Guest Blogger: Bayou Bengals Edition

Last week, I exchanged Q&A's with Richard from AndTheValleyShook, an LSU blog. We discussed the status of our programs and what to expect for the upcoming bowl game. Click here to see our responses. We learned some new things and we hope you all do as well. Enjoy!

Various teams have prepared for the triple option differently. For instance, FSU attempted to defend our offense by practicing without a football trying to emphasize disciplined defense. How has LSU prepared for our attack?

As I mentioned in [this write-up], LSU's bowl preparations are a mystery on the order of Roswell, New Mexico or "Who Shot Mr. Burns?". But there is one piece of information that may be of some use. LSU hired former Oklahoma defensive coordinator Larry Lacewell to come in and consult on how to stop a triple option offense. I figure Lacewell should know, as he was at Oklahoma during the heyday of the Nebraska-Oklahoma rivalry, and later was a head coach of a triple option team. It's an interesting decision, and one that it is hard to find fault with.


Michael Johnson has an obvious presence on his side of the defensive line. How do you expect the Tigers to make him as little of a factor as possible?

Honestly, I can't say I'm knowledgeable about Georgia Tech football, and I have to confess that until reading your questions, I had never heard the name Michael Johnson in a non-sprinting capacity. Doing a little checking on him, it seems he's a pass rushing defensive end. Which side? If he's over the left tackle, I am fairly confident that our left tackle, Ciron Black, can hold his own. Our right tackle is a lot less experienced, but very talented. If we have a lot of trouble with him in passing situations, you can expect roll-out passes going away from him. The QB who will be starting this game is very mobile.

In the running game, look for a lot of misdirection and/or pound-it-right-at-the-defense. Jordan Jefferson can run some option from the quarterback position, and Charles Scott is a bruising tailback. I can't say I know what they would do, but my guess is that if he is the focal point of the defense, they will try to overwhelm him at the point of attack and/or try to make him spend his energy reading what the offense is doing rather than attacking.

Do you see the next Matt Mauck (or Flynn) coming out of this group of LSU QB's? Or is the QB of the future still playing HS ball?

The LSU quarterback situation has as many opinions as there are LSU fans, and probably even more than that, as non-LSU fans also have opinions on it. I think Jordan Jefferson is the quarterback for the moment, but what happens in Spring and beyond is anyone's guess. Jarrett Lee's problems were well-documented, but what seems to be forgotten is that he was doing very well thank you very much until the interceptions started going to his head and he started getting down on himself. Unlike most freshman QBs, you could see him become less and less comfortable as the season went on, rather than more and more comfortable.

Lee is a pure pocket passer, about as mobile as Bernie Kosar at this point in his career. That's fine, but you have to be accurate if you're going to play football that way. Unfortunately, Lee was really asked to come in and produce too early. He was just not ready yet, but you see the flashes of brilliance that you expect to see in a young player with potential. The problem for Lee is that Jordan Jefferson has potential too, and let's not even get started on the potential that Russell Shepard possesses. Have you seen his senior video out of Cy Ridge High School? Good God! I rarely gush over the abilities of a high school player, but this kid looks like Michael Vick without the character problems.

And everyone seems to forget Andrew Hatch. Hatch is no great talent, but I don't think it's a coincidence that Lee's season came off the rails when Hatch got hurt. Hatch was steady if unspectacular, and he was able to give Lee the breaks he needed to keep himself even-keeled.

As for the next Matt Mauck, well, keep in mind I am no Matt Mauck-worshipper. I think the guy was a solid college quarterback, but that 2003 team won with defense, effective running, and LOTS AND LOTS of screen passes. It didn't take a lot of skill to be the LSU quarterback that year. He had a very high completion percentage, but it's deceptive because he threw so many safe passes. It is my fervent hope that when the LSU quarterback situation is settled, whoever wins the job will be better than Matt Mauck.

Name a player who will have to step up (even up to the level of "average") in order for LSU to win.

I can't name one player, but I think the entire interior middle of our defense will have to step up to stop the option. The interior middle of our defense (the defensive tackles and starting middle linebacker Darry Beckwith) were supposed to be the strength of the defense this year, but an injury to Beckwith slowed him down all year, and Ricky Jean-Francois (who was supposed to be our stud DT) had a very ordinary 2008 campaign. If Beckwith can be the stud he'd been in the past, and if Jean-Francois can elevate to where he was supposed to be, that will make life very difficult for you inside.


For those who don't know enough, can you summarize LSU's offensive scheme?

It's hard to summarize. We can throw a lot of different looks at people. We run a lot of Power-I with Charles Scott behind fullback Quinn Johnson. We can also go 5-wide. We line up with two tight ends, one tight end, or no tight ends. We can do no-huddle. We run the pistol formation. We run shotgun. We run under center. We can throw a bruising back at you, or we can run a 5'6" sprinter who almost made the Olympics this year. You will rarely see a college team who runs as many TYPES of things as LSU does. When it works (see the 2008 BCSNCG against Oklahoma), it can be intimidating. When it doesn't (see most of this year), it seems to overwhelm our own players more than it overwhelms the opposition.

Over the course of the year, we were at our best when we could throw to set up the run. For all the fancy gadgets we ran, our most effective plays were play-action passes and I-formation runs between the tackles. For all of our 5-wide setups, we really only had one WR and one tight end who were consistent pass-catching threats.

Hypothetical situation: What do you think about GT replacing Arkansas in the SEC (or any other school in the SEC for that matter)?

I would be for it. GT is a natural in the SEC. Arkansas really isn't. Aren't you guys in the "Coastal" division or some such crap like that? How do you fit into the ACC? You're an original SEC team, and I'd be happy to see you return. The problem is that if you replaced Arkansas, the divisions would have to re-align. Would you guys come into the West? Or would Vandy move into the West?


Who is the biggest rival of LSU: Tulane, [SEC West Opponent], or Ole Miss? Any season, any sport.

LSU's biggest rivals are Ole Miss, Alabama, and Auburn. Tulane was our biggest rival at one time, but that time was before I was born, and I am now 34 years old. We don't even play Tulane every year anymore, and it's been a very long time since we were willing to do a home-and-home with them due to the big disparities in our fan bases. It would be like Georgia's biggest rival being Georgia State. Ole Miss is our other traditional rival, but this year notwithstanding Ole Miss has not really been on our level in football in a while. Sure, they beat us on occasion, but we are clearly overall the better program since Ole Miss declined in the '60s. Even in our 1990s down period we still were as good of a program as they were overall.

They beat us this year, but I think it's something of an aberration. Ole Miss has its most solid team in a long time, and it won't be that good much longer. Because of our problems with personnel at quarterback, and with coaching on defense (both of which will be corrected sooner rather than later) this year was an aberration for LSU. It may sound conceited, but I am firmly convinced that we will be back in the hunt for the SEC next year. Ole Miss may be there too next year, but I don't think their recruiting will keep up in the long run.

Alabama and Auburn on the other hand...

Guest Blogger: Tarheel Edition

First off, look for our ACC Roundtable update later today.

Our Guest Blogger this week is Jake from TareEye or Buckheel. Yes, he is a confused individual who can't seem to make up his mind to cheer for tOSU or UNC. We traded questions earlier this week and here are his responses. Click here to see our responses on his site.


1. It seems as if Butch Davis is making his mark in Chapel Hill. What about him is so different from John Bunting?

Bunting is a Carolina man that had the backing of the administration and his teams mostly for that reason. He represented the University well, but he just wasn’t a good football coach.

Even though Carolina finished last season with four wins, which was only one more than Bunting’s final season, it was clear that Davis was changing things.

Why? Well, it was mostly the little things that he implemented that began to change the culture. All of the sudden, the home games were amped up with fireworks, pregame festivities and other little things that just made fans excited.

A general feeling that football would return to glory engulfed Chapel Hill.

As a fan, I can genuinely say that until the last week or so with all the preseason polls and discussion I have not been looking forward to basketball season.

Blasphemy! I can’t say that’s true for the entire fan base, but it certainly is true for those that appreciate football here at Carolina. It’s a process—Carolina fans are conditioned to enjoy basketball more, but Butch is changing that.

This link about sums up why he's a better coach.

But when it comes to the X’s and O’s I think Davis’ willingness to experiment and adapt separates him from Bunting. Davis still makes coaching mistakes—the management of the Virginia game most noticeably—but he truly is a fan’s coach.

2. Last week, Florida State tried to prepare for the triple option by practicing without a ball. How are the Tar Heels preparing for our offense?

You know I haven’t heard any details, but I know last week the Heels rested and started looking at Georgia Tech, so they’ve had an extra week to prepare for the offense.

That’s interesting that Florida State practiced without a ball. Davis hasn’t mentioned anything in his press conferences other than saying that Georgia Tech’s offense forces the secondary to play closer to the line of scrimmage, setting up for play action passes.

From my basic knowledge, the triple option requires the linebackers and lineman to play extremely disciplined. If the quarterback decides to keep it, going straight after him sets up for a big play via the pitch.

The Heels are speedy, but I would argue that they lack speed at defensive end and the linebackers. The defensive tackles—most notably Marvin Austin—are NFL sized and should take away the fullback, but I would have thought the same about Florida State—the play where the fullback took the ball straight up the middle was nifty.

Yet Carolina has merely limited opponents’ running game rather than taking it away. Obviously, this will be the key to the game—can UNC limit the running game?

3. We have not had a lot of time to actually look at Carolina's basic defensive setup. Describe it to us. Who is the defensive player to avoid?

Trimane Goddard is a beast at safety and has made several game-changing interceptions, most notably against Miami. He’s tied for fourth in the nation with 5 picks this season.

Carolina runs a basic 4-3 defense and limits blitzing on passing downs. For the most part, the Heels prefer to play it safe, and it has paid off as they have are tied for first in most interceptions by a team.

A lot of anger from the fan base resulted from the Virginia game in which the Heels played prevent defense late and allowed a game-tying touchdown. This defense also allowed Boston College to score two touchdowns—both at the end of the halves.

The biggest knock on the Heels is definitely the failure of the prevent defense. It allowed Notre Dame, Miami, Virginia and Boston College to drive down much of the field late in the game. Fortunately, turnovers sealed the victory for the Heels against Notre Dame and Miami.

This prevent defense utilizes three lineman and eight defensive backs. However, I don’t think this defense will be unveiled against Georgia Tech unless the game comes down to a 2 minute drill. Carolina doesn’t ever use a standard nickel package—five defensive backs, two linebackers and four lineman—to my knowledge.

4. Who is one player that is going to have to step it up, even up to average, in order for y'all to win?

Cam Sexton has been the key for the Heels since Yates and now Tate have gone down.

The defense has been fairly reliable this season; I expect them to give Carolina a chance in every game with a big play or two—I’m always surprised with the plays they pull out.

But when Sexton shines, the Heels are difficult to defend. Even without Tate, Carolina employs several weapons at receiver that make them extremely dangerous. Hakeem Nicks is a beast of a receiver that can make plays downfield or turn short passes into huge gains. If Sexton can get Nicks the ball, and, most importantly, turn the ball over no more than once, than the Heels have a great chance to win the game.

Butch Davis found out against Virginia that you cannot play it safe—you must place confidence in your quarterback to make plays down the field. Sexton has proved that several times this season, but his tendency to throw interceptions dates back Bunting’s final season.

If Sexton turns the ball over more than once than the Heels loses this game. Period.



5. We are banged up as a team, but our secondary has probably had the worst of it. Do you predict the same amount of exploitation of this current weakness as we do?

Carolina’s strength is the passing game. With a few of the moving pieces gone, though, it seemed like it would regress. At first it did against Virginia, but it emerged again against Boston College—a team also weak in the secondary.

I don’t expect the type of outburst that Sexton and Nicks had against Boston College, but certainly that is what the coaches will focus on.

Carolina’s Shaun Draughn is quietly having a successful season after being moved from safety to running back. Draughn’s production surprises me as he does not seem like he would be a productive back, but the Heels have made it work. Draughn’s ability to hit the hole quickly allows the Heels to move the ball much better, but hasn’t shown more than giving the offense four or five yards consistently. He has not made many long plays.

Georgia Tech cannot sleep on the running game as the coaches have shown the willingness to exploit teams with whatever works.

But Carolina likes to pass on first down—something I love—and it can get them in trouble. However, it also makes it much more difficult to predict the Heels’ play calling.

6. We know about Franklin Street. But what is the best bar on Franklin Street?

Ah, well this blogger is modestly only 20 years of age with six months and six days until he can enjoy the Franklin street festivities. Not that I’m counting or anything.

However, if you want a good locally brewed beer and if you want to get a taste of Chapel Hill, Top of the Hill is the place to be. The beers are based off of local features, and the environment is perfect as the restaurant looks over Franklin Street. Top of the Hill is the place to be on Franklin Street

Guest Blogger: Noles Edition

This weeks Guest Blogger is Bud from Tomahawknation.com. By now, you all know the drill. We sent over some questions and here are his responses. Click here to read our responses. Enjoy!

1. The ACC is a crazy conference this year with everyone beating up on each other. The Coastal Division is also one of the toughest divisions in college football as every team has a winning record. As an Atlantic Division team, what do you make of this if anything? Also, go through FSU's remaining schedule and tell us if they can and how they'll stay on top of their division.

I think the ACC is the closest thing we have to the NFL in college football. SMQ profiled this in past years Here, and Here. I'll add that we've put more defensive players in the NFL than the SEC, over the past 5 years. The offensive talent in the league seems to be lacking, however, and I think that is because most of the head coaches are defensive natured. With so much defensive emphasis, games are bound to be close, and close games create parity. The Coastal Division has better records right now, but I'm not so sure they are better now with the injuries to VT's QBs. I'll point you to this huge piece I did on the remaining schedule issue, here.

2. Since 2005, the Seminoles have gone 8-5, 7-6, and 7-6. They are currently 6-1 and are 1 game away from being bowl eligible. What is different from this year when compared to the previous three?

The obvious answer is the change at Head Coach, err, "Offensive Coordinator" and Quarterback. Jimbo has completely changed the culture. Practices are much more intense. They pay attention to details. I'm not sure many realize just how disorganized and inept the previous administration was. At QB, Ponder is already ahead of fan favorite Weatherford, and our situation at QB looks excellent, with promising young talent, and experienced veteran depth. In short, it's the attitude changes brought on by the changes in personnel. One underrated angle, however, is injuries. FSU was the 2nd most injured team in the Nation over the past 2 years (measured by starts lost), and this year they seem to be slightly better than average in that department.

3. Last week, the Cavaliers picked our defense apart (we'll ignor the missed holding calls) with a solid running back and a calm quarterback. What about Florida State's offensive scheme scheme is going to give us fits?

I assume you mean what about FSU's OFFENSE. I don't think anything we do will give GT fits. I do think, however, that this offense is very difficult to defend, because if it's diversity. We have 2 guys on the outside who are very tall, and will be in the NFL, in Corey Surrency (6'5"), and Greg Carr (6'6"). At any time, Ponder can take a 3 step drop and throw the jump ball to those guys. In fact, he did it twice against one of the ACC's best corners in VT's Macho Harris (Carr caught both for 48 and 39 yards). Given than, teams are pretty reluctant to play Man- Free or Cover -1. It's safe to say that we see a lot of cover 2 and cover 3. There are also 2 other elements. We have 3 excellent slot guys, in Parker, Easterling, and Bert Reed. Parker was our huge weapon last year, Easterling has been phenomenal this year, and Reed is a serious track guy. When teams go cover-2 or cover-3, we throw bubble screens to those guys, over, and over, and over. Ponder threw 11 of them for over 150 yards against NC State, and we killed Miami with them as well. Instead of being a gimmick like many use it, we throw it as a base part of our offense. There is a 5 play set based off of this. We run the zone read, with fake bubble action (nice cutback lanes), the bubble, with zone action, the fake bubble and go (see the tall guys), the fake bubble qb draw, and the bubble- WR pass. FSU runs it so often that they're pretty smooth in it. This is truly a great screen team, and with our small linemen (averaging about 280 lbs), we should be. The other thing that might give VT fits is the running of Ponder. He has already run for over 20 first downs this year, and posted the top pro-shuttle time on our entire team. That said, our OLine has had major issues, and are in fact the youngest in America, with 3 True Frosh, a Soph, and a RS Soph.

4. Bobby Bowden: How involved is he actually on gameday? You don't usually see him grab for a headset. Is he a head coach in the fact that he manages the team Sunday through Friday and let his coordinators take over or is he really the epitome of a figurehead?

We get this question a lot, and it really implies two extremes, neither of which are true. Bowden doesn't do a lot of x and o's stuff, but he is not a complete figurehead. In modern day big boy college football, the head coach has a lot of duties that people don't think about. Bowden handles the media pretty well, and spends a lot of his time with that, as well as dealing with boosters stuff. That allows the true general, Jimbo Fisher, to watch film 24 hours a day like a maniac, haha. He seems much more alert this year than past, and my guess is that comes with his increased comfort level with Jimbo Fisher. On Gameday, he watches for things on the field, handles the officials, etc. What he doesn't do is get in his coaches way. If you're going to be the CEO type, and Bowden created this role, you can't meddle with your coordinators. He's done a great job of trusting them this year, something I and many other wondered if he could do.

5. Now that you have seen Jimbo Fisher in action for a bit, what are your views on him being the next in line for head coach? Do you like the trend of "next in line" coaches?

I think everyone loves Jimbo. He saved us from a pretty ridiculous situation. I don't think he is some offensive genius, though he is pretty damn goog. I would put him somewhere between the crazy schemer type (Saban), and the motivator, recruiter, caretaker (Less Miles, Mack Brown). He puts in the hours that you expect from someone who will soon make 4 Million. He's about to seal his second consecutive top 10 recruiting class, and has energized our efforts in that area, as recruits now know who will take over when Bobby retires. I'm going to pass on the second half of this question. It really is situation specific. Obviously, it brings a lot of stability. It also could create a horrible leadership conflict dynamic if the head coach stays too long, or opposes the deal. The real key is to do your homework as a University.

6. It's been quite a few years since Georgia Tech and Florida State last played football against each other and a rivalry seemed to be in the making. What do you miss most about those yearly matchups?

I asked Tomahawk Nation's resident historian, Fsued to answer this one: Always winning! Seriously, perhaps its because the Noles have enjoyed somuch success against the Yellow Jackets, but this has always felt like afriendly rivalry. One theory -- we've both been fighting for equal footingwith the "big in-state giant" (in your case Georgia, in our case ... well,you know who; guess we'll be rooting against each other in TWO games thisweekend!). For that reason, I think FSU fans have viewed GT as anon-threatening rival. Honestly, for those familiar with Seminole footballhistory, the 29-24 win in 1992 over the Jackets was so important to theevolution of the FSU program, that for that reason alone we've probablyreserved a soft spot for our neighbors to the north. With Tommy Bowdengone from Clemson, Ga. Tech is probably FSU's most natural out-of-stateACC rival. For that rivarly to blossom, however, the Jackets are going tohave to win some games -- y'all have a great shot to do that this weekend.

Guest Blogger: Wahoo Edition

This week's Guest Blogger is Brendan at From Old Virginia. We sent him a few questions regarding UVA and posted below are his answers. The same things will be over at his site later this afternoon. Read below and you might actually learn something (We did!) Enjoy! Post your comments below. Click here to read our Q&A with Brendan.



1. The Georgia Tech/Virginia game is usually a game where the home teamwins. What does UVA bring and what do they have to do to break this pattern and keep their win streak alive?


Frankly, this is because the (Insert Team Here)/Virginia game is usually a game where the home team wins. Our problems on the road run deeper than just Georgia Tech, though Bobby Dodd does happen to bring out this quality more so than most stadiums. From a football standpoint, we have to keep doing what we've been doing: use Cedric Peerman as the hammer and Marc Verica as the staple gun. We need to keep getting better at run-blocking, because we're not good at it. And from a football standpoint, the defensive line needs to occupy the point of attack and not get knocked off the line of scrimmage, which is the entire foundation of the 3-4 defense but even more crucial against the Paul Johnson offense.But our road problems are a source of much lamentation among the Wahoo faithful. Sometimes I get the feeling the game is lost before kickoff. Our success on the road almost always has less to do with the X's and O's and more with the psychological aspect of whatever it is that bothers us away from the friendly confines of Scott Stadium.


2. Al Groh always seems to find himself on the hot seat at some point in aseason. What are your thoughts and opinions on what he has done for the UVA football program.


George Welsh brought the program out of the Dark Ages and through the '80s and '90s....and kind of left it in the early '90s when he retired. Al Groh brought us into the new millenium, and started right away by putting names on the jerseys and those little half-stripes on the helmets. This has been a mixed bag, as his call to the students to stop wearing ties to the game and start looking like football fans has resulted in a serious shortage of sundresses in the stands, which is a tremendous loss to the UVA community.But I think his greatest contribution has been to keep expectations high. He hasn't always met them, but we could have been North Carolina. That used to be a *program*. Then Mack Brown left and Carl Torbush came in; it is hard to replace a coach that's been wildly successful and Torbush wasn't up to the task, and UNC's expectations dropped to the point where six years of John Bunting seemed perfectly acceptable. Groh hasn't let that happen, and it would have been easy to do so when replacing a near-legend like George Welsh. When he leaves, which I think will be soonish, he'll leave behind a quality program and a quality legacy, but a small aftertaste of unmet expectations. Which I think is healthy for the program.


3. The Cavaliers control their destiny. Read their future and predict their next 5 games.


All your readers can play along at home; all you need is a coin and the strength to flip it, five times. I'll take my best stab at this: in the next four, we win at home (Miami, Clemson) and lose the road games (GT, Wake.) I hate to admit it but given our history, this week is screaming loss. GT and Wake are just too good to have bad days against us in their own place. But Miami really isn't a good team and Clemson will probably have mailed in the season by then.Then we have Virginia Tech. Our offense and their offense are equally bad; their defense is better, and we're on the road. That would add up to a loss, but it's way too early for me to get all emo about our chances in a rivalry game like that. So, UVA 7, Virginia Tech 3, for a 7-5 season and a place in some undercard bowl like, oh, the E*****d or Music City.


4. How do you *really feel* about your fight song?


Fight song, or Good Old Song? The thing about this is, at points in the game when most schools are playing a rousing Sousa-esque brass band anthem to awesomeness, we are singing what sounds remarkably like Auld Lang Syne to the untrained ear, except that Robert Burns was a preemptive copycat. The GOS passes for our fight song since it's what's familiar to people, but it's not *technically* the fight song. And I like it well enough that my blog's name quotes it. I mean, it's not just a song, it's a ritual; you might as well ask if they should replace the Ramblin' Wreck with a Ford Focus.The *actual* fight song is called the Cavalier Song, and not widely-known; neither the words nor the tune are well-entrenched in Wahoo lore.

Guest Blogger: Clemson Edition

So this week's Guest Blogger is Block-C. We both gave each other questions and our responses are on our respective sites. Be sure to go check out them and our answers out. Click here to go to Block-C.

1. Sounds like Cullen Harper kind of hated Tommy Bowden. Then again, Harper hasn't exactly been awesome. What is your take on comparing Korn and Harper, and how do you think Bowden handled the whole QB situation?

We don't think Harper really hated Tommy Bowden, we think it was more a reactionary statement to having just been thrown under the proverbial bus by Bowden. He's since backed off his statements, for what it's worth. Harper is a pocket passer with limited mobility. His accuracy is tough to gauge. It's high chiefly because of the number of short yardage passes we call. He's had a tougher time this season because he is more of a known quantity and because of poor offensive line play. Korn is a better all-around QB in our opinion, who has demonstrated great mobility in limited playing opportunities. If there is to be a great deal of pressure on the QB due to missed blocking assignments, Korn has the edge over Harper due to his running threat.

2. Dabo Swinney is the interim coach at Clemson. What, if anything special, does he bring to the table? What are his opinions toward Willy Korn vs. Cullen Harper?

Dabo brings several things to the table; some good, some bad. The bad, obviously, is a lack of head coaching experience. Another negative is that he's not had a great deal of time to settle into the interim coaching spot and to craft an overall gameplan for Georgia Tech. There are a great deal of positives here. Notably he was always one of the more popular coaches with players and recruits. His moves in his short time as interim head coach have been overwhelmingly positive: he fired woeful offensive coordinator Rob Spence, he kept Korn as starting QB, and he let line coach Brad Scott have his guys on the o-line go into a three point stance. (the last point is small but was a major point of contention with fans and some players) No idea on his thoughts or attitudes towards either player, but Korn is the starter. We expect Harper to get some PT as well.

3. Everyone at Georgia Tech is pretty high on our defensive line, and they have gotten alot of praise from past opponents. Can Clemson's offensive line handle what is probably the strongest unit the Yellow Jackets have?

This is the matchup that could stop Clemson's offense cold. Alabama's defensive line was extremely physical and shut down Clemson's offense. Certainly the line has learned since then, but this is really the worst (or best, depending on the perspective) place for an opponent to be sharp against us.

4. If you think Georgia Tech has any specific weaknesses that Clemson will try to exploit, what are they? Any specific players that we should worry about? Do you know where they will be sleeping Friday night?

We haven't scouted GT enough to know specific weaknesses. Sorry. I would say James Davis at RB for Clemson would be a player to key on, but the GT d-line may well neutralize him. Senior WR Aaron Kelly is due for a breakout game, but we've said that before about other players and it hasn't come into fruition. On the defensive side of the ball, safety Michael Hamlin has performed well and has 3 picks on the season. Freshman DE DaQuan Bowers should be fairly disruptive.

5. Pretend it is Saturday night, and as time ticks down, Clemson has more points than Georgia Tech. What did Clemson do in order to put itself in that position?

While it would have to be an epic game to wind down Saturday night seeing as how it's a noon kickoff (Editor's Note: Saturday night in Death Valley sounds more exciting), the prospect of a multiple overtime game can surely not be dismissed. If Clemson were to win it would likely be due to limiting the damage of the option attack while using a more inspired brand of playcalling than was provided by Rob Spence to actually not throw three yards behind the first down marker each third down, not run directly into piles of defenders over and over, and to make some halftime adjustments for the first time all season. Or we lose. Either one.