Shakin The Southland

ACC Tourney Begins: NC State Game Thread

2010-03-11T17:00:21Z

Clemson Tigers (21-9, 9-7) vs. N.C. State Wolfpack (17-14, 5-11)

When: Approx. 9:30 on Raycom

Kenpom: Clemson 17, NCSU 68, Kenpom predictor says a 7pt Clemson win.

RPI: Clemson 27, NCSU 103

Leading Scorers: All-ACC F Tracy Smith (17.0ppg, 7.7rpg), F Dennis Horner (11.8ppg, 4.8 rpg), Javier Gonzalez (10 ppg, 3.8 apg)

Statistically, NCSU is behind us in pretty much every defensive category, and their offense is similarly bad statistically. They have good players inside but on the outside they are not daunting.

Looking back at our first meeting, we thoroughly dominated the woofers in the 1st half 45-28. We shot like mad (60%) and Booker ate them up early....then Stitt went down, we lost all momentum, and NC State started raining shots all over us in the 2nd half (43.8%) when our offense became stagnant and our shots stopped falling (34%, 1/10 from 3). We were in serious jeopardy of losing it at the end. Booker and Grant also had a bad time inside in the 2nd half getting any rebounds. Neither team turned the ball over that much, 11 for each.

Julius Mays put up 17 against us, Howell 13 points and 12 boards, and Smith put up 16 with 9 boards.

This time around, the big thing may again be how well we do on the boards and the battle between Booker and Smith. We didn't impress against Wake there, and NC State did very well against us the first time around, particularly in offensive rebounding.

Right now, the team seems more confident than last year heading into the ACC Tourney after blowing our shot at a 1st-rd Bye.

"We kind of stumbled into the tournament last year," sophomore guard Tanner Smith said. "We went in losing a few more games than we wanted to."

Clemson went 3-4 in its final seven regular-season games a year ago, including losses in three of its last four.

The last time Clemson finished with a 5-2 flourish - two seasons ago - the Tigers advanced to the ACC tournament title game before losing to top-ranked North Carolina 86-81.

"We did lose our last game (at Wake Forest), but we've been playing well," Smith said. "Confidence-wise, there's a big difference. Going in on a roll will be nice for us."

Demontez Stitt feels similarly

“I think that’s one the best things about this team,” said junior point guard Demontez Stitt. “We really haven’t played Clemson basketball for 40 minutes a game this year. We still have something to look forward to. If we start to put the pieces together and come together more, we’re going to be a tough team.

“That’s the exciting thing about it. We haven’t played up to our full potential. We still have a chance to go to the NCAA and make a lot of progress in the ACC Tournament.”

Defense fuels the optimism. In the last eight games, the Tigers have held their opponents under 70 points four times, and both Wake and Virginia Tech scored exactly 70.

"I think the concern in terms of turning the page from last year (was), 'How are we going to shoot it,'" Purnell said. "I said maybe we won't shoot it as well but we're a better defensive team. I believe defense wins. That's our strength. Now if we shoot it (well) to boot, which I think we're capable of doing, well we've demonstrated that time in and time out (if we do that) we’ve got a chance to get on a roll."

I've always had trouble having confidence in this team, particularly since we tend to choke in the state of NC. I think we beat NC State though.

2010 Baseball Signing Class

2010-03-11T03:00:24Z

From the Fall signing period. Obviously theres not much to report on them so I found what I could. If anyone knows anything about them, please chime in.

Dale Innes, Enka NC, RHP, 6-0' 180

Medium athletic build. Slow paced delivery, good direction, extended 3/4's release, throws downhill, quick compact arm. FB touched 89 mph in the Metrodome, power CB is best pitch, good downward bite when on top, short and quick, downhill angle helps CB. Should be very successful at next level. (Via Perfect Game)

Dominic Attanasio, Olympia FL, OF, 5-9 160

Smaller tightly wound athlete. Good speed/even better quickness, very good jumps/range in CF, good arm strength with plus accuracy, top level defensive OF'er. CF, Lead off type, sees ball well, open stance, quick compact swing, drives the ball hard, squares up top quality stuff, handles off speed well, high average hitter, plays very hard and smart. Can play and be a big producer at any college in the country. Possible pro future.

Joe Costigan, Barron Collier FL, OF, 6'0 185
Kevin Pohle, Parkway South, StL MO, RHP 6'4" 175 - also a star basketball player.

Medium athletic frame with some present strength. Very polished hitter, advanced for age. Smooth left handed swing, good bat speed, recognizes pitches very early, hard line drive contact to all fields, short to the ball, can drive the ball to the gaps, should hit immediately at the next level. Nice OF actions, 7.06 runner, left field arm strength, tracks balls well. The bat could create some draft interest.

Steve Wilkerson, Pope GA, MIF 6'2"/190

Jonathan Surber, Lisle IL, RHP/3B 6'2" 175 - Surber missed a large chunk of his junior season after injuring his knee sliding into home plate. But he came back in late June pumping 87-90 mph with a sharp slider and quickly became one of the hottest prospects in the country. One of top 100 players in IL. Comes form Top Tier, where we got Firth. Another Top Tier pitcher, Junior Jeremy Scheck, also committed.

Michael Dunster, Greenwich CT, SS 5'10", 160 - won the American Legion State Best Hitter Award.

He went 6-1 last spring with a 2.06 earned run average (ERA). In 51 innings pitched, he struck out 43 and walked 21 batters.

"It's just getting going for Kevin," Stahl said. "He's got draft possibilities as well. He's one of the top two arms in St. Louis and in the top five in the state of Missouri. He's got a solid average pro fastball of 89 or 90 miles an hour and he can get it to 92. He's got a lot of sink. His arm is very, very easy. It's special. Plus, he understands the concept of pitching, which a lot of guys his age have to develop. He understands he's not a big strikeout guy. He's a sinkerball guy who gets you to beat the ball in the ground. He's going to be a good one."

Pohle also plays first base when he is not pitching. He hit .348 last spring.

"We need to keep his athleticism in the field and we need his bat," Stahl said. (source)

Matthew Campbell, Northview-Roswell, GA, RHP 6'1, 175 - All-Region 7 5A - Perfect Game USA Preseason HS Underclassmen All American Honorable Mention

Cole Brand, Bradley Central, TN C/P. 6'2, 205 - Also Honorable mention by Perfect Game.
Jonathan McGibbon, Lindenhurst NY, 1B 6'2", 205

Position Analysis: Defensive Line with Chris Rumph and Dan Brooks

2010-03-10T17:00:19Z

via media.scout.com

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Dan Brooks was another home run hire for Swinney back in April after David Blackwell left for South Florida. He had not been retained on the staff by Lane Kiffin and was in an administrative facilities management role for Tennessee when Steele and Dabo called him up and offered him a job on the field coaching again. His track record includes coaching stops at Florida under Pell and Galen Hall, UNC under Mack Brown, and then Fulmer at UT. At all these places he built up a strong record of recruiting prowess and many times his DL led the ACC/SEC in sacks.

A Native of Sparta NC, and his primary responsibility was recruiting the Western NC/SC areas for Tennessee, where he stole Shaun Ellis (Mauldin), Albert Haynesworth (Hartsville), four-star lineman Terrea Smalls (Timberland), and highly regarded linemen Anthony McDaniel of Columbia, William Brimsfield of Neeses, plus touted athletes Jeff Coleman, Ikie Curry, and Dominique Stevenson (Gaffney), just to name a few. I hated that those Gaffney players left the state, especially Coleman.

Chris Rumph, a former Gamecock player from St. Matthews SC, overcame the clear lack of intelligence it requires to choose USC and has become a valuable assistant coach directly in charge of Defensive Ends. His first coaching job was as GA at SC, then HC/OC at Calhoun County HS, then SC State (DBs), Memphis (OLBs), and finally Clemson in 2006. Since coming to Clemson, he has supervised the growth of Gaines Adams, Phil Merling, Dorrell Scott, and future draftees Ricky Sapp and Da'Quan Bowers.

How we will evaluate Brooks and Rumph

Recruiting
Gap discipline/overpursuit
Line technique: pad level, hand usage, etc.
Tackling

Well for Brooks, not much needs to be said here. He chiefly recruits much of Western NC and from Anson County over to the Ocean, parts of Tennessee, and lower SC for Clemson. This year since coming on staff in April he brought in Justin Parker, Tra Thomas, Sam Cooper, and Ricky Chaney. That was more than Steele got with an extra 3 months on the job. Players Brooks missed out on included DT Ethan Farmer and OLB Darius Lipford (both to UNC), OL James Stone (Tenn), LB Alfy Hill (Bammer), and LB Ferlando Bohanna (Miss State). Although I don't recall whether we were in it with Stone and Hill, Bohanna is one we had on the radar as late as January but apparently backed away from.

For 2011, Brooks will be going for Stephone Anthony and Brandon Shell, both huge targets. I have confidence that Brooks will surprise us and get the ones we need along with someone we arent hearing about yet.

Chris Rumph might not be on the same level as a recruiter as Brooks, but he's a good recruiter in his own right. He's charged with his hometown area around Calhoun County, which is probably the only way Clemson could ever get players from this die-hard coot area, and parts of Florida and Georgia for Clemson. All of these areas are talent-laden regions stocked with recruits where we compete with all the big boys. In 2007, his first year on staff as a recruiter, he brought in Andre Branch. In 2008 it was Dwayne Allen, and this year DBs Bashaud Breeland and Garry Peters. In 2011 he's got Cortez Davis and star RB Martin Lane already, and is after Clemson legacy LB Terrance Smith among others.

Altogether we've got a good tandem recruiting here. However, because we've criticized other coaches for not bringing in as much talent as they could, we have to acknowledge that Rumph has only been the "official" recruiter for 4 players coming into Clemson.

Clemson 2010 DL Depth Chart
Da'Quan Bowers	Jarvis Jenkins	Brandon Thompson	Andre Branch
Malliciah Goodman	Jamie Cumbie	Miguel Chavis	Kourtnei Brown
Darrell Smith **	Rennie Moore	Tyler Shatley	Corey Crawford *
	Josh Watson*	Tra Thomas*	Tavaris Barnes*

*-assuming no redshirt, **-could be moved to TE

Above I have separated the interior linemen by what they normally play (1 or 3 tech, strongside/weakside) but some of them play both.

2009 DL Stats
Player	Snaps	Total Tackles	TFL	Sacks	FF/Rec
Jarvis Jenkins	536	69	11	1	0/1
Ricky Sapp	656	60	15	5	1
Da'Quan Bowers	475	58	11	3	1/1
Jamie Cumbie	364	53	4.5	2.5	0
Brandon Thompson	523	50	2	0	0
Andre Branch	337	46	8	2	0
Malliciah Goodman	329	31	5	2	0
Miguel Chavis Rennie Moore	315 198	28 22	1.5 5.5	1.5 2.5	0 0

Note: Left off minor players who played less than 50 snaps.

Starting with the interior linemen, theres a clear separation between the first 3 guys in the rotation (Jenkins, Thompson, Cumbie) and the rest. I truly believe Brandon Thompson might be one of the best interior linemen to come through here if he would continue to apply himself and work on technique. As a Nose, he's nearly unstoppable. At times he was seen to overpursue, and sometimes he's so good at jumping through the A-gap that he simply outruns the play: the RB is already past him and Brandon doesn't get a hand on him.

As a Nose Tackle, he's not really intended to make the tackles and sacks. The 3-technique tackle generally makes more sacks than the nose. Its the Nose's job to eat 2 blockers and control his gap. In the UNDER front we play, the shade nose guard plays off the shoulder of the Center and aligns in the A-gap, sometimes slanted towards the Center. The reason for this is that he will end up controlling both A-gaps if he can knock the Center backwards or squeeze him against the Guard to the other side. This causes most teams to double-team the NT, because the Center is usually the weakest blocker. Having 2 OL tied up means one less OL to hit a LB, which keeps them free to make the tackles.

Jarvis Jenkins also started out the season very well, and is similarly unstoppable up front, when he wants to be. While Thompson's problems are that he runs himself out of his gap at times, Jenkins' primary malfunction is that some days he disappears. Both tailed off in production at the end of last season, with sloppier technique, pad leverage, and hand usage and being pushed out of their gaps or simply running out of them.While Cumbie is very good with gap control and his fundamentals, he doesn't have the first step of Jenkins and is not quite the playmaker, but would start nearly everywhere else in the ACC.

Miguel Chavis is clearly a notch behind that group at the Nose. Chavis probably should've been redshirted as a freshman as well to put on weight, and his hip flexibility needs some work along with his first step. He gets stood up far too much. Rennie Moore does a pretty good job considering the few snaps he gets, and will push for a 2nd-team rotation spot this year.

Dan Brooks revealed that both put on weight during the season and both have currently slimmed back down with Thompson at 295 and Jenkins around 300.

"Jarvis and Brandon are like me in that they like to eat. I thought they got a little bit heavy towards the end, Brandon got up to about 308 pounds. Jarvis was at one point up to 318. I think they might have lost a half-step last year on making a play here or there. By them losing the weight and having a good winter, it shows us that they don't feel they've arrived."

Uh, what? Do you realize how many calories these big guys are eating to put on that much weight during a season? You have to eat around 3000 just to feed a 300lb man. Thats like eating 2 Papa John's Large pepperoni pizzas per day. Its no wonder they got a step slower and lost some flexibility in the hips (pad leverage). These kids go to class, practice a few hours daily, and do still do some lifting, and then played on weekends and STILL gained weight. If thats not an indictment of the S/C program and our lack of a good nutrition program, I don't know what is.

Kourtnei Brown played 286 snaps in 2008 and added some bulk to his frame before last season, but was so far down the depth chart that he decided to take the redshirt in 2009. He had quick feet and was a good athlete at DE, but his fundamentals needed work as he was very raw. He should've been RS'd as a freshman. Now he's back in the rotation at Weakside End with Andre Branch. He has the natural talent to beat Branch for the job, and will almost certainly get into the 300 snap range.

Rumph: "Just looking at him, you can tell he really took advantage of his red-shirt year. He's put on some pounds. He's about 255, close to 260. He's just as fast or faster. Also, one of the things that he worked on was his toughness. He came from a private school, a small school and it was mainly a basketball situation. This off-season he was put in situations where he had to be tough. He was forced to be tough and it paid off. He's probably the most athletic guy in that room. He's 6-4, 6-5, can run like the wind and do it all. Coming in he was a little green, just understanding the game of football. He understands his role better. His toughness overall, taking on blocks, he's improved there."

Branch made strides last spring and really put together a solid season with the increased PT that came his way when Bowers was injured. He plays with considerable fire and hustle and a type of swagger that Clemson used to have on defense in the '80s. I thought at the end of the year that he played better than Bowers did at End, though he doesnt possess the speed of Bowers or Sapp. If he works on the technique he does have NFL potential. We were pleased with the improvement that Branch showed over the course of the year, giving Clemson tremendous depth on the outside. What is most impressive is his desire to play his best each and every down he is on the field.

On Branch's late season progression:
Rumph: "It was huge. If you look back at those games, he was one of the guys who made a big play or a big tackle in every game from start to finish. He's a big motor guy, a big effort guy. Sometimes he's probably not as fluid-looking as Ricky or Da'Quan, but when you look at productivity, he's right up there with them. He's a natural leader. He still has to mature. This winter has been really good for him. I've seen a difference in him. He's trying to lead and trying to get those guys to follow him. I'm really pleased with where he's at right now."

Da'Quan is either on or off, like Jenkins, and like Gaines Adams was as an underclassman. If you watch film you'll see what opponents do to take him out of games, and his immense speed off the corner (other than the games after he came back from the knee problem). Our opponents do respect his ability. But when he isn't playing hard, he's very average. His pass rush technique is good when he wants to get a sack, yet he doesnt use his functional strength when he isn't pushed to take over a game. If he does learn to play hard every down like Gaines did, and gets his bulk under control, he'll be a 1st Rd pick.

"He's got to get healthy. His knee needs to get stronger. He needs to lose some weight. He's down to about 280 now. I think 275 is his ideal weight. I think at 275 he can still maintain his power and be a step quicker than he was last year when he played at 285, 290. I don't think he's having any problems with his knee now. I just don't think he's trusting it yet.

I don't think the number is as important as his conditioning. NFL Ends regularly sit in the 275-290 range. Julius Peppers for example is in the 280s. I somehow doubt Bowers was a fit 285-290 though.

But if Bowers doesnt pick it up, Goodman will end up taking more of his PT away. His motor runs hard and he makes up for some leverage (he needs to stay lower) and hand placement with his footspeed. Goodman got over 300 snaps last year, which is quite a number for a freshman.

Ricky Sapp is a guy who always had trouble putting on weight. An End needs to be over 250-260 to play in the NFL, more likely 275, and Sapp always had trouble getting there and staying there. After leaving Clemson and getting off our S/C program, he apparently found a way to put on weight quickly.

One player that’s returned from injury with greater success is Clemson’s Ricky Sapp. The Tigers defensive star tore an ACL in his right knee during the late part of his junior campaign in 2008. Eight months after surgery he was back on the field for practice, though his injury was not completely healed. Sources told us Sapp was playing on a knee that was just 65% last season. Clemson did not properly rehabilitate the knee and as a result his right quadriceps muscle was not properly working. At the end of the season Sapp started consulting with a specialist from New York city to alleviate the situation. During the interim he missed the Senior Bowl because of lingering effects. A letter went out to all 32 NFL franchises alerting them of the situation. Right now Sapp’s knee is about 99% and he is expected to be at full strength by the time he takes to the field at Lucas Oil Stadium one week from Monday for his combine workout. Sapp’s weight stands around 254-pounds, about ten more than he played at last season.

I find it odd that they mention 65%, when all we heard from the staff and Sapp was that he was a monster and really healed well, and was in the 90% range by August camp. Also, the first part of the season was good for him. Still though, it appears the NFL gushes over his athleticism as I expected.

Whether his weight was really a problem last season, I couldn't definitively say. He was victim of several holding calls that I felt were flagrantly holds down the stretch, some could be avoided with mass, but mostly its technique (keeping arms extended). Right now he'll be slated for an OLB position in the NFL in a 3-4 defense, probably a JACK LB (weakside OLB, DeMarcus Ware plays JACK). It just seemed to us like he disappeared for a large stretch of the season towards the end. He overpursued plays quite often and lost containment on the backside of some misdirection and orbit motion plays. His pass rush technique got a little sloppy and his gap control was poor against several teams we played towards the end of the year. 5 sacks was a disappointment and not to lead the line in tackles is one as well. Your 3T should not be leading the DL in tackles.

The videos below highlight some of the techniques we're talking about. We'll expand on this information over the down time this summer.

Defensive Line/End Pass Rush Techniques

The Rip Technique

Swat & Swim Technique

When coaches look at hand usage, it comes down to some of the things in these videos as well as being able to "shoot your hands". Shooting the hands means that you want to stay low and make contact with the OLineman with your arms fully extended. The idea is to create separation between yourself in the the blocker, because if you don't, he can pull you in to him and control you. Usually the sled is the way a coach instructs this technique. In many games last year where we failed to get sufficient pass rush, hand usage was a primary factor (e.g., TCU).

When it comes to containment drills, you run a DL with OL set 5 yards apart (like an Oklahoma drill) with a FB blocker and a RB behind him aligned to the defender's left (like an offset I-form). The DL has to learn to keep his outside shoulder and leg free when the blocker tries to hook him. When he doesn't do that, he gets knocked out of his gap, or doesn't read his key properly, and you have games like South Carolina this year. The rest of the drill involves that FB trying to cut block and the RB trying to evade to the right side. The idea is to teach him to keep one side of his body free and concentrate only on one blocker at a time.

Overall, the Line tackles very well. We could take a few better angles from End and the backside contain could be more disciplined but it wasn't a major issue this year, moreso LB. As mentioned above, Thompson could run himself into a bad angle for a tackle, but Bowers, Sapp, and Jenkins were rarely seen to not wrap-up when they got near someone. Chavis and Cumbie were also pretty good tacklers, Cumbie especially because he doesn't quit on plays.

The Verdict - Both are good recruiters, and their track record of putting guys where they need to be up front and then getting them to the NFL speaks for itself, so they've got the historical currency to be forgiven for bad years if/when they come. Right now though, we have 3 guys who will play NFL ball, likely 4. Not many teams in the country can say that.

This past year we started out awesome, but at midseason they clearly looked less-motivated and tentative about their assignments in gap control. They were too eager to make plays themselves. We noticed some of these guys playing a little too "high" late in the year, . If the gap control improves then you'll see Clemson LBs more free to make plays and it will become apparent to most that the LB corp has improved, when in reality it could be just that the DL did. Unless you watch much film, you wouldn't pick it up.

But other than a conditioning problem, theres not much fault to be found with the Line.

Poll

Do you approve of the job that Rumph and Brooks do with Clemson's DL?

Early Spring Practice Observations

2010-03-09T15:27:54Z

More photos » Mary Ann Chastain - AP

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Just a few notes and links as practice was open to the public. I usually like to wait a few days to get a better impression of how things are going so the blogs will be spaced out on the subject, but there are already many articles out.

A couple on Tajh Boyd already from Sawchik and Greg Wallace.

"It's a lot of pressure to walk out there and take his first reps and be with the 1s," Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said. "(There are) veteran offensive linemen, veteran tight ends, a couple senior wideouts, a couple veteran backs and he's out there trying to run the show.

"He was poised."

There's no question about Boyd's arm, release or charisma.

Teammate and roommate Bryce McNeal said, "I've never seen him throw a duck." Boyd's arm might not quite be at Parker's elite level, but Boyd gets the ball out quickly and with plenty of rpms.

Still, Swinney says there is fundamental work to be done with Boyd, including simple things like handing the ball off correctly and working on footwork.

The Clemson BOT Compensation Committee approved raises for the assistant coaches, particularly the big ones for Steele and Harbison. This means that the cash is not coming from the stipulation in Dabo's contract that allows him to take his raise (to 1.8mil) and spend it on them. He can still and may have to take some of that money for the additional support staff positions he wants in S&C, which are currently part-time jobs. I also think you should keep an eye on the folks in the running for the open BOT seats. We're stuck with these dipshits, so you better look at what we end up with. Maybe we'll get lucky and they'll can Barker.
Dwayne Allen thinks he's the bomb now, even though he tried to catch with his body and not his hands yesterday, and ended up dropping passes. He's doing the same things Palmer did as the #1 TE now, all the motions and being flexed out.
As of now Bryce McNeal weighs in at 179, and they want him at 185....Jacoby-sized basically. The rest of the WRs had the dropsies in practice, which isn't so big a worry on the first day of practice. They had the dropsies last year.
Corico Hawkins is up to 235, running exclusively at MIKE he says, and B. Maye was out of practice with what Wallace says is his knee issue from before the bowl game. Someone else said it was his foot, so I'm not sure. Its not serious. A look at the spring depth chart hints at what we expected, Maye could end up at WILL. Note that those weights are not all right.
Alot of other guys have bulked up, like Ellington, Maxwell, Hawkins, Rod McDowell. McClain might've lost some weight, while Hairston didn't listen to the NFL's suggestion about losing his gut.

I am honestly appalled that Booker made 1st-team All-ACC, kinda shows me where the big men are at this year in the conference. I have no idea why Jerai Grant didnt make All-Defensive either, he does his job pretty damn well if you ask me, better than Booker does his.

SCACChoops.com has a bracket contest for the ACC Tourney, you can win a subscription to ACCSports.com/ACC Sports Journal for 4 months. Big deal, I know. Realtime RPI has us entering as a 7 seed in the NCAA right now, as do some others. ESPN has us as a 7-10 matchup with Texas, but I can see no reason why we drop to a 10 with our RPI. If we beat NCSU then we're a lock for 7 I think.

Thoughts as Spring Practice Begins - 5 Questions

2010-03-08T20:02:28Z

More photos » Mary Ann Chastain - AP

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"I’m real excited about getting onto the field and starting with this 2010 team," he said. "We’ve answered a lot of questions this year. We’re at a different point with this team. We’ve been through the fire. It’s not new. We know how we want to practice, what we want to practice. Last year, we signed 12 [in the recruiting class]. We feel good about this class we’re bringing in here. Minimally, we should be better. We should be a smarter team, staff. That should show from day one.

"If we can do the job the right way, it will help us play at a high-level every week. It’s a focus area for us. We’re good enough. As we evaluate all of the film, we’re pretty pleased with all of the information. We’ve got to take a little bit more pride in our consistency. If we can do that, we can have a very good year." (source)

Clemson started spring practice yesterday, and now comes the time when you hear of the offseason all-stars who get built up to superhuman levels and then come crashing down during the season. Last year it was Antoine McClain that got rave reviews from everyone, and then missed the most assignments of any starting lineman. Oh, and remember Rendrick Taylor, the Football King of Spring?

We've done our Positional Analyses (and the last one for the DL will come out this week), so I don't see any reason to do a spring preview. I would just keep in mind that whatever news is reported, here or elsewhere, in the next few weeks should be taken with a grain of salt. It is still just practice and scrimmages, its not performance under pressure in Fall against Auburn or UNC. Some guys don't practice worth a damn (Walker) and some light people up in practice so much that you'd think they are made of gold (Taylor).

This spring, we'll be looking at a few question marks.

1. WR corps. Can the young guys catch yet? Can they run routes any better and get open when we dont have Spiller and Palmer to catch the passes?

2 .Left Guard and the Tackle situation. Right now, David Smith is being moved to LG, but I don't see how he beats Mason Cloy for it in August if he's 100%. I think Norris should be moved to LG for Spring since he reps as a Guard already, but Brad disagrees. Technique things are the same for both positions so Smith can still learn at Guard, but I'd rather have him rep against the quicker Ends/LBs he'd see in Fall when he's moved back to Tackle.

Now with Price repping at 2-RT, Walker will have no one to light a fire under him. With his reputation so far as a lax practice player, we might come out disappointed with Walker in a few weeks. Brandon Thomas will start repping at 2-LT as a redshirt freshman. Recall that the 2's roll out as a unit in practice, so you cant tell Smith to rep at 1-LG and then 2-L/RT successively, so the depth chart is a bit misleading.

In reality, Smith would step in at either L or RT if Hairston or Walker went down. Putting in Price or Thomas shouldn't cause you to have a meltdown.

3. I have a suspicion that Tajh Boyd will be built up so much by writers this Spring that he will be the favorite player on the team this fall by TardNetters, especially if he doesnt play. Everybody loves the backup, and you'll hear people screaming for Boyd at the first sign of Parker struggling. Just remember, Parker has one year of reading NCAA defenses, and that experience counts. I also suspect you'll see at least 10 articles about Parker's baseball/football dilemma.

4. Linebackers. We need them to step up. They are talented, at least according to the recruiting sites, but none really has done anything yet. We'll see a definite rotation this spring but I suspect if a few guys continue to put on some weight, then things will change in Fall and the post-spring chart will be meaningless. I would not be surprised to hear us sticking to more Nickel and running out Meeks as a pseudo-SAM backer like we did with DMac 2 years ago.

5. Corner. Most of you, myself included, think that Maxwell will have one spot locked down soon enough. He did admirably last year. The other though is up for grabs. It could be Brewer, it could be Sensabaugh, or maybe someone like Spencer Adams will get moved over with the speed he has, but I think/hope Gilchrist steps into it.

Year 2 of a defensive scheme reaps the most gains, especially a complex one like we run. If the defense is not well ahead of the offense this spring I would be concerned. Bowers needs to step up his game to make up for the loss of Sapp, but I'm excited by having both Safeties back and expect quite a bit of 2 High Shell coverage.

Swinney will seek a new commitment to excellence this year, says Greg Wallace. We'll see.

ACC Weekend Roundup, Week 3

2010-03-08T18:36:46Z

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#1 Virginia

Split to Wright State, who we swept last weekend. The first game was a pitching duel between UVA ace Danny Hultzen and Wright State's Alex Kaminsky that the Cavs lost 2-1. Wright State was aided by 3 UVA errors in the game.

Phil Gosselin led the Cavaliers’ 16-hit effort with a career-high four hits as UVA beat Dartmouth 14-3. Tyler Cannon and Steven Proscia each added a pair of hits as well as three RBI. Every UVa starter scored at least one time. UVa’s one through four hitters – Gosselin, Cannon, Dan Grovatt and Proscia – combined to go 10-for-16 with nine RBI and seven runs.

Virginia finished off a hot day at the plate with a 13-3 victory over Wright State, Sunday afternoon, in the second game of a doubleheader at Davenport Field. In the first game, UVa pounded out 18 hits in an 11-5 win over Dartmouth.

Tyler Cannon had a big game at the plate, going 3-for-5 with five RBI. He had a key two-run triple to break open a one-run game in the seventh inning and then had a three-run double in the eighth inning. Cannon had eight RBI over the weekend.

A tuesday game vs. JMU was postponed. UVA remained #1 in Baseball America.

UPCOMING

William & Mary, then Florida State in Tallahassee.

#5 FSU 10-0

On Tuesday night, FSU beat Florida 10-5 behind a 7-run 1st inning to hand the Gators their first loss.

In exhibition, the Phillies smoked FSU 13-6 Wednesday.

FSU then walloped #25 UGA in another tough early-season series badly. Sean Gilmartin (3-0) once again stymied the Georgia offense allowing just one unearned run on six hits over seven innings of work. The sophomore southpaw did not issue a walk while tying a career-high with nine strikeouts in the 12-1 Friday win.

FSU did all its scoring in the second, third and fourth innings on Saturday night as eight of the nine runs came on two outs and they beat UGA 9-2.. Tyler Holt and Stephen Cardullo paced the offense with three hits a piece, while Stuart Tapley extended his hit streak to a career-best 14 games with an infield single in the fourth. Holt was a home run shy of hitting for the cycle in game two as he collected a double in the first, single in the third and triple in the fourth. FSU completed the sweep 17-5 Sunday.

UPCOMING

Jacksonville and North Florida M-T, then Virginia at home.

#20 Miami 7-3

Freshman left-hander Steven Ewing allowed just two runs in 6 1/3 innings in his first career start and Yasmani Grandal doubled three times as the 10th-ranked University of Miami baseball team cruised to a 15-2 win over USF Tuesday.

The Marlins stomped Miami 19-3 in exhibition.Da U lost 2 of 3 to Kevin O'Sullivan and the #6 Florida Gators over the weekend in Coral Gables. In Game 1 UF shut the Cane's potent offense down for a final of 7-1.

Making his initial start of the season, Panteliodis (3-0) gave up two hits over 5.2 innings and was supported by an offense that plated four runs in the third and three in the eighth. Sophomore Nick Maronde (Lexington, Ky.) collected his first career save with seven strikeouts over 3.1 hitless and scoreless innings.

"Our pitching was outstanding tonight," head coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. "Alex (Panteliodis) gave us a quality start and Nick (Maronde) was solid in relief. We need to go on the road and win Friday night games against top-notch pitchers, that is something we haven’t been able to do for the last couple of years. Our hitters shortened their swings and had a much better approach at the plate tonight. I saw a lot of progress from Tuesday night. (loss to FSU)"

Zeke DeVoss, Scott Lawson and Chris Pelaez combined for eight hits and senior closer David Gutierrez came in late in the eighth to shut the door for his third save as Miami defeated Florida, 9-6, Saturday night.

Florida won the rubber game 4-2.

"This was a tremendous series win on the road for us," head coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. "It was great to see two guys who had tough 2009 seasons in Tommy (Toledo) and Kevin (Chapman) come through the way they did. Success is a product of hard work and we were very happy with their outings. I thought our team showed a lot of resiliency by coming back from the difficult loss last night. To beat Miami on the road is a heck of an accomplishment."

UPCOMING

UCF tuesday, then BC for the weekend.

#4 Georgia Tech 10-1

Pummeled Rutgers in game 1 5-0 behind Deck McGuire. McGuire struck out nine batters in eight innings of work to lead the Bees to their fifth shutout of the season. With five shutouts on the season, the Jackets are just three away from tying the school record of eight – held by the 1906, 1971 and 1997 teams. McGuire (2-0) won his second game of the season, allowing just six hits in 8.0 innings pitched while combining with junior Kevin Jacob to keep Rutgers off the board. The eight innings were a season high for McGuire, who pitched seven in each of his previous two starts.

Junior catcher Cole Leonida was 4-for-5 with four RBI, as the No. 4 Georgia Tech baseball team compiled a season-high 20 hits in a 19-5 victory over Rutgers Saturday. They completed the sweep 9-4 Sunday.

Bradley (2-1) was sharp on the mound in his third start of the season Sunday, allowing no runs and scattering just four Rutgers hits over 6.0 innings pitched. The sophomore left-hander fanned nine batters on the day, and now has 27 strikeouts in 17.0 innings on the season. He did not issue a single walk in the outing.

After a season-high 20 hits a day earlier, the Jackets tallied 14 on Sunday including six that went for extra-base hits.

UPCOMING

Mercer Weds, then a series with Wake Forest at home.

#17 UNC 10-1

Defeated G-W as Ryan Graepel ripped a bases loaded RBI walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth to propel UNC 6-5 Thursday.

Junior Matt Harvey pitched eight shutout innings and struck out eleven batters to lead North Carolina over Michigan 4-2 Friday at home. Freshman Chaz Frank went 3-for-4 with one RBI and two runs scored to lead NC over Michigan 7-6 Saturday. The two teams combined for 24 hits and 26 runners left on base. Patrick Johnson (2-1) earned the victory allowing one run on six hits in six innings.

Junior Colin Bates allowed one earned run in 5.2 innings of work to lead North Carolina over Michigan 9-1 noSunday. Bates improves to 3-0 on the season and is perfect in three career starts on the mound. Ben Bunting and Ryan Graepel each posted three hits and two RBI, as North Carolina improves to 10-1 on the year. Michigan falls to 4-7 after the three-game series sweep.

UPCOMING

William & Mary and St. Johns midweek, then Duke this weekend.

Boston College 4-5

The Red Sox beat BC 6-1 in exhibition.

Junior Pat Dean pitched 7.0 strong innings and freshman DH Matt Watson blasted a three-run homer to lead the Boston College baseball team to a 5-2 win Friday at FAU. Dean allowed four hits during his outing and two runs, both of which came in the eighth inning. He struck out four and walked three. Dean retired nine straight batters and 14 of 16 after allowing a leadoff hit in the first inning.

Saturday FAU destroyed them 15-6, and again Sunday 11-7.

UPCOMING

Florida International twice midweek, then @ Miami.

Maryland 5-6

VMI beat Maryland 7-6 in 11 innings Tuesday.

Blair Delean recorded eight strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings and Maryland used timely hitting and base-running to defeat Towson 4-2 Wednesday.

A 3R 7th pushed MD over Hofstra Friday by a final of 6-3.

Maryland constantly put runners in motion with steals and hit-and-runs and took advantage of its opportunities, going 8-for-21 (.381) as a team with runners on base. David Poutier had a career-high three stolen bases and Matthew Murakami had a pair as Maryland demolished the previous record of five when they beat Hofstra 10-3. Maryland finished the sweep Sunday 7-5.

UPCOMING

At VT this weekend.

Virginia Tech 8-2

Fueled by three home runs in a five-run fifth inning, the Virginia Tech baseball team jumped out to an early lead and never looked back, defeating Long Island University 9-2 on Friday. Virginia Tech registered back-to-back shutouts in Blacksburg for the first time since 1970 with a double-header sweep of Long Island University, 6-0 and 11-0, at English Field on Saturday at English Field.

VT finished the 4-game sweep Sunday 12-4. Mathew Price pitched six scoreless innings and Virginia Tech tied a season-high with 19 hits.

UPCOMING

T-W against Bryant, then Maryland.at home.

NC State 10-1

Andrew Ciencin went 5-for-5 and drove in six runs Thursday, and Cory Mazzoni worked 5 2/3 strong innings to lead NC State to a 10-7 victory over Xavier midweek.

Despite trailing after the first inning, NC State racked up 12 runs over the next two frames to take a commanding 13-2 lead after three innings over the Quinnipiac Bobcats as NCSU won 17-6 Friday.The Wolfpack’s Chris Schaeffer was 4-for-5 at the plate with a homer and three RBIs, and Drew Poulk hit a grand slam to lead an NC State offense that pounded out 17 hits.

Jake Buchanan shined on the mound as the Wolfpack defeated Quinnipiac, 14-3, in the second game. Buchanan dominated the Bobcats, allowing just four hits – three singles and a double – and giving up only two hits after the first inning. He struck out seven and didn’t yield a walk.

Dallas and Drew Poulk led a 17-hit attack with three hits apiece to lead NC State to a 17-7 victory over Quinnipiac and complete a three-game sweep of the Bobcats at Doak Field.

UPCOMING

NC A&T midweek, then #12 Clemson.

Duke 7-3

Michael Ness and Christopher Manno combined for a six-hit shutout to lead Duke to a 3-0 win over Temple in the series opener Friday. Eric Pfisterer struck out a career-high 10 batters and teamed up with relievers Dennis O’Grady and Ben Grisz to record Duke’s second straight shutout in a 7-0 win over Temple Saturday. Pfisterer went six innings and surrendered two hits and a pair of walks and needed just 80 pitches to lock up his second straight win.

Freshman Eric Brady hit a three-run homer and classmate Marcus Stroman struck out seven hitters in four innings to lead Duke to an 8-2 win and a series sweep

UPCOMING

Quinnipiac M-T, Wofford Weds, then UNC.

Wake Forest 6-6

Back-to-back sixth-inning RBI doubles by Austin Stadler and Carlos Lopez propelled Wake Forest to a 4-2 win over Xavier on Friday.Freshman left-handed pitcher Tim Cooney gave up only one run on six hits in a career-high 7.2 innings pitched as Wake Forest defeated Xavier 6-1 in the second game.

A sixth inning three-run home run from Shane Kroker led Wake Forest to a 12-10 come-from-behind victory and sweep of Xavier Sunday.

UPCOMING

At Coastal Carolina, then UNC-W, and GT for the weekend.

Chris Epps conquers SC pitching, Tigers win series 2-1

2010-03-08T02:37:22Z

David Haselden shut down Sakerlina Friday night.

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Leggett SC postgame

Mark Ethridge at SEBaseball (Rivals) was in attendence for the series and wrote several good columns you should take a look at. Here's his column from Game 1.

I have often called this the best rivalry in college baseball. Now that the teams are meeting three times on a weekend, they really have a chance to prove it.

"Since they added new stands it is pretty loud," admitted South Carolina starting pitcher Blake Cooper. "The atmosphere is great here at Clemson."

(It probably hurt a bit to say that. Maybe he had his fingers crossed inside his jacket.)

"There have been a lot of good ones and tonight was a classic," said South Carolina head coach Ray Tanner. "In the first inning I thought they were going to knock the fences down."

"I thought this was going to be one of those nights when we got things rolling but Cooper settled down and did a nice job," said Clemson coach Jack Leggett.

Game 1 - Former Spartanburg High standout David Haselden pitched 4 hitless innings in relief of Casey Harman, holding the Gamecock bats silent and propelling Clemson to a 4-3 win Friday night (with video highlights) at Tiger Field.

The Gamecocks took a 3-2 lead in the sixth inning on Adrian Morales' sac fly. But the Tigers scored single runs in the seventh and eighth innings on two-out singles by Stolz and Boyd, respectively, to give the Tigers the one-run win.

Chris Epps went 2-for-3 with 2 runs scored and solo HR, Jeff Schaus added another solo shot going 1-for-4, and Jason Stolz went 2-for-3 with an RBI.

Casey Harman went 5, giving up 8 hits, 3 earned runs, 2 walks and 5Ks. Haselden got the win (2-0), yielding 1 walk and 3 Ks including the game-ender over Brison Celek. Haselden could end up starting in a midweek game very soon I suspect. So far he has 7 1/3 innings pitched, and hasn't given up a single hit in 3 games.

"He's a very intelligent kid. He's a methodical thinker. He's always under control. He pitches just like he acts all the time. He's just under control. You kind of know what you're going to get out of him."

"He's been consistent for us. He throws strikes, and he's got a pretty good breaking ball. And he throws his fastball well. He spots that thing up and his ball kind of dips and dives away from a left-hander. He's just an in-control, level-headed pitcher for us."

Game 2 - Clemson's bullpen collapsed in the 9th, giving the chickens a 7-5 win at Fluor Field in Greenville. The Tigers grabbed a 4-0 lead after two innings on Sam Dyson, but the Gamecocks chipped away and eventually tied the score in the seventh inning. Then three two-out, run-scoring hits in the ninth inning proved to be the difference in the game.

In the 9th with one out and a 4-4 tie, Tomas Cruz walked Scott Wingo and was relieved by Jack's current go-to guy Jonathan Meyer. Meyer got the first batter out, then Wingo stole 2nd base. Gamecock leadoff hitter Whit Merrifield doubled to right-center, scoring Wingo to make it 5-4. Jackie Bradley followed with a RBI single to RF and a bad throw by Parker (missed cutoff) to home let Bradley make it to 2nd. Meyer walked the next batter before Dominic Leone was brought in, and then gave up another RBI single to LF from Enders.

Chris Epps went 2-for-5 with 2 runs scored and Mike Freeman went 2-for-5 with a RBI to drive in Epps in the 9th with 2 outs.

Will Lamb started and went 5.1 IP, 3H, 2ER, 4 walks, and 1 K.

Ethridge's column from Game 2.

As reporters tried to conduct the postgame interviews, "We are the Champions" blared over the PA system. 'Kind of early for that', I remarked. But for a early March game, this one has plenty of juice. And tomorrow's winner will boast a championship.

"It is a big game anytime you play them," said Leggett.

"We wanted to even the series up," said Merrifield, "take it back to Columbia and play good tomorrow."

But they didnt.

Game 3 - Chris Epps' Grand Slam got the Tigers off to an early start with a 6 spot in the 2nd Inning, and Phil Pohl smacked another one in the 9th to lift Clemson to a 19-6 win in front of a crowd of 8214 in Columbia.

Chris Epps went 3-for-6 with a Grand Slam and a RBI single and 2 Rs scored. Mike Freeman followed him in the lineup with a 3-for-6 performance, 3 Rs scored and a solo HR. Addison Johnson hit a solo shot, Richie Shaffer went 1-for-4 with a 3 Run HR in the 6th and 3 Rs scored and Phil Pohl hit a Grand Slam in his only at-bat in the 9th. The Tigers only had 14 hits, and were helped by 11 SC walks and 3 errors. The only alarming stat from this game is the 12 strikeouts by Clemson batters.

Scott Weismann was solid over 6, giving up 5 hits, 2 earned runs, 2 walks and struck out 5 to get the W. Dominic Leone and Alex Frederick were a little shaky again in relief but Kevin Kyle put the Cluckers away in the 9th to end the massacre. Carolina starter Tyler Webb lasted just 1.1 innings and took the L as Clemson tore through the gamecock pitching staff. Also pitching for USC were Steven Neff (two innings, one hit, four runs), Jay Brown (2.2 innings, two hits, three runs), John Taylor (0.1 inning, one hit, one run), Alex Burrell (0.2 innings, no hits, no runs), Patrick Sullivan (one inning, three hits, two runs), Colby Holmes (0.1 inning, three hits, five runs) and Jose Mata (0.2 innings, no hits or runs).

it was the most runs Clemson has scored in Columbia ever, and since 18 in 1917. It was the most runs we've scored against Sakerlina since 1962.

Brad Miller made his 6th error of the year in 10 games...his bat isnt worth 6 errors to me. That shit has to change fast. We've given up 11 unearned runs so far this year.

Jack commented on the series, lamenting the lack of aggression at the plate in the middle innings.

"We talked about that, getting off to the good starts and letting them back in the game," Leggett said. "We got into a little bit of a lull on Saturday afternoon and couldn’t get the momentum back. We said we needed to play all nine innings today and we did that. We just happened to hit on all cylinders out there today and it was tough to stop us."

Chris Epps went 7-for-14 in the series with 7 runs scored and 6 RBI. As I hoped in the series preview, Epps would have to get hot at the plate at some point to give us a shot. You can't expect a team to consistently produce without a solid hitter leading off. Epps raised his season average to .286 and has a team high 9 walks for a .432 OBP.

Clemson’s Chris Epps was named the Bob Bradley Most Valuable Player for the Tigers in the Reedy River Rivalry’s three game series, hitting a couple of homers and driving in five runs, including a grand slam on Sunday, but he said he would gladly share the award with his teammates.

"It’s a nice accomplishment, but like I told the other guys, it’s a team effort," Epps said. "Everybody today, as you could see, put a good swing on the ball. Whoever we put in there, one through 15, went up there ready to hit. Yesterday, I thought we were a little too timid, and today there was a big difference. I don’t think it’s the stadium, but it’s how we need to hit all the time." (source)

Also leading the offense this weekend were Mike Freeman (6-for-14, 3 R, 2 RBI) and Jeff Schaus (4 RBI). The middle of the order wasn't so dominant otherwise. Kyle Parker went 1-for-9, Wilson Boyd went 3-for-14, and Shaffer 3-for-11.

John Nester still makes me scratch my head. He's hitting 2-for-21 to start the season, while Pohl is 5-for-12. Wilson Boyd is struggling as well, hitting .235 to start. If Addison Johnson knew how to hit a baseball, Boyd would be in trouble. I think I would find a way to get Pohl into this lineup more though, perhaps more DH duty while he has a hot bat.

KP still leads the team offensively at .378-4-10, with 7 walks so far. Schaus immediately follows at .351-2-15.

The Tigers will have a midweek game Wednesday at 4pm against Gardner Webb before hosting 10-1 NC State next weekend. NCSU swept Quinnipiac this weekend by scores of 17-6, 14-3, and 17-7 and are cruising right along offensively. They are currently only 2 points behind FSU in BA, and lead in nearly every other offensive category. We'll see what pitching we have this weekend.

Preview and Game Thread for Clemson @ Wake Forest

2010-03-07T16:09:37Z

Mark Crammer - AP

Book will have to have a good game against Aminu inside and prevent him from getting 2nd chance points tonight.

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Clemson Tigers (21-8, 9-6) @ Wake Forest Demon Deacons (18-9, 7-8)

When: 6PM, FSS

RPI: CU 25, WF 35

KenPom: Clemson 15, Wake Forest 43

Leading scorers: F Al-Farouq Aminu (15.8ppg, 10.7 rpg), G Ishmael Smith (13.2ppg, 6apg, 4.7rpg), C.J. Harris (9.9ppg)

With a win Clemson clinches a #3 seed in the ACC Tournament and a first round bye, while Wake needs a win just to make the NCAA Tournament. Clemson has not won at Wake since 1990, 17 straight. Clemson is 5-5 on the road, and Wake is 12-2 at home this year.

Clemson is peaking since the 3-game homestand turned us around, with wins in 6 of our last 8, and hopefully it can keep going. Last year we lost 7 of the last 11 when the defense fell apart.

A year ago, Purnell and the Tigers were answering too many questions about what was wrong. After a 16-0 start lifted Clemson into the Top 10, it stumbled greatly down the stretch losing five of its final six, including first-round exits in the ACC and NCAA tournaments.

In 2007, the Tigers were the last unbeaten team in Division I last unbeaten team at 17-0, then dropped nine of its next 11 and fell into the NIT. A year earlier, they went 11-0, then lost 10 of their next 13.

Purnell says those slipups get too much attention and have nothing to do with this year's team, which he thinks compares more favorably to his 2008 crew that advanced to the ACC tournament finals before losing to North Carolina.

"If you count this year, two of the last three we've played like this despite what you read sometimes," Purnell said. "Hopefully, this team can get to the ACC championship game.

"We understand that it is a marathon and that sometimes, it can chew you up mentally," he continued. "We've survived. That's one reason I'm proud of these guys."

But what we faced last year and haven't this year is a slate of tough Guards. The ACC doesn't have the extremely-good guards this year. Toney Douglas is gone, Teague is gone, Ellington is gone. Lewis Clinch tore us up. Vasquez is clearly the best in the ACC this year and we did handle him well, but Scheyer and Delaney we didnt handle so well. The defense is better for sure, but I still think teams with good Guards are going to mess us up.

Ish Smith is a good point guard and we need to be able to press him.

Wake has lost 4 in a row now to VT, NC, NCSU and FSU. Only one of those was a home, UNC 77-68 where they shot just 29.7%. They had won 4 straight coming into this losing streak.

One thing that has killed WF has been their FT shooting, which is just as awful as Clemson, but the last 4 games have really gone down for them from the line. As you might expect from that, they arent a great 3-pt shooting squad. While they didnt turn the ball over much in 2 of those 4 losses, against FSU and NC State they turned it over 20 times or more. They're averaging around 15 TOs per game and havent forced more than 15 but once in the last 7 games.

Where Wake would give us big problems is inside, just like GT, and with their defense. Its not a good offensive squad, only 98th in offensive efficiency by Kenpom. Aminu is a very good player and Booker will have problems with him tonight, though FSU's interior size handled him quite well, holding him scoreless. Their defense is ranked 19th nationally, #1 in eFG defense.

College Basketball Stats

WR Basics: Stance, Lining Up, and Getting off the Ball at the Snap

2010-03-06T14:00:20Z

We will move forward to understand how the receivers operate in the passing game. The first items that we will need to discuss are the basic fundamentals involved in playing the WR position. The most basic concept of the WR position is the stance that a receiver takes. The stance that a receiver takes has evolved over the years. Up until about 25-30 years ago, receivers generally lined up in a three point stance and exploded off of the football. With the evolution of the short passing game, receivers began utilizing a two point stance (what we all see today) to get off the ball and utilize more dynamic sets. Thus, we will begin with a stationary starting position.

The receiver should begin in a balanced position. This position should incorporate one foot behind the other with the receiver’s hips being square to the line of scrimmage. Some people coach that one foot should constantly be the lead foot. Other coaches teach the concept that the foot placement is a function of the route. For instance, a quick slant for some offenses is three steps then break. If your outside foot is in front, you will have a much more difficult time planting and cutting off of the inside foot to make this move. I personally see merit to both arguments, and can rationalize the pros of a consistent take-off as well as the need to get to one place in a certain number of steps. Personally, I like utilizing the outside foot (foot closest to the boundary) as the trailing foot. This creates one less thing to think about when lining up and will not tip off the defender to the route that you are running. Also, if the receiver practices this constantly, he should be able to successfully understand how to run his routes because (if he is a serious WR) he will practice these routes repeatedly and know exactly where he needs to be to make the play a success.

The receiver’s center of gravity should be over the balls of his front toe. The receiver’s posture should create a straight line from the helmet down to the lower part of the back. The pass catcher should be relaxed yet ready to explode into his route at the snap of the ball. There are also differing opinions about the hand and arm placement by the receiver in his stance. Originally in the 2-point stance, coaches liked their receivers relaxed yet poised. Hence, receivers were coached to let their arms sort of hang in a relaxed fashion. More recently, however, coaches want to get their receivers arms in more of a running position to try to get better acceleration off of the football. Either way, the receiver should be comfortable yet prepared to explode off the ball at the snap.

Once set, the receiver should look into the formation at the ball. Since the receiver is outside of the tackle box, he may not be able to hear the snap count. Hence, if he is looking at the ball, the snap count is irrelevant and he can break as soon as he sees the ball snapped. It is extremely important that the receiver is set and ready to roll at the snap of the ball. There is really no excuse for a receiver to prematurely move before the snap (he is looking at the ball) nor is there a reason for the receiver not to be moving at the snap (again, he is watching the center).

Once the receiver gets to his location in the formation, he will need to be conscious of his environment. First, the receiver should understand where he will need to go in the play. He will then need to identify where the defenders are located and what obstacles they may provide as the receiver attempts to complete his objective. While doing all of this, the WR should NOT stare or look too much at his final position. It is good practice to try to gain information from peripheral vision and when approaching the LOS. Please note that we will be focusing mostly on the passing game in this post. While this is our objective here, receivers are also a critical part of the running game and that blocking by the receivers can be critical in the success of a team’s running game.

At the snap of the ball, the receiver wants to push off of his front foot, exploding through the LOS and keeping his torso low. The receiver’s front foot should not leave the ground until it has completely thrusted the player’s body forward. The trailing leg should get a decent stride off of this acceleration. The receiver almost wants to think of himself as a sprinter who is trying to get the most explosion possible out of the blocks. That being said, it is important that the receiver maintain control of his body and overall balance. It is also important that the receiver makes every snap look the same regardless of the route. When the receiver gets lazy and doesn’t make his take-offs consistent, it gives the defensive back(s) an item to key on in anticipation of certain routes. Poor fundamentals and execution of any of the above listed items are merely laziness on the part of the receiver, as any of these items can be perfected by focused practice and by paying attention to what is going on (i.e., the snap of the football).

Now that we know the correct positioning technique, we should investigate how to line up. Receivers will be lined up in one of two locations; on the line of scrimmage or off the line of scrimmage. Why does this line position matter? Offensive game rules dictate that seven men must be on the LOS at the snap of the football. Of these seven men on the LOS, only the outside two are eligible to go out for a pass or touch a forward pass. Thus, if there aren’t seven men on the LOS, the offense gets penalized for an illegal formation. If a player is lined up on the LOS at the snap of the ball, but is not one of the outside men on the LOS he is not an eligible receiver (if he goes downfield, the offense will be flagged for ineligible man downfield…if a forward pass touches an ineligible receiver, the offense is flagged for illegal touching). Please note that all players who are not lined up on the LOS (obviously lined up behind the LOS on the offensive side of the ball), no matter their location are eligible receivers and thus can run downfield and catch forward passes.

When lining up on the LOS, the receiver cannot break the plane of the football. As a general rule, receivers will try to line up in the same plane as the offensive linemen who are also on the LOS. When a receiver splits out to line up on the LOS, he should ALWAYS look at the closest official or line judge and see his hand signals. If the official has an arm out pointing towards the defensive side of the LOS, the receiver is on the LOS. If the official has an arm out pointing towards the offensive side of the LOS, the receiver is not on the LOS. If an official has both arms out pointing in both directions, at least one receiver is off the LOS and one on the LOS. Note that the official on one side of the field will only signal the position(s) of receivers on his side of the field, not the entire formation. Receivers can often tell the official that he is on and the official usually confirms that he is correctly positioned or tells the receiver that he will need to move one way or another to be correctly positioned.

When lining up off the LOS, the receiver should be behind the plane created by the butt of the offensive linemen on the LOS. It is a good rule of thumb that receivers off the LOS should try to center their bodies with the legs of the quarterback if the he is under center. The rules about using the officials (as stated above) should be followed for receivers who are not on the LOS.

This is one of my biggest pet peeves. I do not understand why teams cannot line up correctly. As a WR, you need to know whether you are on the LOS or not. You then check with the official to determine if you are properly aligned or not. You then look into the formation. If you are on the LOS and see another WR who is also on the LOS, one of you is wrong. Conversely, if you are lined up off the LOS and look in and don’t see an eligible receiver lined up on the LOS, something is wrong. Please also remember that a TE is considered an eligible receiver and should not be covered up (covered up means having someone outside of you on the LOS) if he is on the LOS.

One other item to highlight. A team may have only one (1) player moving at the snap of the football. This player must be moving laterally (cannot be moving forward at all). All other players must be set for two seconds before the snap of the football. Thus, if there is any shifting at all, players must reset and be static before the ball is snapped.

The last item that I would like to discuss in the pre-snap is the use of motion. Teams often like to put receivers in motion and move them laterally across the formation. When a player goes in motion, he is usually off the LOS until he resets on the LOS. It is important that everyone is aware of the status of the motion man to ensure that the offense has a legal formation before the ball is snapped.

A player is often motioned by the QB as a predetermined part of the play, as a ploy to uncover the defenses coverage, or as a technique to create a favorable match up for the offense. The QB usually uses a leg movement to signal motion. Upon receiving the signal, the receiver turns and typically jogs/lightly sprints across the formation. There are a couple of key items to address when a player is placed in motion. First, the player must maintain complete control and balance when placed in motion. He must be able to move freely and should pace himself so that he is in the correct position/spot at the snap of the ball. The player will want to turn his head back towards his own goal line when listening for the cadence. The reason a player does so instead of turning his head towards the LOS is because we have a tendency of moving in the direction that our head is turning without consciously knowing that we are moving in that direction. If the receiver is even slightly drifting towards the line of scrimmage, the offense incurs and illegal motion penalty. Thus, timing, control, and formation awareness are the biggest items involved in successfully performing a motion (or zoom) offensive move.

As we continue to evolve the position of the WR, we will investigate route running, how to catch the ball, and how to get into good position against a defender. You should remember, though, that lining up and getting off the football is a critical skill that must be mastered to become a good WR.

#13 Clemson takes on #15 Sakerlina

2010-03-05T14:00:30Z

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Clemson Tigers (7-0) vs. South Carolina Yardbirds (5-2)

When: Friday's opener is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at Tiger Field (on TigerCast) with Saturday's contest at Fluor Field in Greenville, S.C. at 2 p.m. and the series finale on Sunday afternoon at Carolina Stadium, also a 2 p.m. start. Clemson is the designated home team Saturday.

Clemson leads the all time series 165-120-2: 93-42 at CU and 46-25 at Tiger Field. Jack is 30-29 against SC at Clemson, 15-13 at home. Under Ray Tanner, SC is 25-22 against CU.

Starters:

Friday: Jr. Casey Harman (2-0, 0.84) vs. Sr. Blake Cooper (2-0, 3.00)

Saturday: Soph. Will Lamb (1-0, 1.42) vs. Jr. Sam Dyson (1-0, 2.35)

Sunday: Soph. Scott Weismann (1-0, 2.89) vs. Fr. Tyler Webb (0-0, 0.00)

Last weekend - SC lost a key early series against #14 East Carolina on the road, who had lost ot UVA the previous weekend. The Cluckers won Game 1 6-2 behind Cooper, then lost the next two 4-3 and 4-2. Dyson pitched 4 solid innings against ECU and Webb threw 4 scoreless innings of relief against them as well.

Saturday:

South Carolina held a 3-2 lead into the bottom of the ninth inning when ECU made its final charge. Austin Homan drew a leadoff walk against Gamecock reliever Michael Roth to give the Pirates a runner to open the frame. Roth fought back though and struck out Philip Clark to give the Gamecocks the first out of the inning. South Carolina would then go to the bullpen for reliever John Taylor, who was able to get the second out as Bobby Haney fielded a slow roller from Cameron Freeman and threw cleanly to first to secure the out as ECU pinch runner Bryan Bass advanced to second base. With two outs and a 0-1 count, ECU third baseman Corey Thompson knocked a ball into the hole between third base and shortstop that bounced past Gamecock shortstop Bobby Haney and into left field scoring Bass and tying the game at 3-3. ECU's Zach Wright followed with an infield single, again into the hole between third and short setting the stage for Whitehead. On a 2-1 pitch, Whitehead laced a single into right field that scored pincher runner Chris Gosik and lifted the Pirates to a 4-3 victory.

Sunday:

East Carolina rode the momentum of a three-run first inning and added a an unearned run in the bottom of the fourth that was enough to back starting pitcher Brad Mincey, who worked seven innings and allowed one run, unearned, on three hits with five strikeouts and three walks to pick up the victory. The game was not without drama though as the Gamecocks scratched back to score a pair of runs in the seventh and eighth innings only to see the rally fall short.

SC came back midweek to pound Presbyterian 15-0.

Nolan Belcher was dominant on the hill for the Gamecocks with five scoreless innings and just one infield hit allowed. He struck out seven and walked one to earn his first win of the year. Matt Price also struck out one in one inning of relief with Parker Bangs striking out two batters in his stint. Freshmen Ethan Carter and Colby Holmes closed the game out with an inning apiece as well. South Carolina pitchers had 10 strikeouts to two walks on the afternoon.

"It has been only seven games but our pitching continues to do a nice job," said head coach Ray Tanner. "We used five guys today. Nolan Belcher had a quality start and we had some guys in the bullpen that got a little bit of work. We got a bunch of runs early with two outs, so that put us where we needed to be today."

Carolina's 18 hits included eight doubles and a pair of homers. The eight doubles tied for the fourth highest mark by a team coached by Ray Tanner in South Carolina history. Merrifield finished 3-for-6 with a grand slam homer and also scored two runs. He also extended his hitting streak that began last season to 21 games. Wingo was 2-for-3 with four runs scored and was twice hit by pitch.

Clemson swept Wright State last weekend and won against Dayton in 10 innings Tuesday afternoon on a horrendous pitching performance by Dayton's pen.

"We've played pretty well so far," Clemson coach Jack Leggett said. "I kind of like the way we're approaching every game, and the kids are focused on what they have to do. We're in a situation where now we have to bump it up a notch, with South Carolina coming up and then the conference schedule."

"I think we've got some good experience on our team in the field, and some pretty good depth with our offensive players," Leggett said. "I think overall if two or three guys have a really good day, it's carrying us. If a couple guys are off a little bit, other guys can pick us up. So our depth is really helping us."

SC Probable Lineup
CF	Whit Merrifield	.333/.394 OBP	1 HR	6 RBI	11R
DH	Brady Thomas	.400/.455	0	2	3
3B	Chistian Walker	.323/.364	2	10	6
1B	Jeffery Jones	.333/.400	3	11	4
C	Kyle Enders	.450/.522	0	2	4
LF	Robert Beary	.360/.448	0	3	3
RF	Adam Matthews	.261/.261	1	5	3
SS	Bobby Haney	.250/.250	0	3	3
2B	Scott Wingo	.462/.667	1	3	7

Enders has hit safely in each game to date, Matthews sprained an ankle against ECU last weekend. SC has used multiple combinations at DH, and right now hit.309 as a team with 8 HRs. Not particularly imposing, though they did play a good team already and we have not. Sophomore CF Jackie Bradley is one of their best players who has been injured so far with a broken hand, and only came back against PC. If he's ready to go, expect Matthews to be out of the lineup and things to be reshuffled in the middle. Nick Ebert is another to watch for at 1B who was out due to academics.

They dont steal as many bases as Clemson and all by 3 are by different players. As a team, they've committed only 4 errors defensively, all by different players so far.

Clemson is hitting .304 so far with a nice .488 slugging percentage, 17 doubles, 9 HRs and 13 steals. Parker is hitting .464-4-10, Miller .423, and Schaus .407-1-11. The middle of our order is more imposing to me than theirs, and I believe Clemson has the deeper lineup top to bottom. Epps must hit better at the top though if we're to have a chance. So far he's been working walks (7) and Freeman has gotten on base to score many of our runs. Brad Miller has been the spark in the lower part of the lineup. Wilson Boyd has shown flashes at the plate in the 5/6 hole but has been inconsistent, while Richie Shaffer has what it takes to be another Mike Johnson. Phil Pohl is hitting so well at Catcher right now that I hope he gets the start over Nester, we'll need it.

SC Pitching
Blake Cooper	2-0	3.00	12IP	7H	4ER	4BB	11Ks
Sam Dyson	1-0	2.35	7.2	2	2	2	11
Tyler Webb	0-0	0.00	8.2	7	0	1	9
Nolan Belcher	1-0	0.00	7	2	0	2	11
Steven Neff	1-1	5.06	5.1	7	3	1	3
Jimmy Revan	0-0	5.40	3.1	5	3	3	6
Michael Roth	0-0	3.00	3.0	1	1	2	5

Like Clemson, they've had several guys who have pitched just once or twice out of the Pen, so its hard to get a good read on them so far. Cooper, Dyson, Neff, Webb, and Belcher have been starters so far. The pitching staff is 5-2 with a 2.63 ERA in 61.2 innings. The staff has 71 Ks to 19 walks with opponents only hitting .217 on the year, but as you can see its not evident that they have an anchor in the pen just yet. John Taylor, who blew the game against ECU, was thought to be the closer coming into the season and has struggled so far. Still, the starting pitching looks very good to me.

Tanner had this to say about Dyson, who is coming off surgery:

"He's looked great, actually, to me," Tanner said. "We've been very careful with him. I know he wasn't happy being lifted at East Carolina—I think he was at 55 or 58 pitches, throwing extremely well. But it's a long season. He'll throw a few more pitches Saturday against Clemson. His velocity's been good, and his changeup is the best I've ever seen it, and a good slider. His first outing against Duquesne he was 97 a couple of times but was low to mid-90s quite often. He is one of those pitchers in college baseball, there's not that many, but on any given day he can dominate a team."

Clemson's staff has a 2.67 ERA, 17 BBs and 50 Ks. Freshman Jonathan Meyer seems to be one of Jack's early favorites out of the bullpen and I suspect if he continues to hold up, he'll end up with the Closer's job instead of Cruz....but it'll be hard to unseat the upperclassman in conference play. I just hope Sarratt does not pitch much.

Expectations

Given that this is so early in the season, its hard to know which way things will go, but the fallout will likely affect the outcome for the next few weeks for either team. SC just dropped a series against ECU and really can't afford to drop another against a good opponent before starting a tough SEC slate. Clemson has historically struggled offensively around this time in my memory, though not so far, and if the pitchers get shelled then it'll affect the young ones going forward.

SC's starting pitching matches up very well with ours but at the moment we may have an edge in the bullpen. Casey Harman has been quite good so far, though Jack has not let him go deeper into games. Will Lamb I think will end up taking a permanent starting job, he's got some good pitches. Weismann hasn't pitched enough for my liking either, but gave up too many hits and was hurt by his defense in the last outing.

SC's hitting ability has usually been what gives us the most problems. Tanner doesnt play small-ball like Leggett, and lets his hitters swing away and they don't play nearly as tight in big games as Clemson does. Still, if one team has to scratch for runs, I think Clemson is the one that can do it, plus we have more depth in my opinion. I think Clemson wins the series 2-1.

(we have used Baseball America rankings)

Defensive Basics: Defensive Packages and Coverage Calls

2010-03-04T14:00:25Z

Now that we know some of the basics of the 4-3 defense, we can address other aspects of defensive game play including defensive play calls, coverage calls, and various in-game adjustments. The first two questions that many of you are probably asking is what is a base defense and why would you choose the 4-3 as your base defense? A base defense is a defense that is utilized in "normal" conditions and the standard platform (i.e., identifies positions, quantities of such positions, and core alignment strategies) by which the defense will operate. All of these items are important when creating strategies as well as evaluating need areas to be filled in the recruiting process. Normal conditions can be thought of as 1^st and 10, 2^nd and 6, 3^rd and 4 scenarios that are common during a football game.

A base defense is chosen based on a team’s personnel and its coordinator’s defensive philosophy. Clemson, for instance, utilizes a four man front instead of a three man front (often used in a 3-4 defense) because the Tigers have a really good group of down linemen (DT’s and DE’s). Further, the Tigers have more quality depth at the down linemen positions when compared to the linebacker spots, so it makes a lot more sense to employ such a look.

How does a defense know what formation to line up in and where to go? As mentioned earlier, the 4-3 will be utilized in "normal" scenarios. During the course of a game, however, an offense may get into abnormal situations (for instance a 2^nd and 20 spot, goal line/short yardage situation, or at the end of the half/game where the offense needs to gain yardage quickly to set up a field goal before the clock expires) that may dictate changes in on-field defensive personnel. A common occurrence would be 3^rd and long situations where the offense will more than likely pass the football to try pick up a first down. In such a situation, it is common for the defensive coordinator to play a defense that incorporates more defensive backs than linebackers to try to cover the highly likely forward pass. Here is a general overview on how this process is completed from an administrative stand point.

During the week, coaches do several things to prepare for upcoming games. The initial portion involves watching film, understanding the opponent’s strengths/weaknesses, and identifying patterns/tendencies. The defensive coach then comes up with a strategy to mitigate the opponents weaknesses and anticipate game play based on what an opponent has done previously in similar situations. While all the coaches contribute to this process, generally the defensive coordinator pulls together a total game plan and dictates strategies for individual situations. This strategy is then conveyed to the players at practice and through meetings.

As part of this strategy, the coordinator will create personnel packages (differing from the base package) that he will use for different scenarios. A common example of such that effects the defensive backfield is the "nickel package". This personnel package involves the use of five defensive backs. During the week, players will be briefed on typical situations that will warrant the use of this "nickel package" during the week’s game, and will thus be cognizant during the game of such scenarios. When the coach wants to change the personnel on the field, the coordinator or another coach can usually be seen running up and down the sidelines screaming the name of the new package to players on the bench and on the field. The players then know who should be on the field and shuffle on/off accordingly. It should be noted that the defensive coordinator makes this change in anticipation of what the offense will do and what formation/personnel he thinks the offense will utilize.

There are several ways that a defensive coordinator may get the play to the players on the field. Teams that constantly (mostly) utilize base their package may huddle (note, it is common for just the front four and linebackers to huddle, as DB’s often have further to go to get into position and often base their coverage on the offensive look given). The middle linebacker usually gets a signal from the sidelines and relays the defensive call to the defense while in the defensive huddle. Otherwise--if no huddle is utilized--the entire defense will look to the sidelines and get the defensive call. Items included in this call could include blitz schemes and basic (man or zone) coverage calls. Once this information is communicated, the defenders line up and await the offense.

The defense will make further adjustments once they see the offense line up. The free safety usually dictates the defensive coverage adjustments. The FS looks at the offensive alignment and the offensive personnel package and will then call out the coverage to the secondary (and possibly the LB’s). When the safety makes a call, he repeatedly looks around and yells out a coverage scheme. It is the responsibility of the other defenders to ensure that they know the coverage. You will often see a corner call back or signal to the safety the call to ensure that the correct coverage will be in place. These coverage calls are dictated through basic defensive philosophy and through the research that the players/coaches have done on the opposition prior to this play.

Adjustments at the LOS can be extremely simple. If the offense shows a simple "Twins" formation (an alignment that utilizes two WR’s on the same side of the formation), the FS will first identify the formation and may call for Cover 3. With this coverage call, the defenders will recall previous instruction from the coaches and move into the appropriate postitions. Please keep in mind that the core zone concepts will not change and will remain consistent with our last discussion on zone shells.

This position adjustment will push the SS closer to the LOS and roll the corner deeper into the defensive backfield (essentially another safety). The FS will realize that he may need to provide more help on the Twins side of the field, and will shade (or slightly cheat) to that side of the field. In the example below, the TE is located opposite the Twins. The corner then lines up on the TE’s outside shoulder 10-15 yards off the LOS. In this scenario, the rolled up corner will be responsible for approximately ½ of the field (the area from the center of the field to the boundary on the TE side. The FS and the other corner each be responsible for deep coverage on the other half of the field, with each defender effectively taking ¼ of the total field each.

The above scenario was pretty cut and dry. These things can obviously get more and more complex. We will now discuss several different scenarios out and decisions that may arise out of a common formation and how the safety may adjust when such a scenario arises. The offensive formation will be a balanced spread "Ace" formation. This offensive formation utilizes four (4) WR’s and one (1) RB as the eligible receivers. Two receivers will line up in a twins set to the left of the formation, two receivers will line up in a twins set to the right of the formation, and the back will line up directly behind the center.

Scenario 1: The defense is in a "normal" down and distance situation. There is no blitz called by the defensive coordinator. The defense is trying to make the QB stay patient and work for a completion through his progression. The FS will call a Cover 2 defense, causing the formation to remain the base 4-3 look with each defender having zone responsibility.

Scenario 2: The defense is weary of a deep threat, but still wants to take away intermediate routes. There is no blitz called. The safety calls a Cover 4 defense and the defensive formation remains base 4-3.

Scenario 3: The defensive coordinator calls an inside blitz. The situation makes the FS weary of a deep pass. To free up one of the inside linebackers to blitz, the FS calls a Cover 1 defense. The corners are both man up on the split receivers (located on the outside of both sides of the formation), and the SS and WILL in man to man coverage on the slot receivers. The non-blitzing LB will have man coverage on the back and the FS will be playing centerfield to give help on deep routes.

Scenario 4: The defensive coordinator calls a blitz coming from the QB’s blindside (we will assume the QB is right handed), so the pressure will come from the left side of the formation. The safety sees the need for extra support on the "Twins" on the right, but is confident he and the corner can play man to man defense on the blitzing side. The safety then calls a combination coverage--man on the left side, zone on the right. The FS will cover the slot receiver on the left and the corner will cover the split receiver on the left, both in man coverage. The corner, WILL, and SS will play zone on the right. MIKE will drop to provide support on receivers running underneath crossing routes.

Scenario 5: The defense is backed up close to its own goal line. There is little need for deep help, and the defensive coordinator wants to utilize the linebackers for run support or to blitz the QB. The FS calls a Cover 0 defense. This defense employs all the defenders in man to man coverage, with one of the LB’s having responsibility for the back. Both the FS and SS will creep up to the LOS and leave the linebackers free of zones and WR responsibilities.

As shown above, the defense has various looks that it can give the offense from its base personnel package. This also shows how a defense can respond to different situations and scenarios during game situations and how the coverage call can be made at the LOS.

This post is designed to give the reader a better idea of how a base defense is chosen, how/why players are being shuttled into the game, how the defenders know where to line up for a play, and how the defenders know the coverage that will be used for a particular play. We will get into more complex scenarios and individual situations that will arise during a game, but felt that these administrative topics were worth exploring first.

Dayton wild pitches itself to a loss at Clemson

2010-03-04T02:44:47Z

Dayton wild pitches itself to a loss at Clemson

In the 10th inning, Epps led off with a single to right field and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Two batters later with an 0-2 count on Schaus, Epps moved to third on another wild pitch. Schaus struck out for out #2, then with Parker at the plate, Mitchem threw his third wild pitch of the inning and fourth of the game to allow Epps to score the game-winning run.

KP was at the plate for the WP that scored the tying run in the 8th, and the final one, and went 3-for-5 with a 2R HR and 3 Rs scored.

Clemson used 9 pitchers on the day.

Alignment, Coverages, and Basic Wrinkles for a 4-3 Defense

2010-03-03T21:00:22Z

We discussed basic fundamentals for defensive back play earlier, and now want to get into some base formations and base coverage schemes. Here we will discuss a base 4-3 look and some wrinkles and adjustments that a defense will show based on various offensive looks. Pay attention to the secondary strategies because we will refer to these looks as we progress. This is meant to be a foundation topic, and we will expand these basic strategies in future articles as we discuss wrinkles and combinations utilized in basic in-game strategies.

Let’s begin with the absolute basics, what does the 4-3 entail? A 4-3 defense is a defense that incorporates four (4) down linemen and three (3) linebackers. You will also see two (2) cornerbacks, one strong safety, and one free safety. Generally, the four down linemen consist of two DT’s and two DE’s. You will see a SAM (strong side) linebacker who will be positioned on the same side of the position as the TE, a WILL (weak side) backer playing on the opposite side of the position as the SAM, and a middle (MIKE) LB who plays between the two. SAM is usually lined up head up or on the outside shoulder of the TE. WILL is usually lined up outside of the tackle. Corners will flank the perimeter and typically line up 5-7 yards off the ball, and safeties behind the WILL and SAM at a 10-15 yard depth. See the base 4-3 look below.

(Courtesy of www.turfshowtimes.com)

One of the simplest and most common looks that you will see out of a 4-3 defense is a two-deep zone, or Cover 2 look. The defense is called a two-deep zone because there are two defenders (the safeties) who ultimately are each responsible for deep threats (areas 12 yards or deeper from the LOS) on ½ of the football field. Other defenders are responsible for areas underneath. The cornerbacks have responsibility for the flats--the area outside the tackle box within 5 yards of the LOS. The linebackers fan back to cover the areas between the flats and the deep halves. The MIKE backer here has a critical job of rapidly dropping into his zone to protect the middle of the field (what is known as Tampa 2 is actually Cover 3, the MLB drops considerably deeper).

Cover 2 Zone look:

Tampa 2:

In most cover two looks, the corners in this defense are often referred to as "hard" corners because they play close to the line of scrimmage, funnel outside receivers back to the middle of the field, and can provide run support in addition to shoring up receivers in the flats. It should be noted that there are several cases in which the cornerback is required to turn and run with the receiver. One such is when the corner cannot funnel the receiver back to the inside of the field (i.e., the receiver gets an instant outside release) or if multiple receivers on one side of the field both run vertical routes.

A variation of the zone look employs both man and zone coverage schemes in the same defense. This defense, known as cover two man, requires the two safeties to continue to each have deep ½ responsibility while the underneath players (the corners and linebackers) play man to man coverage on the receivers. Lots of teams like to play this with twin sets to one side of the field, as it minimizes some confusion involved with receivers running in and out of multiple defenders’ zones. You must be careful employing this defense because you could very easily have a slot receiver being covered one-on-one by a linebacker (this is why Steele often chooses to go Nickel). While you have safety help, the receiver clearly has an advantage in this situation. Further, offensive coordinators will recognize this advantage to optimize their personnel in such scenarios.

The cover two defense gives the cornerbacks a lot of options and allows these players to help with perimeter run support. It also takes away the short passes and forces an offense to challenge and stretch the zone to be successful. The weak spot of this zone is the middle of the field (also why Tampa 2 was invented, it helps this deficiency). If you can get the safety to shade (or drift during the play) towards the boundary to cover a deep receiver, another receiver can easily attack the middle of the field (also known as the seem). The safety is then forced to choose which receiver in his half of the field he will cover. You often will hear folks discuss the soft spot of a cover two zone and now know they are talking about the center of the field over 15 yards downfield of the LOS.

Another common defensive zone strategy is called quarters coverage (or cover 4, as this is a four-deep zone). Quarters coverage, as the name implies, has the defensive backs each having responsibility for ¼ of the deep coverage, with the linebackers being responsible for underneath coverage. As shown below, the both corners and both safeties have deep responsibilities. At the snap of the football, each of the corners (again playing approx 7 yards off the ball) will immediately drop into a backpedal to get into position to defend his zone and read the patterns. Likewise, the safeties will get a little drop, with each player keeping keen observation of what is going on around him. Both SAM and WILL have underneath flats responsibilities and MIKE will get a small drop and cover the middle underneath routes.

(Courtesy of www.trojanfootballanalysis.com)

We'll have more on C4 later when we get into pattern recognition.

There are many variations and wrinkles that can be thrown into this defense to confuse offenses and respond to individual scenarios. A common and popular wrinkle to the base 4-3 Cover 2 defense is known as the Tampa 2, which is a specialized hybrid 2/3 deep zone look that relies heavily on specific player types. We don’t have enough time to get into this detail or wrinkle today, but may investigate this item in the future after we have exhausted the basics.

As we mentioned earlier, the 4-3 defense is less suited for run support than other schemes because of the lack of (LB) bodies in the middle of the field. Thus, defensive coordinators saw this issue and began sliding their strong safety closer to the LOS to help with run support, effectively turning the SS into an outside linebacker (OLB). By moving the SS closer to the line (either in a pre-snap set or creeping him up at or just after the snap), the defense essentially shows a look that is extremely similar to a 4-4 (four DL and four LB’s) and consequently will utilize most of the coverage techniques used in a 4-4 defense. For this exercise, I may refer to certain sets as a 4-4 set when, in fact, the personnel is derived from the 4-3 with the SS lined up at linebacker depth.

Commonalities between the two looks include four down linemen (two DE’s two DT’s) and two corners on the perimeter playing 5-7 yards off the LOS. You will have a free safety (FS) positioned about 12 yards off the LOS. Since the SS will be moved out of the deep position, the FS will need to shade (or position himself) more towards the strong side of the offensive formation. The safety will cheat a little this way because there are more eligible receiving targets there and thus more potential passing options to this side of the field. The position of the linebackers is the real difference here, as the SS will typically move to LB depth (around 3-5 yards off the LOS) on the strong side of the field. He lines up on the strong side of the field because he is a better pass defender than SAM on the most eligible receiver side of the formation and gets run support from SAM who is lined up immediately inside of the SS. SAM will essentially be shifted inside and play head up on the offensive tackle (OT). MIKE will also shift to play head up over the offensive guard (OG) and WILL typically plays about 3-5 yards outside of the OT.

At the snap of the ball, the corners (starting around 7 yards off the LOS) will immediately drop to try to get in position to cover the deep third. The SS/WILL will probably first read run, then move out to the flats with each player keeping his head on a swivel. The MIKE and SAM will fan to cover the middle of the field. The safety will also get some depth and should be mirroring/shading the QB (this can be done by watching the QB’s head/shoulders and cheating to one side of the field or another to try to make a play on the football should the ball be thrown down field).

It is also common in some scenarios to have the linebackers playing inside to have back out responsibilities. In a quad WR set, it is common for teams to play man-over, with the corners covering the outside WR’s, WILL and the SS covering the slot receivers, and the FS playing center field. We have covered Cover 3 itself in the past.

Other common base defensive coverage schemes include cover 1 and cover 0. Both of these involve man-to-man coverage. In cover 1, the everyone is in man coverage except (usually) the FS. Corners and the SS have man coverage on the receivers and the LB’s have man coverage on the back(s). The FS is the deep man and provides support over the top for the other defenders. In cover 0, only man coverage is played, with no help over the top by the safety. These defenses are common in short yardage scenarios (defenders--usually LB’s--are not involved in coverage and can focus on the running game), in blitzing scenarios (again, LB’s are not in coverage and are free to blitz), or in four WR sets. Since the defenders will not receive as much help from deep zones, the defenders must be sound fundamentally and be able to match up well with the receivers. Cover 1 and C2-Man are the two primary coverages Clemson runs.

It is extremely important to remember and understand these basic formations and defensive strategies. These will be the core concepts that we build upon to understand how coverage sets work in game situations. From these basic concepts, defensive coaches have developed wrinkles to counter individual situations and offensive player combinations during game situations. These wrinkles involve combinations of these coverage schemes as well as ways to disguise what the secondary is actually doing. It is also important to remember that these pass defense strategies (both zone and man techniques) are utilized with different formations and player combinations. We will discuss how defenses communicate their coverage schemes and how they adjust to different scenarios in a future article.

Tiger Shooting Spree Crushes Bumblebees

2010-03-03T12:01:03Z

More photos » Mark Crammer - AP

8 days ago: Clemson coach Oliver Purnell, right, hugs Trevor Booker during senior day ceremonies before an NCAA basketball game against Georgia Tech on Tuesday, March 2, 2010 at Littlejohn Coliseum in Clemson, S.C. (AP Photo/Anderson Independent-Mail, Mark Crammer)

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Purnell Postgame
And clinches an NCAA berth with an assured winning record in the ACC and good RPI. Now we play for seeding.

Clemson had me worried in the first half, with our inability to box out and get any rebounds and Booker's lackadaisical defense at times and weak FT shooting. I pointed out in the preview that I felt like we had to hold our own in rebounding and control their shooters, and in the first half we only kinda did the latter (3/6 from 3) as we were being outplayed inside for most of this game. We shot well so there was hope, I just expected us to come out and go cold in the 2nd half, but Andre Young's last-second 3 must've put a fire under them.

And how about Andre Young, whose 3-pointer at the first-half buzzer propelled Clemson into the locker room with a 44-41 lead and fueled a 26-7 run that carried into the second half and broke the game wide open?

"I’ve always been practicing buzzer-beaters ever since I was a kid," Young said. "So I don’t have any problem taking them. I want to thank my teammates for giving me the ball in the right spots."

'We have a sense of energy,' Young said. 'Halfway through ACC play we realized we had a chance to be a great team.' (source)

"I call him Big Shot Billups right now," Booker said, referring to NBA star Chauncey Billups. " He’s hit some big shots at the buzzer. That’s what he does, knock down trey-balls. I didn’t expect him to hit two in a row at the buzzer like that. If it happens next game, I think something’s up."

I still contend that Favors will be a lottery pick someday, but I now believe he needs a new coach to get there. They have interior NBA-level size and a couple of great shooters. They have enough talent on the court to win a national championship. I believe GT has a 1-15 ACC road record the last two years now too.

Notice I said talented enough, not good enough. Shumpert, Lawal and Favors are former McD's All-Americans. Peacock would start at most other schools in the ACC.

Favors and Lawal are so dominant on the boards that no team in the country would want to face them. Why they haven't gotten together an inside-out game between their talented shooters (Rice and Oliver are really good) and those two is beyond me. Favors is young, but Lawal should be in the 15-20ppg range and actually regressed from last year. It seems Purnell has an equal when it comes to poor offensive coaching. A bad offensive coach who can't coach defense that well gets you 7-8 conference records, because that was GT's problem tonight, their defense disappeared early in the 2nd half. They looked totally lost and like they didnt know what they could do to stop Clemson's shooting. I kept wondering what took Hewitt so long to call timeout when we started our run. I also wondered why they'd stop and set their offense when they passed to beat the press, GT is a good passing team. I would've thought a team that has such issues on offense would like to be pressed to get the transition baskets.

And to be fair, it was the best shooting night from Clemson I can ever recall against a good opponent. If we'd been able to sink FTs in the 1st half (6/15) at a respectable clip and knew how to box people out, it would've been a bigger margin. At times it looked to me like we weren't even trying to get rebounds, and no one would push and fight for them. Clemson lost the rebounding fight overall 44-32 (19-12 offensive) but was a little better in the 2nd half, mostly because GT didn't know how to defend and got shellshocked.

This was truly an offensive night, as our defense didn't really play that well except in spurts. Some stats:

Demontez Stitt finished with 20 points and 4/6 from 3, 7 assists and 4 steals. Trevor Booker with 21, 9 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 blocks. If he'd only improve that 4/11 FT number...Noel Johnson was the only other player with more than 4 rebounds. Andre Young had another 3 3's for his 13 points.
David Potter had a good night on Senior night, deservedly so. 3/6 from 3, 11 points and 4 rebounds.
As a team, we had a total of 21 assists. Shot 12 3 pointers (44%) and hit 55% overall, 59% in the 2nd half.
The defense was not so impressive: 19 offensive rebounds given up, 45.6% shooting overall which didnt change much between the two halves. 15 turnovers forced by Clemson, 10 were in the first half. Glen Rice finished with 17 and 8 rebounds, Favors 16 and 7 and 4 blocks.

Clemson has now won six of its last eight, peaking at the end, which always impresses the NCAA for a higher seed. If we can pull down another couple wins, we should be in good shape.

"If you count this year, two of our last three have surged this way, unlike what you read sometimes," Purnell said. "Hopefully this team can end up in the ACC championship game and change that script. It’s not like we’re blowing people out; we’re scratching, clawing, hanging in there in the ACC. If you understand it’s a marathon, not a sprint, you’re good."(source)

There has not been a Tanner Smith update that I've heard. I know he didnt return and OP didnt have an update postgame, but Smith was on crutches.

Paul Hewitt Postgame

NCAA Basketball Stats

College Basketball

Clemson vs. Dayton Baseball at 4pm

2010-03-03T05:44:44Z

Clemson vs. Dayton Baseball at 4pm

CUAD Preview, Justin Sarratt to start.

Preview and Game Thread for Georgia Tech @ Clemson

2010-03-02T17:00:26Z

Gail Burton - AP

OP needs one win to seal up a NCAA berth, and perhaps seal up a first-round bye in the ACC Tournament.

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Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (19-9, 7-7) @ Clemson Tigers (20-8, 8-6)

When: 8pm, Raycom

Top Scorers: Derrick Favors (11.6 ppg, 8.4 rpg, 1.9 blks/gm), Gani Lawal (13.6ppg, 9.1 rpg, 1.5blks/gm), Iman Shumpert (9.9ppg, 4apg)

RPI: Clemson 27, GT 29

Game 1 Statsheet breakdown.

Quick Recap:

Zachery Peacock made two free throws with 3.2 seconds left, lifting 19th-ranked Georgia Tech to a 66-64 victory over No. 17 Clemson at Alexander Memorial Coliseum.

Derrick Favors had 17 points and 14 rebounds for the Yellow Jackets (14-4, 3-2 ACC), who were coming off a two-point win at North Carolina on Saturday. Gani Lawal added 16 points and 10 boards in the victory.

"That was a rough game to watch because both teams really played hard defensively and had a great feel for the game," Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt said. "It was like a late season game where everyone knew each other's sets and tendencies. It just became a game of trading punches, basically."

Trevor Booker had 19 points and nine rebounds to pace Clemson (15-4, 3-2), which had its three-game winning streak broken. Demontez Stitt and Tanner Smith each scored 10 in the Tigers' loss.

"Our guys don't have anything to hang their heads about," Clemson head coach Oliver Purnell said. "They came on the road in the ACC against a hot team and we put ourselves in a position to win and it just didn't happen."

Tech has gone 5-5 since their win against us earlier this year, and remain just 1-6 in ACC road games, and that win was the one against UNC before they played us.Clemson is 13-2 at home this year. Tech must get another road win to impress the Selection Committee and we are their last shot...or maybe even let Hewitt keep his job.

"This is going to be huge," Tech forward Gani Lawal said. "We're fighting to get into the top four of the ACC, fighting to get into the (NCAA) tournament and so is Clemson."

I think the key of the game will be on the boards and controlling their 3 point shot. If Clemson can outhustle their imposing size to get those putbacks and rebounds, then we should be able to win this game. Then you have Glen Rice and Brian Oliver shooting about 43% on the season from 3. Its a head-scratcher to me as to how this talented a team is still fighting for an NCAA berth.

"You've got to pick your poison," Purnell said. "Do you come out to take away the 3, or do you stay back because if you come out, they're going to throw it to the rim for a dunk, a lob? That's something we have to address as well. But their big guys run as well as any in the country. There's no question about it. So our big guys do have to run with them so we can get our guards out and play the ball on the perimeter." (source)

The crowd will have to be into this game to help keep the energy up with the team, they'll be playing on very short rest so I can see us playing a lot of guys for more minutes than usual. I would hope that on Trevor Booker's last night at Littlejohn that won't be a problem. GT beat us 52-43 overall and pulled down 22 offensive rebounds in the first meeting. They also had an enormous 17 assists, and blocked 8 shots. This has to be turned around to give us a shot at home.

College Basketball

FTRS Gets Together with STS to Provide some insight on the GT Basketball Team and what to Expect Tuesday Night

2010-03-02T14:00:35Z

More photos » John Bazemore - AP

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We got together for a late season Question and Answer session with the guys over at From the Rumble Seat in preparation for the big game agianst Ga Tech. Tech nipped us late early in the year. See what BirdGT says about GT's squad and how they have performed since the first matchup with the Tigers, and check out our answers to their questions over at their site.

STS Question: Tech squeaked out a close one in a very sloppy game by both squads back in January. Do you expect to see a similar game out of the Jackets this time around? How has this team progressed/digressed shooting the ball and converting free throws since the first contest?

FTRS Answer: Overall, we haven't progressed or digressed much statistically speaking. We progressed in overall field goal percentage since Clemson by about three percentage points. We were shooting 0.421 leading up to Clemson in our first four ACC games. In our proceeding nine ACC games, we've shot 0.451. The increase has definitely been the increased productivity of our low post game in ACC games. Favors and Lawal are tearing up the ACC. They've combined for 17.5 boards per game in ACC play along with 22.4 point per game.

We've definitely digressed in the free throw shooting department as a result of their increased presence in the offense. The two aren't the greatest free shooters and our team average has suffered as a result. Tech was averaging 0.671 in free throw percentage prior to Clemson and is now averaging an abysmal 0.602 in ACC play.

Interestingly enough, the balance of overall field goal efficiency with the drop off in free throw shooting has kept us at even 69.5 points per ACC contest throughout our pre-Clemson and post-Clemson runs.

STS: In the first game between these two teams, Derrick Favors had double-double, dinging the Tigers for 17 points and 14 rebounds. Do you see him having as big of a game this time around? If he doesn’t come up big, who should we look for out of the Jackets to fill his void?

FTRS: Derrick had a monster game against Maryland (a relative big man vacuum) and followed it up with a good but not great 15 point, 4 board effort against a pretty weak BC squad. The only team that effectively neutralized Derrick in the second go round was Wake Forest (one of Derrick's worst games this season). Otherwise, none of the second time opponents have been effective at boxing him out or preventing him from averaging ~11 points per game. Tech fans expect him to rack up a double against Clemson.

STS: The first time we chatted, we were interested in the Paul Hewitt and the criticism he received in Atlanta. After a month of 0.500 ball out of the Jackets, we are still interested in this topic. Where does the Tech-nation stand on Coach Hewitt?

FTRS: Our polls are probably exaggerated samplings of the Tech fan base (http://www.fromtherumbleseat.com/2010/2/28/1330108/the-hewitt-poll-returns-for) but for what it's worth, Hewitt hasn't had an approval rating above 50% since the Puerto Rico tournament. Even after we defeated Duke, 81 said they approved of Hewitt's performance and 124 disapproved.

Hewitt recently stated in the media that he didn't quite understand why people were angry at his players or the Tech staff because they are on the verge of an NCAA berth. I understand his confusion but the Tech fans are not angry with the year's squad. This year's squad has performed incredibly well for a team with 40% of the minutes allocated to true freshmen. The fans are upset because he hasn't won a NCAA tournament game in 5 years. The fans were spoiled with the Final Four run and once that warm and fuzzy feeling wore off, the fans needed more. Hewitt hasn't really provided much. We've only made the NCAA's once since Jarrett Jack left campus and have generally sucked in the ACCT. That's why Tech fans are upset.

I, BirdGT, will go on record saying that I like Hewitt. I think stability is critical for good recruiting and that recruiting wins in hoops. Only a few basketball programs really have long term stability and they are the programs that sink EVERYTHING into hoops. I think Tech performs as expected and will have a good run as long as Hewitt is in charge. A lot of Tech fans would strongly disagree.

STS: Tech now sits at 7-7 in conference play. What will it take for this team to make it to the NCAA’s? Do you think this squad can do what it takes to get there?

FTRS: I think we need a road win at Clemson capped off with a VT win in the home finale. After that, Tech will need a couple wins in the ACCT. If we can secure a spot away from Duke's side of the bracket, I think we'll be alright. I think we can beat any team in the ACC on a neutral court but the ACCT is anything but neutral. If you're playing Duke/UNC there, it feels like a 70% partisan crowd.

We should be in the NCAA's because we're good enough to win a couple rounds. Our OOC showing was particularly strong and we'll match up with anyone in the country at low post.

STS: What GT player would you say has improved the most over the course of the ACC schedule? What impact should we look for out of this player on Tuesday’s game?

FTRS: Moe Miller has been given some playing time as of late. You may remember him from the last two ACC seasons that saw Tech get donkey punched. Moe is playing like a veteran and Hewitt is rewarding him by taking away time from Mfon Udofia. Moe went from about 9-10 minutes/game to 20 minutes per game in the last three ACC games. Expect him to play an integral part in a hostile Littlejohn.

STS: GT has been a poor conference road team this season. By my count, the Jackets have only won one conference game on the road (at UNC). I know road games are tough to win in the ACC, but why is this team such a night and day squad when at home vs. taking the show outside of Atlanta? What do you think the chances are of GT reversing this trend Tuesday night against the Tigers?

FTRS: Those are mighty strong words following a weekend where the ACC road teams went 5-1 (including the Tigers). The Tigers are only 1 looming home loss away from having the same road record as Tech. Also, there are only 3 teams that have effectively traveled away from their home courts in the ACC (FSU, Duke, and Maryland with over 0.500 records on the road in ACC play). We're not that far off the ACC norm.

The real problem with our ACC road record is 3 freak plays. I attribute GT's lack of a respectable road record to the cruel hand of fate. Game 1: Zach Peacock misses free throw to put us up by 2 and on the rebound they call a cheap foul on Glen Rice, Jr. for a reach in. FSU shoots 2 free throws and wins with 0 time on the clock. Game 2: We are beating Miami with 9 seconds left. They in bounds throw up a prayer and make it. Game 3: We are beating Maryland with a couple seconds left. MD takes a time out and the clock operator gives MD the benefit of the doubt awarding them two seconds instead of running out the clock (as any logical clock operator should have). MD in bounds and heaves a prayer. They make it. GT loses three freakin' road games on three freakin' lucky plays.

So, there's no trend other than bad luck. Perhaps, if GT made one less turnover then all three of those games would've been wins and nonissues but now when NCAA selection time is approachin', all of those losses become huge regrets. Thankfully, we're playing the only school that is totally and utterly snakebit in every possible way (by Georgia Tech) as our road finale. We're banking on a W.

ACC Baseball Roundup, Week 2

2010-03-01T17:58:17Z

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Around the ACC....

New Baseball America Rankings - Clemson up to #13.

#1 Virginia 6-1

#1 UVA beat George Washington 5-2 Wednesday night, jumping out to an early lead and coasting to the win. The Cavs began a weekend series against URI and won 13-0 Friday behind another good performance of starter Danny Hultzen (2-0, 7 IP, 2H, 0 BB, 12K). Catcher Franco Valdes went 2-4 with 3 RBIs on a bases-clearing triple and Hultzen went 1-3 himself with a 2-run 2B. Every UVA starter got a hit.

Virginia baseball rolled to a 22-2 victory over Rhode Island Saturday afternoon. Every Virginia starter had at least one hit by the fourth inning, and 13 Cavaliers recorded hits.

UVA finished the sweep 8-5 Sunday afternoon. Phil Gosselin went 2-for-4 with a double and three RBI to lead the Cavaliers’ offense. He finished the week 9-for-17 with six RBI. Keith Werman added a pair of hits as he went 6-for-7 in the series. John Hicks also had a three-run double to key the Cavaliers’ big first inning.

UPCOMING

Tuesday vs. James Madison at home, then a weekend Tournament at home with Dartmouth and Wright State.

NC State 6-1

NC State beat Campbell 9-8 in 11 innings in their midweek clash, with the Pen blowing a 8-4 lead late. Russell Wilson had to pitch to get the 4-out save and his arm rust became apparent, and lost all control, blowing the game open. Dallas Poulk (ACC PoW) singled in the 11th and NC State found a way to win.

This weekend, NC State began a big tournament in Myrtle Beach against highly-ranked UC-Irvine. On Friday afternoon the woofers beat them 7-4 behind a 3-run HR by Russell Wilson in the bottom of the 10th. Drew Poulk added 2 2B's and a RBI.

NC State made the most of its eight hits, got solid pitching from four different hurlers, and slammed the door in the ninth when Friday’s offensive hero, Russell Wilson, earned his first college save as a pitcher in their 2nd win over James Madison 6-2.

Coastal Carolina beat NCSU Sunday afternoon by a final of 6-3. Dallas Poulk finished the game 3-for-3 with a HR, 2 Runs, and 2 RBI. Coastal finished the Beach Tournament 4-0.

UPCOMING

Midweek game against UNC-Greensboro at home, then Quinnipiac at home this weekend.

#4 Georgia Tech 7-1

GT beat Ga. Southern 10-0 on Tues, 8-5 on Weds. GT scored 5 runs in the last two innings to come back, behind a 3 RBI day from Jacob Esch.

Over the weekend, they beat Xavier 5-4 (Deck McGuire: 7IP, 7H, 2ER, 2 BB, 6K). Brandon Cumpton pitched seven shutout innings of one-hit ball, and they erupted for a season-high five home runs in a 15-0 win over Xavier Saturday afternoon.

Xavier handed GT their first loss and avoided the sweep with a 7-6 win Sunday.

UPCOMING

A midweek against Western Carolina, and a weekend series against Rutgers at home.

#20 UNC 6-1

NC whooped up on UNC-G 12-2 midweek,

Matt Harvey struck out nine batters in just 6.1 innings as North Carolina defeated Maine 11-1 Friday. Maine struck back to even the series Saturday with a 5-3 win at UNC. NC pounded out 14 hits and struck out a combined 15 batters to defeat Maine 8-4 Sunday.

Colin Bates (2-0) earned the victory throwing five innings and allowing three runs on three hits and striking out a career-best seven batters. Jimmy Messer and Michael Morin each were masterful in relief, combining to strike out eight. Morin earned his second save of his career and the season allowing only one hit in 2.2 innings pitched.

UPCOMING

Midweek against Gardner-Webb, then Michigan for the weekend at home.

#16 Miami 5-1

Miami's midweek against Florida-Gulf Coast was postponed.

Chris Pelaez continued his hot hitting going 3-for-3 with three runs scored and lefty Eric Erickson struck out nine in another solid start as Miami knocked off Manhattan, 7-3, Friday night. Freshman left fielder Michael Broad drove in two runs – including what proved to be the game-winner – and finished 2-for-3 on the night.

Lefty Chris Hernandez struck out nine and junior catcher Yasmani Grandal drove in five runs in their 18-1 win Saturday.

Manhattan pounded out 17 hits and won their first game of the season against Miami 12-7 Sunday. The win marked Manhattan’s first over a ranked opponent since 2006 when the Jaspers defeated #6 Nebraska and Cornhuskers starter Joba Chamberlain in the NCAA Tournament.

Thats a head scratcher....

UPCOMING

USF at their place Tuesday, the Marlins Wednesday, and the Florida Gators in Coral Gables this weekend.

WF 3-6

Wake lost to ranked Coastal Carolina 2-0, then opened up a series against Kent State. The Golden Flashes scored seven of the games’ final eight runs in a 7-6 win over the Preachers Friday. On saturday they played a doubleheader and split it, Kent State 11-5 in 12, and WF won the 2nd 8-7. Kent State jumped out to a 7-0 lead and never looked back in a 13-8 win over Wake Forest Sunday to win the series 3-1. The Golden Flashes improve to 4-2 on the season while Wake Forest Falls to 3-6.

UPCOMING

A midweek vs. Winthrop, and a weekend series vs. Xavier all at home.

Boston College 3-3

Auburn's Brian Fletcher hit two home runs, including a walk-off solo shot in the bottom of the 10th, to lead the Tigers to a 6-5 win against the Boston College baseball team Friday night. The Eagles had plenty of opportunities to score but could not come up with timely hits. Ten of the 12 men they left on base were in scoring position.

Fletcher finished the game 3-for-5 with three RBI. Justin Bryant went 3-for-3 and Justin Hargett went 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles and an RBI. Austin Hubbard picked up the win on the mound.

FAU defeated BC 13-2 after a 7 run 2nd inning, and BC pounded Mizzou 14-6 behind John Spatola. Spatola finished the day 3-for-4 with those two homers and a double. It marked the first time in his career that he had a multiple home run game and his seven RBI were a career high.

UPCOMING

A midweek game against the Boston Red Sox in Fla., then a weekend series against FAU in Boca Raton (good idea).

Maryland 1-5

Maryland split the Saturday doubleheader, getting demolished 17-3 in game 1 by Delaware, and 10-6 in game 2. Adam Kolarek and Matt Marquis hit back-to-back home runs in the fifth inning as Maryland rallied from an early deficit. Kolarek went 2-for-4 with four RBI and two runs and Marquis went 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI as Maryland (1-4) scored four runs in both the fifth and seventh innings to get its first win of the season. The Blue Hens finished it up with a 4-1 pitching gem Sunday.

UPCOMING

Two midweeks at home, VMI and Towson. Hofstra this weekend.

Duke 4-3

Puke beat Fordham 5-4 on a 2-out RBI single in the 9th Friday at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park. On Saturday the bats delivered 11-4 in Duke's favor, Sophomore Will Piwnica-Worms drove in four runs and scored three times in the contest. Duke won the third game 8-3 Sunday on the arm of Jonathan Foreman. Foreman (1-0) sat down the side in five of his seven innings and ended his start by retiring 10 straight batters. The 6-0, 200 pound senior racked up four strikeouts and held the Rams (0-6) hitless in all but one inning.

UPCOMING

A midweek vs. Xavier, and then a weekend series against Temple.

#6 Florida State 6-0

FSU's midweek game was postponed.

Florida State (5-0) completed the sweep of Saturday’s doubleheader blanking Hofstra (0-5) 13-0 in game two Saturday afternoon after beating them 13-1 earlier in the day. The Seminoles reached double-digit runs and hits in their first five games. John Gast came through with another solid outing to up his record to 2-0 on the year. The junior southpaw scattered two hits and two walks over five innings of work. Gast finished the game with a career-high six strikeouts. Like Sherman Johnson did in game one, Tyler Holt finished game two a triple short of hitting for the cycle.

FSU finished their sweep of Hostra 14-4. Freshman Justin Gonzalez paced the Seminole offense in the series finale going 3-for-4 with a double, four runs scored and four RBI. As a team, Florida State tied a season-high with 14 runs while pounding out a season-high 17 hits. Stephen Cardullo and Rafael Lopez also contributed with three hits a piece in the win.

"It feels great right now," said Gonzalez. "We are playing great baseball - defense, pitching - all around we are playing well. I just want to continue contributing to the team. I just want to keep playing hard, that's all they ask of me and that's all I can do."

FSU outscored Hofstra 40-5.

UPCOMING

A midweek clash against #5 Florida in Tampa and an exhibition game against the Philadelphia Phillies, then a weekend series against #25 Georgia at home.

Virginia Tech 4-2

Fueled by two home runs each from left fielder Steve Domecus and catcher Anthony Sosnoskie, the Virginia Tech baseball team pounded out 19 hits en route to a 17-2 victory over Charleston Southern on Friday at CSU Ballpark in Charleston, S.C.

Every starter scored at least one run for the Hokies (2-2), with Domecus, Sosnoskie and shortstop Tim Smalling (2-for-4) crossing home three times apiece. Domecus (2-for-4) and Sosnoskie (2-for-5) each drove in three runs, as did center fielder Sean Ryan (2-for-4). First baseman Austin Wates and third baseman Ronnie Shaban each went 4-for-6.

Tech got a strong performance out of starting pitcher Jesse Hahn for the second consecutive week, as the 6-foot-5 right-hander went seven innings, allowing two runs on eight hits. He walked just one and tied a career high with five strikeouts to pick up his second win in as many starts Saturday as VT won 4-2.

VT finished thesweep 13-1 Sunday. The Hokies scored 34 runs over the weekend to improve to 4-2 on the season. Redshirt junior shortstop Tim Smalling accounted for six of those runs on Sunday, going 3-for-6 with a Tech season-high six RBIs, including a grand slam that served as his first home run of the season.

UPCOMING

Radford in midweek, Long Island this weekend at home.

Clemson sweeps series against Wright State, now 6-0

2010-03-01T01:45:26Z

David Haselden helped hold Wright State down while the offense manufactured runs Saturday.

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Game 1 - Clemson wins 4-3 in the first ever meeting between the two teams. Southpaw starter Casey Harman (5.2 IP, 4H, 1 ER, 3BB, 6Ks) went to 2-0 on the season despite a shaky 6th where he loaded the bases. Jonathan Meyer came in to get the last out of the inning but gave up a hit and was taken out in favor of Tomas Cruz, who was himself taken out with 2 outs in the 9th for Alex Frederick to get the Save.

Kyle Parker went 3-for-3 with a walk and 2 runs scored. Brad Miller drove in 2 Runs as well, but the Tigers were outhit 9-6 on the day.

Game 2 - We scrap and fight to an 8-6 win. We led 4-1 going into the 4th before an error by Miller allowed the first runner to get on base, who then got to 2nd on a balk call on Weismann. Stolz then made another error and the runner went to 3rd and later scored to make it 4-2. In the 5th the defense let us down again, another error by Miller and a 3 Run Homer added up to 4 unearned runs to make it 6-4 before Weismann was taken out (4.2, 5H, 6 R, 1 ER, 0BB, 4K). Why Jack took him out then, with the bases empty and 2 outs, is beyond me. I would've left him in to face the cleanup hitter with 2 outs. Kevin Kyle and David Haselden pitched 4 1/3 shutout innings to keep it within reach of Clemson batters. Catcher Phil Pohl hit a 2 run single in the 6th driving in Boyd and Miller to tie it up. In the bottom of the 8th, Brad Miller doubled and drove in Shaffer, and Stolz used a suicide squeeze to score Miller to make it 8-6.

Game 3 - Clemson jumps out to an early 5-1 lead and piles it on 12-6. Will Lamb started and didnt have his best stuff today, but got the win despite Jack taking him out too early. The same rule that applied last weekend benefitted Lamb today, as he only went 4 innings (4H, 1ER, 1BB, 2 K). The Tiger Bullpen managed to give up a 3-spot in relief because of Justin Sarratt's lack of control (0.1IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 1BB, 1K) but Joseph Moorefield, Dominic Leone, and Alex Frederick quieted the Wright State bats as Clemson built up their lead.

Clemson jumped out 2-0 in the 1st inning on a Jeff Schaus RBI Single to score Mike Freeman and John Nester was walked with the bases loaded....which happened too much today and drives me nuts. In the 2nd, Jason Stolz singled and later scored on a RBI double by Brad Miller, and Miller scored later on a Sac Fly by Schaus. To top off the inning, Kyle Parker rocked one into the Chapman Grandstand to make it 5-1. Back-to-back homers by Schaus and Parker in the 4th made it 8-1 and the Tigers piled on 4 more to make it 12-6.

On the series, Kyle Parker went 5-for-11 to push his average to .435/.826/.519, 4 Runs scored (7), 2 Homers (3), 2 RBI (7). LF Jeff Schaus went 6-for-10 (.429/.667/.481) with 1 HR (1) and 6 RBI (11), and Brad Miller continued his hot hitting as well, going 5-for-11 (.381/.619/.417) with 6 Runs scored (8) and 4 RBI (4). If Miller wasn't hitting so well, he'd be on the bench with 3 errors already this season.

Leadoff batter Chris Epps is really struggling so far, batting just .118. He has worked 5 walks and scored 5 runs so far however.

Team Statistics

So far, Casey Harman is definitely the staff ace with a 2-0 record with a 0.84 ERA in 10.2 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 9 Ks. Scott Weismann stands at 1-0 with a 2.89 ERA in 9.1 IP, 11H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 10 Ks. Both Alex Frederick and Jonathan Meyer have recorded saves out of the bullpen.

Clemson has a Wednesday afternoon game against Dayton at 4pm, and we face the Cluckers next weekend.

Preview and Game Thread for Clemson @ FSU

2010-02-28T17:30:15Z

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Clemson Tigers (19-8. 7-6) @ Florida St. Seminoles (20-7, 8-5)

When: 5:30 PM, FSS

KenPom Ranking: FSU 15, Clemson 17. FSU is ranked #2 in defensive efficiency, 10th in eFG defense, 5th in block percentage, but other than offensive rebounding none of their offensive stats are terribly impressive. They're ranked below Clemson in many offensive categories.

Top Scorers: C Solomon Alabi (12.0ppg, 6.5rpg), F Chris Singleton (11.0ppg, 7.5 rpg), G Derwin Kitchen (8.7ppg, 4.6rpg, 3.9 apg). Luke Loucks scored 15 in game 1, Alabi 14, and Singleton was held to 6.

Game1 Breakdown.

NCAA Basketball

The Noles have won all 3 games since losing to us at Littlejohn, but they havent exactly faced the toughest competition. They beat UVA by 19, @ UNC by 10, and BC. FSU is 12-2 at home. Since the first game, here are a few statistical comparisons.

“Things are still bunched up,” Clemson coach Oliver Purnell whose team faces Florida State today in Tallahassee, Fla. “So this is a really critical game for us

Clemson, which is one win away from a fourth consecutive 20-win season, and Florida State, which has won three straight games since a 10-point loss at Clemson on Feb. 10, are in similar positions and have similar desires.

“Both teams would definitely like to have a bye (in the ACC Tournament) and both teams would like to pad their tournament resumes,” Purnell said.

Overall, ACC teams are 24-57 in league games away from home, which translates to a meager 29-percent success rate.

“It has always been tough (to win ACC road games),” Purnell said. “First of all, teams are good. Second of all, the environments are rabid.” (GNews)

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Junior point guard Demontez Stitt said his team lost its collective cool at Comcast Center.

“It’s easy, when you’re not at home to let the crowd get to you, it’s easy to lose focus,” he said. “Against Maryland we lost our focus. (When) you’re home, you’re into it, the crowd is into it, it’s a lot of energy involved, especially with the way that we play.

“On the road we have to learn to create our own energy to stay focused. The road is harder to do that, when the other team’s crowd is into it, it’s loud, it’s easy to lose focus, and get off into your own thing.”(AIM)