BC-Clemson preview

Is anyone else having a tough time getting a handle on this game? Was BC exposed last week? Will they be refocused this week? And what sort of Clemson team is going to show up? The Tigers could be energized and ready to play spoiler or they could give up at the first sign of adversity. BC needs the win to stay alive in the division race. The past three Clemson-BC games have been classics. There is less at stake this year, but the team’s match up well and come in desperate. That should make for another interesting game.

Narrative talking point that you’ll tire of by the end of the game.
“Dabo Swinney has the team playing with a lot of emotion…he’s a fiery young coach.” Clemson’s interim head coach wears his emotions on his sleeve but that is not going to decide the game. After years of watching our own stoic coach, I appreciate a little fire, but TV guys (and even bloggers) put too much emphasis on it. BC has beaten Clemson strategically the past three years (using two offensive lines on a scorching day in 2005, special teams in 2006, contain, contain, contain in 2007). The winner this week will not be determined by a Gipper speech.

Three Simple Keys
1. Pressure from our Defensive Tackles. Although they are healthier than they’ve been all year, Clemson is still using a patchwork offensive line. The teams that have beaten them exploited that weakness early and disrupted the entire offense. BC needs to do the same and it will start with Raji and Brace.
2. Avoid “costly” turnovers. The impact of turnovers is situational. That said, our “Pick 6s” the past few weeks have been terrible! BC cannot put the defense in a hole again this week. I believe that if we have another returned interception, we lose.
3. Vary our defensive looks. Clemson has a new offensive coordinator and plans on playing two QBs. The last thing we need is to make life easier on them by playing base D with little pressure. Mix things up over and over and keep them guessing. Don’t wait for them to make mistakes.

Gambling Notes
-- Clemson hasn’t beaten BC since 1958.
-- Since joining the ACC, BC is 0-3 in their games in the first week of November.
-- BC hasn’t lost two conference home games in one season since 2003.
The current line is BC-4

Factoid
BC has only played seven overtimes since the OT rules took effect in the mid-90s. Clemson accounts for two of those games. They are also the only BC-ACC games that have gone to OT.

Scoreboard watching
Maryland is off this week, but kickoff times and division standings provide true scoreboard watching this Saturday. While we are battling it out with Clemson, Florida State will face Georgia Tech and Wake Forest takes on Duke. We need Florida State and Wake to lose.

I hope to see…
Dominique Davis on the field. I am not trying to create controversy. I believe the chatter that Davis is not ready. Regardless, I feel even a cameo appearance would help BC. Who knows what he might do, how it might refocus Crane and how Clemson will react?

BC is in trouble if…
Clemson decides to throw 40+ times. Swinney is saying he wants to pound the ball. I think they should test our secondary. They struggled last week and Clemson has the mismatches to burn us. Let’s hope Swinney outsmarts himself.

Bottom Line
I like our advantages in the trenches. I think this game can be won with a conservative ground game and bringing a lot of run blitzes against them. I see this as low scoring with BC winning and getting back in the Atlantic race.
Final Score: BC 27, Clemson 13