#3 Clemson vs #15 NC State Preview & Prediction:
NO. 3CLEMSON (6-0, 3-0 ACC) vs. NO.15 NC STATE (5-0, 2-0 ACC) SATURDAY, OCT. 20 • 3:30 PM ET MEMORIAL STADIUM (81,500) CLEMSON, S.C.
OVERALL: Clemson leads series, 57-28-1 –
HOME: Clemson leads series, 28-11-1 -
ROAD: Clemson leads series, 21-16 -
NEUTRAL: Clemson leads series, 8-1 LAST MEETING: Nov. 17, 2017 (38-31, W) –
STREAK: Clemson, Won 6
TELEVISION: ESPN (Sean McDonough, Todd Blackledge, Holly Rowe) RADIO: Clemson Tigers Network (Don Munson, Rodney Williams, Tim Bourret, **Sirius 113, XM 193, Internet 955**
Clemson, SC
Clemson faces the Wolfpack of NC State inside the confines of Memorial Stadium on Saturday. Coach Dabo Swinney for the 4th time in his career at Clemson will be attempting to start the season 7-0 . Clemson has won 13 of the last 14 meetings between the two Atlantic Division rivals. Wolf Pack Coach Dave Doeren brings his Pack from Raleigh into this contest undefeated at 5-0 and 2-0 inside ACC conference play. Clemson, also undefeated at 6-0 and 3-0 in the ACC, looks to continue the march back to both the ACC Championship and the College Football Playoffs.
This game features future NFL signal caller Ryan Finely, the Wolfpack quarterback forwent leaving early for the NFL to return to Raleigh and lead the Pack again in 2018. Clemson will send out true freshman Trevor Lawrence onto the field in the 3rd start of his inaugural season as the Clemson quarterback. One storyline to keep your eyes on will be the chess match by the Clemson defense and coordinator Brent Venables and the Pack’s signal caller Finley. Finley who is considered by many analysts a day one draft pick in next years NFL Draft. Will be continuously probing Venables defense to find a weakness and exploit that area. The Tiger defense will be looking to confuse and show the signal caller different looks and play away from any tendencies and do their best to confuse the Wolfpack QB. Clemson’s offense will again try to feed sophomore Travis Etienne who averages 128 yards a game this season. NC State lost a lot of talent and depth along the defensive line to graduation and the NFL draft last season. But so far this season the Pack and their defense have held their own. But they have yet to see the firepower and depth that Clemson brings to the bear on the other side of the ball.
When NC State has the Ball:
Finley will pepper the boundary with quick screens, slants and pop pass to running back’s out of the backfield. The Pack runs a version of the “RPO” but seldom will Finley hold the ball when meshing with the running back. Reggie Gallaspy is a solid running back and splits time with Ricky Persons, the two have been very effective in keeping things balanced on this offensive side of the ball. Clemson will first look to stop the run and force the Pack to make a living off of Finley and his very dangerous wide receiver corps to win this game. Taking away the run from the outset is imperative for this Clemson defense. The Pack offensive line is a veteran group that could make this a tough task for Christian Wilkins and company. Finely loves to find his downfield targets and his favorite is by far Kelvin Harmon. The 6’3 wideout is a match up nightmare for a lot of defensive backs. The Tigers, however, employ larger bodied corners in AJ Terrell and Trayvon Mullen. These two players have the ability to match up physically and knock these big receivers off their routes. Finely and crew will move the ball at times, and at times in chunks. Just too much talent on the field for the Pack for it not to shine every so often, and they will.
Harmon will get a big play in this game. It will be the inability to sustain any run game that allows Venables to bring his safeties up and the defense presses the wideouts off the line in press man coverage to throw Finely and his receivers off their timing routes. Clemson will take away the ability to run and Finley will find those timing routes harder to connect on and the Clemson defense manages to keep the Pack at bay just enough.
When Clemson has the ball:
Clemson will look to keep things status quo for the season. . . Clemson’s offense is running on all cylinders with Travis Etienne having success to the tune of over 9 yards per carry average. If Etienne can sustain this type of production inside this game it will again open the playbook up to the staff to dial up a series of plays in the passing game to take advantage of the Pack adjusting to stop the run. Big explosive plays have been the Tigers bread and butter all season long with the offense finding a lot of space in certain areas of the field as opposing defenses have to “pick their poison” with all the skilled talent the Tigers run out onto the field on any given series of plays. It’s this huge mismatch in talent and depth here that will tell the tale.
Clemson’s offensive line is able to roll in depth against a not so deep Wolfpack defensive line thus allowing the Tigers to impose their will later in the game as fatigue will show up on the NCST front. Clemson is able to run its offense at will after another slow start and feeling out process. Look for another 100-yard day from Etienne and Lawrence should be able to showcase his skill set more so in this game than any so far.
The way we see it:
Clemson’s offense is able to control the ball by running it at will at times outnumber the Pack in possessions and control the clock when it has to. Finley will get his shots in, he’s too talented and has the experience against a Brent Venables coached defense to know when and where to exploit it. But outside the quick pass game with Harmon and Meyers the Pack is not able to generate a run game to sustain drives and will eventually succumb to the adjusting Clemson defense. Fresh bodies continually rolling in and out of the line of scrimmage will also wear on the Pack’s offensive line and Clemson defenders will find themselves in the Wolfpack backfield. Coming into this game the Pack ranked #2 nationally only giving up 2 sacks all year. They will surrender at the least that many to this Clemson defense on this day. Meanwhile, the run game is shut down and the receivers will only find mild success in the short passing game. Clemson and the Pack always play close and exciting games as we have all been witness too in the last two meetings. Look for this one to be closer than expected until later in the 4th when the depth of the Clemson roster pays dividends along the lines of scrimmage on both sides of the ball.
NCST Players to watch:
QB: Ryan Finely WR: Kelvin Harmon LB: Isaiah Moore
Prediction: Clemson 35 NCST 20
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