Musberger take.

He strikes me as a shell of the guy who used to be at the Esso Club and Death Valley for all those big games in the 1980s.



LW

Sizing up N.C. State

So far we've run "Enemy Lines" features examining 11 of Clemson's opponents, including our interview with Ron Morris on South Carolina over the weekend.

We saved N.C. State for today's blog, even though the Wolfies are the Tigers' 11th opponent and the Gamecocks are the 12th.

Jacey Zembal of the Rivals.com site The Wolfpacker was kind enough to share his time for this Q&A on N.C. State.

TI: What did you think of Tom O'Brien sort of pushing Russell Wilson out the door? Seems a lot of people on the outside (including me) questioned that, given Wilson's abilities as a dynamic QB.
ZEMBAL: "The Tom O'Brien decision about quarterbacks Russell Wilson and Mike Glennon will get discussed for years. The start of the situation basically came when Wilson joined the seniors for Senior Day last year, tipping his hand that he was going to focus on professional baseball. He already had his degree and the Colorado Rockies were paying him a good chunk of change. If Wilson got off to a good start in minor league baseball, does he even want to play college football this season? Only he would know.

"Glennon's situation complicated matters even more because he was set to graduate in May, so like Wilson, he could transfer to another college and be eligible right away. If the Wolfpack had committed to Wilson and worked around his schedule, Glennon would have left. If by the off chance that Wilson was tearing it up in minor league baseball and elected to remain a pro baseball player, then redshirt freshman Tyler Brosius and true freshman Brian Taylor would have been the only scholarship quarterbacks left on the roster.

"A lot was made about Wilson missing spring practices and offseason workouts, but that wasn't any different from what he went through in 2010, and it didn't affect his play on the field. Could he have been a little bit better if he just focused on football? Sure, but he still was an All-ACC caliber quarterback.

"The safe gamble was taking Glennon for two years rather than find out later if Wilson was going to focus on college football or pro baseball."

TI: What is your take on Glennon, and how might the Wolfpack's offense change philosophically with him running the show?
ZEMBAL: "Glennon is a high-level talent and has legit NFL skills at 6-foot-6 and 230 pounds, and with a big arm. He's far superior to Wilson as an NFL prospect, but Wilson's experience and ability to scramble make him more ideal for the college game. Whoever the quarterback ended up being for N.C. State, he was going to have all new wide receivers to throw to. It's unfair to compare Glennon this year to Wilson last year because of that void at wide receiver.

"The play-calling of the offense will change. Glennon has torched N.C. State's defense in two out of the last three spring games with the current offense. Offensive coordinator Dana Bible just won't be calling for as many roll-outs and read-option plays with Glennon compared to Wilson. N.C. State will also be able to pass over the middle more with Glennon's ability to see over the linemen."

TI: What is your assessment of N.C. State's recruiting the past few years, and overall talent level on hand right now?
ZEMBAL: "N.C. State isn't landing four and five star players, but if they get the right mix of players, they'll be fine. What the Wolfpack have been able to do is find contributors with some toughness, who will work in the scheme of the offense and defense. Add in a star quarterback and a couple of difference-making defensive players, and it's a winning philosophy.

"It's not flashy, but it's a formula that the current coaching staff used at Boston College, and other colleges such as Iowa or West Virginia have used for over a decade. Great quarterback play is always the difference in college football, and the staff has been pretty good at finding playmakers at the spot.

"The program has been producing about two NFL players per year, and that could rise to around four players in the next few years, but it's too early to tell."

TI: What's your assessment of the defense, which loses Nate Irving?
ZEMBAL: "The defense will lose some of its star power with middle linebacker Nate Irving going to the pros. Add in fifth-year senior defensive tackle J.R. Sweezy, who will miss some early games because of a foot injury.

"The back seven is experienced with the linebackers the strength of the defense. Fifth-year senior middle linebacker Audie Cole, redshirt junior outside linebacker Terrell Manning and sophomore outside linebacker D.J. Green (a converted strong safety), all run well. The secondary took a hit when redshirt sophomore cornerback Jarvis Byrd blew out his knee after missing last year with a knee injury on the opposite side. Byrd was expected to beat out incumbent cornerback C.J. Wilson. N.C. State could have trouble generating a pass rush from its front four, but expect a lot of blitzes again from defensive coordinator Mike Archer."

TI: Owen Spencer, Jarvis Williams and Darrell Davis are gone. Those three caught a combined 127 passes and scored 12 touchdowns last
season. How big of a drop-off will there be at receiver?
ZEMBAL: "As previously mentioned, Glennon won't have the same cast of receivers to throw to that Wilson did. Williams and Spencer are major losses, and it's likely to be a decline at the spot. All-American tight end candidate George Bryan, a fifth-year senior, and the running backs and fullbacks all catch the ball well. It's going to take some time for a few of the receivers to emerge. There is a lot of speed at the position, but dependability doesn't happen overnight.

"The players have been buzzing about fifth-year senior Jay Smith, who looks the part, but has never earned a major spot in the receivers rotation, which usually has six players making appearances each game."

TI thanks Zembal for sharing his time and insight.
LW

About last week

We've already diminished the stock that's placed on transitive properties from season to season, and from game to game.

The ACC and identity

You have to think Mike Krzyzewski is smiling or chucking (or whatever he does when he's amused) just a little in the wake of these scandals that have rocked ACC football programs in recent months.

Sizing up Wake Forest with Jim Grobe

Jim Grobe has no qualms about soberly assessing last season and identifying it for what it was: an absolute wreck.

A look at Georgia Tech

So what's going on over in Paul Johnson Land?

Jim Grobe talks Clemson's offense

Tried getting in touch with a Wake Forest beat writer for the "Enemy Lines" feature on the Deacons and came up with nothing but tumbleweed.

Is carryover overrated?

Question of the day: Do we place too much importance on transitive properties from season to season?

As in:

The U(nconscionable)

Wonder how many Miami fans out there watched the 30 for 30 documentary on "The U" and thought:

Enemy Lines: North Carolina

So with all the August camp coverage, we're going to migrate some of these "Enemy Lines" segments to the blog (hey, priorities).

Overdone deal

Most people who get into the sports media business do so with dreams of making a big name for themselves by breaking big stories.

And here we go again...

Man, why couldn't they unearth these conference realignment bombshells back in June and July when nothing was going on?

To tweet or not to tweet

Will Folks is a high-profile dude. He used to be a spokesman for Mark Sanford. Now he runs a web site that features his takes, which are often irreverent and belligerent.

Like it's 1999

Very interesting Q&A with Frank Beamer here from Kyle Tucker of the Virginian-Pilot.

Some of the notable excerpts:

Trap games

Matt Hayes of The Sporting News has presented his 2011 "trap games" facing Top 10 teams, and Florida State's trap game is its trip to Clemson on Sept. 24.

Coming soon to a bookstore near you

So a few months ago I’m spending some time catching up with old friend Travis Haney, who covers the Gamecocks for my old shop at The Post and Courier in Charleston.

Haney was in the Upstate doing a signing of his book on South Carolina’s run to the 2010 College World Series title. We were perched at the bar of the Blue Heron in downtown Clemson, grabbing a pint and a bite.

“Oh, by the way,” Travis asks, as if he’s about to tell me something fairly unimportant and unexciting.

“Do you want to help me write a book on the Clemson-Carolina football rivalry?”

Well it didn’t take long to say yes. For the sake of accuracy, it might actually have been “Hell yes.”

The fine folks who published Travis’ first book, The History Press in Charleston, were excited about the reception it received. So they wanted to keep up the momentum with another sports-themed book, and their idea was a definitive work on the Gamecocks-Tigers rivalry.

Numerous books have been published on this topic over the years, and all of them have been good in their own way. But no one has endeavored to dig beneath the play-by-play and unearth all the great stories in written form.

That’s the task Travis and I spent our summers tackling. And I feel completely safe saying that, of all the cool things I’ve been lucky enough to do in more than 13 years of doing this for a living, this is by far the most thrilling and fulfilling.

Guessing part of it is because I’m from this state and grew up with the rivalry. It probably helps that grandparents and parents and uncles and aunts and cousins who came before me did as well, from both sides of it. Doing a book on, say, the Georgia-Georgia Tech rivalry probably wouldn’t have been nearly as appealing. It’d have seemed like work. This one sounded like … fun.

The theme of it is identifying 20 stories that have defined the rivalry that dates back to 1896. I have 10 chapters, and Travis has 10. The object of each chapter is to bring a particular story back to life by heavy research and interviews with the people who were involved with the stories.

Some stories are easy to tell because they’re easy to remember. The brawl of 2004. The 63-17 smashing in 2003. Steve Taneyhill’s antics in 1992.

Others aren’t so easy. Reconstructing what happened in 1946 takes some homework. And there’s no one to talk to who was around for the crazy events of 1902.

So my second homes for most of the summer were the Special Collections department of the Strom Thurmond Institute and the microfilm section of the Cooper Library. It was a bit of an weird and surreal feeling to actually look forward to scanning old newspapers for hours on end. The stories and anecdotes discovered in those clippings were just that good.

I hope this doesn’t come off as bragging, but if this book is nearly as exciting and compelling to read as it has been to report and write, then it’s going to be something fans on both sides will enjoy and even treasure. It’s surprising no one else has taken on this project to this extent, because the stories and the overall history are impossible to put down.

The working title is: State of Disunion: Bad Blood and Classic Clashes in the Clemson-Carolina football rivalry, though that has not been finalized and could be tweaked between now and the book’s anticipated release date of early November.

I’m also ecstatic to report that The History Press has signed off on allowing book excerpts to be published on Tigerillustrated.com. So you folks will have quite the sneak preview coming this fall.

We’ll have plenty more on it in coming months. Just wanted to let you folks know what’s coming.

Travis, by the way, has a lot going on right now. In addition to wrapping up work on the book and covering the Gamecocks in August camp, he’s preparing for a move to Oklahoma to cover the Sooners for The Oklahoman of Oklahoma City.

It’s a great opportunity for him, and he leaves some expansive shoes to fill on the Gamecocks beat.

I’m just glad he thought of me for this particular opportunity. It’s been an honor.

LW

Loopers gone loopy ... and links!

"The only place I'm interested in finishing is first. Obviously it's a very tough game and you can't always win but I'm a very confident front-runner. There were a lot of expectations today. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little nervous. There's a lot that's been said this week. It's an incredible feeling to back it up. I always back myself. I'm a great front-runner. Great belief in myself."

Let's take the aforementioned quotes and imagine them uttered, say, by an Alabama equipment manager in the moments after the Crimson Tide won the BCS title. Or a NASCAR tire changer whose driver just won the Daytona 500.

Poll positioning

Any reasonable analysis of Florida State has to contain a battle of the past versus the present.

Voices from the past

I'm sure you'll agree it's been a great summer for content at Tigerillustrated.com.

Protecting the ball in the HUNH

Last night we posted a story from a recent interview with Chad Morris on the helping hand he gave alma mater Texas A&M in its attempt to rejuvenate its offense.