Shakin The Southland

Clemson in as a 7 seed against Mizzou

2010-03-14T23:25:17Z

Clemson in as a 7 seed against Mizzou

Missouri plays pressure defense, which itself is good for Clemson since we can't execute in the half-court sets. OP already calls these two teams "mirrors of each other"

Clemson missed WV in the 76 Classic earlier this year because of our loss to Texas A&M.

Tiger Baseball Is Pretty Good Folks, Clemson Sweeps NC State

2010-03-14T21:30:26Z

Clemson's Kyle Parker slides past North Carolina State catcher Chris Schaeffer in the bottom of the eighth inning to extend the lead for the Tigers in the first of two games at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. Clemson won 12-7.

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I think we're going to be alright.

After the last two weekends I'm starting to feel like we have a very good baseball team. They hit well, the starting pitching has been good and a few guys in the bullpen seem to be pretty dependable. For the last two years, although its a recurring theme with Leggett's teams, I thought we played ball really tight. They'd make a crucial mistake in the field and pitchers didn't have much to fear from a lineup that was pressing themselves so hard that they really could never get anything going to help the Top-5 pitching staff. Tension is a hitter's worst enemy, and then it would make them try to swing harder, which is what you dont want to do.

Last year I believe the youth of the squad was a big factor with that tightness, although I know many people believe it is because of Leggett's small ball philosophies. This year he is certainly letting them swing away more often, and its paid off so far. While we aren't tearing up the league in batting average like NC State and FSU were coming into this weekend, we are hitting more home runs and not having serious difficulties at the plate at any position besides Catcher John Nester (.107) and 3B Jason Stolz (.226), though both contributed this weekend.

Even Wilson Boyd, who had had a few struggles coming into this weekend which I remarked last week, seems to have turned it around. Turns out he made a change to his stance, lowering back into his crouch and giving him back some power. He used it against NCSU to win the 2nd game of the doubleheader Saturday. He raised his BA to .271 over the weekend.

Still though, I worry about our weak defense on the left side of the infield. Brad Miller wasn't a problem this weekend, but Stolz made 3 errors at 3B. He doesnt charge the ball and it eats him up. 6 runs allowed this weekend were unearned due to various errors.

Another puzzler to me is the lack of innings by the starting pitchers. Usually when you go out there the first two times, youre on pitch counts in the 75-85 range, and then it steps upwards. I'm not an advocate of a Ray Tanner 130-pitch philosophy, but Leggett takes them out at 5-6IP...even Harman....without letting them work through a rough inning later when you tend to go to your 2nd and 3rd pitches more often. They aren't getting to 100 pitches, and our control hasn't been an issue. I don't think a pitcher can grow unless he works through more adversity, and we aren't letting them get that experience.

Pulling Weismann after 6 today I agree with however.

Now to the Series results:

Game 1 Friday got rained out and moved to Saturday, and the Tigers scored 10 runs in the first 4 innings and held on to beat NC State 12-7 when the bullpen and defense got shaky at the end.

Parker led Clemson's 13-hit attack by going 3-for-4 with a homer, two RBIs, and four runs. Shaffer went 3-for-5 with a double and two RBIs, while Miller went 2-for-4 with a grand slam and a career-high five RBIs.

Casey Harman (3-0, 2,49) earned the win, as he allowed five hits, two runs, and two walks with three strikeouts in 6.0 innings pitched. Wolfpack starter Cory Mazzoni (2-1) suffered the loss, as he yielded seven hits, 10 runs (eight earned), and three walks with four strikeouts in 3.1 innings pitched.

Game 2 was more of a struggle, with the Tigers trailing into the 8th before we exploded with a 7-run inning and beat NC State 12-6.

The Wolfpack maintained small leads late in the game, including a 6-5 lead entering the eighth inning after Jack yanked Will Lamb too early (4IP, 3H, 2 R) due to some control issues, but left Tomas Cruz in too long (2IP, 7 H, 4R) when he was clearly struggling. But then the Tigers scored seven runs in the eighth, keyed by Boyd's go-ahead, two-run single with one out and John Hinson's three-run double with two outs.

The Tigers took advantage of 11 walks issued by N.C. State pitchers, including one in the eighth inning with the bases loaded that tied the score. Tiger freshman righthander Dominic Leone (1-0) earned his first career win. In the final 3.0 innings pitched out of the bullpen, he gave up just two hits, no runs, and no walks with six strikeouts. N.C. State reliever Anthony Tzamtzis (1-1) suffered the loss, as he yielded three runs on one hit and two walks in 0.1 innings pitched.

The Tigers, who totaled 10 hits in the game, were led at the plate by Boyd. The fifth-year senior was 2-for-5 with a homer, four RBIs, and two runs. Schaus went 2-for-4 with a homer, double, three RBIs, and two runs, while Hinson came off the bench to go 2-for-3 with two doubles and three RBIs.

Game 3 was another dogfight, with CU trading the lead back and forth with the Woofers. Every time they jumped ahead, Clemson would answer. Finally in the 8th, Clemson capitalized on 3 walks, 2 with the bases loaded and 2 out, to plate the go ahead run and won it 7-6.

Weismann was strong until a shaky 5th and then 6th, giving up 4 hits and 3 earned runs while walking 3 and striking out 5. He left with the game tied at 4, but Clemson answered Drew Poulk's solo shot with an RBI single by Chris Epps to make it 5-4 CU. However Alex Frederick was shaky and turned it right back over to State to make it 6-5.

In the 8th, one of State's best relievers, Grant Sasser, gave up a hit to Hinson and then managed to load the bases. He walked Schaus (.373-4-23) with the bases drunk, then Russell Wilson came in to face Kyle Parker (.396-6-16).

Parker beat him again, working a walk on 5 pitches, plating the go-ahead run. Jonathan Meyer was solid again at the end to get the W. He's quickly becoming Jack's go-to Closer, as a freshman.

Clemson, who outhit N.C. State 9-6, was led at the plate by Hinson. For the second game in a row, he came off the bench and registered two hits, including a key single in the eighth inning that started Clemson's rally raising his average to .407. Hinson will threaten Stolz for more PT if Stolz's average remains down. Schaus added a game-high three RBIs as well.

Clemson will play at Charlotte on Tuesday at 6:00 PM.

ACC Television--An Absolute Joke

2010-03-14T19:44:03Z

Let's go ahead and give a nice shout-out to the ACC for officially pissing me off once again. I live in the great state of South Carolina and cannot watch the ACC Tournament. Un-freaking-believable. The premier basketball conference in America, and I am blacked out on ESPN (as is the rest of the state) and the Raycom sports network does not have an affiliate in this area. Nice job Swoffy and the rest of the ACC for really screwing this one up. Keep reading to understand how significant this is in the grand scheme of things and why you should be concerned about my viewing capabilities.

Here is the way this whole fiasco went down. I obviously wanted to watch Clemson lose to NC State earlier in the week, but with no Raycom basketball carrying network locally, this was just not possible. I really wasn't surprised because we have been getting screwed all year with no Raycom coverage and forced to either stream the games or find them on the radio. I expected such during the week, but this really sucked when Clemson was playing on a Saturday. So I am thinking to myself that missing early round games for lack of affiliates is not a big deal since ESPN picks up the weekend games. Since Clemson lost early, I really didn't care about the other games, and found other things to do with my time than trying to watch a little ACC basketball. So its now Sunday afternoon and I want to catch some of the Championship Game. I go, turn the channel to ESPN and am informed that the game is blacked out here. I scan all the channels, only to find that there is no Raycom channel (as I already knew) in this area. Hence, I live in South Carolina and cannot watch the ACC tourney on my television.

I don't know if I didn't notice this last year because I was at the tourney, but I do not remember such a scenario in previous years but would be interested in understanding how long such a practice has been going on. The question, then, is what does this really mean? First off, if I am a basketball star in this area I will look at this and think twice about attending a school that cannot even get its tourney broadcast in some of the heart of the conference's viewing area. Next, if I am a sponsor located in South Carolina I want to know why my product is not receiving the run I would expect. I would also consider pulling or reducing advertisement dollars until this situation is addressed. Also consider other folks who may be out there in TV-land who could be watching the ACC tournament. Schools affiliated with the conference are missing out on valuable publicity and exposure because these games are not shown. This exposure effects many aspects for the universities, including potential merchandise sales, university applications, and other perks that start with athletics and yet affect many more elements of the overall university. Thus, this lack of exposure is critical for recruiting, marketing, advertisement, and generating capital/exposure for the university as a whole. On top of all that, it allows fans like you and me to enjoy the college game(s).

Some of you are probably wondering why I am blaming the ACC, not the local stations or even Raycom. The answer is simple, Raycom and the local stations have their own personal interests in mind. There may be some financial reason that it is not in their best interest to lock down an ACC basketball affiliate in my area. I can understand this and thus cannot fault the individual company for looking out for itself. Since this is the case, I would EXPECT the ACC to look out for its member institutions, especially in areas of ACC school support. Hence, it is the job of the conference to demand that these games be televised, specifically in all areas of FL, GA, SC, NC, VA, DC, and MA because member institutions reside in these states.

Swofford and company expect me not to believe that the ACC office is a joke. Hell, these guys cannot even get their games broadcast statewide in South Carolina, and they want people to believe that the ACC is in good hands going into a critical media negotiation. ACC schools should be screaming bloody-murder because of this reckreckless behavior and complete lack of oversight during the last round of media negotiations that did not explicitly demand a Raycom affiliate to cover every square inch of ACC territory. Instead, we get more of the same out of Swofford and crew. While the SEC has flourished over the past decade, the ACC is continually left behind. If the members of this conference do not demand better, you will continually see the Kentucky’s and Alabama’s turning laps around our participants because the ACC school members do not have the strong handed and visionary support our of the conference office to demand premiums for ACC participants. Then again, having a premier product and not showcasing it appears to be par for the course for this conference.

2009 Position & Coach Analyses

2010-03-14T12:00:22Z

More photos » Mark Humphrey - AP

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Here are all the position analyses we completed this offseason, and each includes an estimated depth-chart. We chose not to do one for Tight Ends specifically because their overwhelming improvement statistically is pretty obvious, and since we have such a short depth chart coming back at the position. Pearman and Napier both deserve credit for teaching/emphasizing the position in the offense and we'd guess nearly every Clemson fan would agree with that.

Defensive Line-Brooks/Rumph - Nearly everyone agrees that they have done a good job.

Offensive Line- Scott/Pearman - 76% of our readers agree that Brad Scott should be let go.

Running Back/ST - Andre Powell - 68% disapprove of Powell's job performance as RB/ST Coach.

Linebacker/Defense - Kevin Steele - I chose not to do a poll for Steele because I felt too many opinions would be colored by the GT losses and wouldn't look at the whole package.

Defensive Back - Charlie Harbison - Only 3% voted him 'acceptable' as a coach, 57% said he may be the best coach on the staff. A single soul voted that they disapprove of him.

QB/Offense - Billy Napier 94% approval rating for our first-year OC.

Wide Reciever - Jeff Scott - 59% approval rating for the new WR coach/Rec. Coordinator.

As for the polls on each of them, its clear that FF and I are not alone in our POV that some of our coaches are outstanding, while some are weak and a couple should be fired. You could interpret that the skewed raises for the entire staff are an indication of how Swinney believes their performance should be rated.

The 4-out 1-in Motion Offense

2010-03-13T14:00:22Z

We decided to look at one component of Clemson's motion offense and explain it so that folks could understand just what the Tigers are trying to do out there when they look totally lost on offense. I'm not going to go into that many set plays of the 4-out/1-in set, but will try to give a few to get a flavor of whats going on. Those that know a lot about basketball probably won't get much out of this, and I'm not going so far in-depth that we lose the forest for the trees.

Basically the term 4-out means that there are 4 players playing around the perimeter, with one post player inside. It works much better for teams without great size or those that don't have 2 guys with post ability, or a team with alot of guys that can play the 2G or 3. Think Duke, not Georgia Tech or FSU. It works better if the PF, who will be playing outside, can pass and hit an occasional shot. With Booker's ability to make an occasional shot outside and his athleticism, the 4-out offense can work quite well. I'm surprised Clemson doesn't run this set as much as they could, but it is in our repertoire. What we run more of is the 3-out/2-in (32), with 2 guys posting, but the point I want to make is that we don't have enough variety in our offensive scheme to beat good teams.

via www.coachesclipboard.net

Advantages of the 41 offense

Spacing is better, which allows for dribble penetration as well as a post feed. The spacing means that one player will have a difficult time playing two men, and double-downs on the post would be dangerous for a defense with 4 guys outside. Obviously, if you watch Clemson play, you'll see that poor spacing is one of our bigger issues.
You can isolate the low post. In this sense, as alluded to in the video above, its well suited to teams that play man/man defense. You simply find the mismatch and make him play the post. Also it makes it tough for zones to double-team, or trap. Also, if the defender inside has 4 fouls, you can pass it inside and beat him for easy baskets.
If dribble-penetration fails, you can simply return to it instead of having to pass the ball back to the PG and reset things. The ability to isolate the post and give spacing for dribble-drive really emphasizes attacking the rim offensively.
It makes the defense shift because the ball is constantly around the high post. A few weeks ago I saw Bobby Knight talk about helpside (weakside, away from the ball) defense on ESPN. He stated that a helpside defender should always try to be within 2 steps of the court midline (basically around the edge of the FT lane). This helps you defend against any dribble drive and posting up. With 4 players outside and the ball around the high post, the defender can't leave his man on the weakside because you can reverse the ball so quickly. That defender leaves his man, then he could be out of position to stop a drive or prevent an open jumper.

Disadvantages of the 41.

Your post players need to have skills outside. He needs to have a longer-range jumper or 3 point shot, and needs to be able to handle the ball and not make stupid passes, for example. If their X4 has to come out and defend, and isn't athletic enough to defend your P4, then you can drive on him all day. (Use X to denote defender, P for offense)
Players must be taught how to read and react to the defense, and if a team has a weak player outside, the advantage of having 4 out can be partially nullified.
If you can't set a screen, like Clemson, then its almost useless except as variety.

Nuts and Bolts of the 41

Start with P1 bringing the ball down the court, while players P2-P4 are all set up outside. P2 and P3 will be over on the wing or in the corners, while P4 will usually set himself at the 3 point line opposite the P1. P5 will start at the high post on the ballside.

via www.coachesclipboard.net

Posting up with P5

As the ball is passed around, the P5 must move with the ball and stay on the strongside (ballside), and if the ball goes to the corner, then he drops down to the low post. If the ball comes to P5 up high, then the backside offensive players have to look for a backdoor cut to the basket if the defense triest to prevent the Center from passing it to them outside.

At any time he receives the pass, as this offense tries to make the defense switch through him, the P5 player must make a decision. Either he looks to score or finds somebody that is already running towards the basket, and only if those aren't available does he pass it back out to one of the two men near the top of the key. If its a Guard, then he cannot stand still, because that would let them reset the defense. He has to dribble or look to pass it off quickly.

There are variants on the 41 where you can dictate that the P5 stays down low, or in the high-post all the time.

Say for example they play very good interior defense and the X5 is extremely good in the low post at snagging balls and rejecting shots, for example. In that case, you may choose to play 4-High and take him out of the low post area altogether, and opening up the inside for your guards to attack the basket themselves. Here the P5 would act more as a screener long range shots or drives from the wings, but if they front him up (A-B below), he may be able to cut around behind his defender for an over-the-top pass and easy basket.

via www.coachesclipboard.net

Conversely you can play a 4-Low to open up the lane from the top if you have a strong or quick post player. If their defender is also strong, you can back your P5 off and have him take a slightly longer shot, or if he's quicker, then he should be able to fake a shot and dribble around him. It also puts real pressure on X5 if he's in foul trouble because he's isolated down there. If they try to double-team, then someone outside is open for a shot.

via www.coachesclipboard.net

The play "Big" on the left is very simple. Notice the arrows first. P1 brings the ball down, while P4 steps to the top of the key. P5 then makes an aggressive move and the pass from P4 must be there. After the P1-P4 pass, P2 screens for P1, and they switch places. IF the pass inside is denied, P4 throws it over to P1 for a long range shot, baseline drive, or a pass inside to P5.

If the defense adapts and denies the P4-P1 pass, you go with "15". In other words the pass inside to P5, one of the two should be open. "Big Left" on the right diagram is the same thing but to the opposite side of the court. If your offense times their passes properly, a defense cannot defend all 3 of these simple plays.

Notice the choice between 4-High and 4-Low really depends on the matchup in the game between the post players, not as much what your outside guys can do because both sets are made to allow for dribble penetration.

Screens & dribble-drives

Motion offense allows for a lot of quick screens because the offensive players must always be moving. Handoff screens/pick & pop works well in this system. For example, say P1 dribbles to P2's position, screening X2. If P2 steps aside and the screen is made, he'll have an open shot or can drive inside. This is a weave-screen. Diagram A is the simplest example. Eventually the defender on 2 will try to jump into the handoff, so you run Diagram C.

via www.coachesclipboard.net

While P1 is running towards P2, the other outside players should be rotating. If he doesnt set the screen then P2 can exchange positions with P1 as he drives along the baseline to the basket. At the same time, P4 can cut and exchange spots with P3 on the wing, who then switches spots with P2 at the top. They could all just rotate as well, as in the diagram below. All of this happens while looking for the ball to be thrown back outside if the dribble-drive fails. The key here is that whenever a dribble drive happens, you relocate yourself.

via media.scout.com

Resetting to the play design again, say the ball is passed to P2, who passes across to P4 at the top. P2 immediately cuts to the basket along the baseline, and looks for the ball back from P4 for a jumper or layup. This is called a give-and-go.

Another quick and easy concept out of this 41 set is the Triangle. Its what the Phil Jackson teams run, though in a much more developed form. Basically the P1 and P2 are forming a triangle with the post player, and then they make a scissors cut around him and there are lots of options for the post player.

via media.scout.com

Finally, this offense is based on reads. We have to teach our players where the ball can go and what they must look for from the defense....a pass denied means another is open, a fronting defense is vulnerable to a high-low play, or a team that likes to double the Center leaves open a long shot.

The offensive players with the best talent tend to play well in it, and its not strict about where the ball has to go, so they can adapt easily to anything. But, they still need time to learn the options for where it could go. Once its drilled into their heads their true talent will come out, which lends some hope for the fabulous 4 freshmen.

This is one of the better explanatory videos I could find.

Leggett's Tigers seek Revenge against the best offense in the ACC.

2010-03-12T20:00:30Z

Drew Poulk is just one cog of a daunting NC State lineup.

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NC State Woofers (11-1) @ #12 Clemson Tigers (10-1)

Yeah its early and NC State has mostly played easy competition, but they are killing people. Their best opponent, #8 Coastal Carolina, beat them in a 6-3 contest at Myrtle Beach in a weekend tournament for their sole loss. They defeated UC-Irvine at that tournament 7-4 in 10 innings. The 3 game set against Clemson begins a 9-game road trip.

The Tigers lead the overall series 104-68-1, and have beaten NC State more times than any other opponents aside from North Carolina and Duke.

From the NC State Preview

• Drew Poulk and Kyle Wilson all have hit safely in all 12 games.
• Wilson is hitting .426 (20-for-47) with four doubles, a home run and 12 walks.
• Poulk is hitting .392 (20-for-51) with six doubles, one homer and 16 RBIs.
• Pratt Maynard has hit safely in 10 straight games, batting .455 (20-for-44) with three doubles, a triple, two home runs and 13 RBIs.
• Chris Schaeffer has produced a nine-game hitting streak and is batting .483 (14-for-29) during his streak.

From the CUAD Preview

The Tigers hold a 52-22-1 lead over the Wolfpack in games played at Clemson and a 39-14 lead at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. The Tigers also hold a 82-54 advantage in ACC regular-season games.

Jack Leggett has a 38-18 record against N.C. State as Clemson's head coach, including an 18-5 mark at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. Leggett was 7-18 against N.C. State as Western Carolina's head coach, meaning he has a 45-36 all-time record against the Wolfpack.

Last Weekend: Clemson took 2 of 3 against now-19th-ranked South Carolina. Clemson defeated Gardner-Webb 13-2 Thursday afternoon, with homers from Schaus, Parker, and Shaffer....oh and Brad Miller made 2 more errors giving him 8 on the season. Think his glove is going to cost us a close game at some point?

NC State swept Quinnipiac 17-6, 14-3, and 17-7 over the weekend, then NC A&T Tuesday 14-10.

Weekend Starters:
Friday 4pm: RHP Cory Mazzoni (2-0, 2.16 ERA, 16.2IP, 12H, 4 ER, 9 BB, 18 Ks) vs. Lefty Casey Harman (2-0, 2.30, 15.2IP, 13H, 4 ER, 6BB, 14Ks)

Saturday 2pm: RHP Jake Buchanan (2-1, 1.77ERA, 20.1IP, 11, 4 ER, 1BB, 15 Ks) vs. Unannounced, but likely Will Lamb, or perhaps Haselden will get a shot.

Sunday 1pm: NC State has not announced a Sunday Starter to face Scott Weismann (2-0, 2.93 ERA, 15Ks in 15.1 IP), which as you'll see below is to be expected.

Hitting

NC State Team Batting Statistics through 12 games shows the best in nearly every category. NCSU leads in BA, Runs, Hits, Doubles, RBIs, being hit by pitches, and 2nd in HRs and Walks. Right now they hit 90 points higher than Clemson.

Team Batting Statistical Comparison
Clemson	.302 BA	381 AB	100 H	115 R	24 2B	0 3Bs	19 HR	89 RBI	58 BBs	12 HBP	17-25 SB-ATT
NCSU	.392	472	162	185	44	5	17	147	79	25	12-16

NC State Lineup
Player	BA	R	H	2B	HR	RBI	BB
Kyle Wilson CF	.426	22	20	4	1	10	12
Dallas Poulk 2B	.467	22	21	5	3	23	9
Andrew Ciencin 3B	.417	11	20	6	1	21	7
Pratt Maynard 1B/C	.455	13	20	3	2	13	11
Drew Poulk RF	.392	9	20	6	1	16	4
Danny Canela DH	.326	13	15	5	2	14	3
Tarran Senay OF	.345	13	10	2	1	4	6
Chris Schaeffer C/1B	.483	13	14	4	1	7	6
Matt Bergquist SS	.385	15	15	1	0	11	2
Russell Wilson-OF/2B	.400	9	8	1	2	6	2

Russell Wilson plays several positions and has come in as a pinch hitter and substitution quite often so I included him above. You can see its a very balanced lineup with good disciplined sluggers top to bottom. Harman, Weismann and Lamb will have their work cut out for them.

Their pitching staff, however, is an antithesis of the lineup, particulary after the top 2 starters. Its a Spahn and Sain and pray for rain type of staff. Danny Healey has started 3 games and has only 7 innings and a 7+ ERA. Ethan Ogburn and Mike Russo have been similarly weak. They've given up tons of runs to that subpar competition and haven't found a good 3rd starter so far, but they do have a few solid guys in the bullpen in Vance Williams, Rob Chamra, and Grant Sasser. They may try to start one of those guys this Sunday.

Team Pitching Staff Comparison
	ERA	W-L	SHO/CBO	Saves	IP	H	R	ER	BB	Ks
Clemson	2.97	10-1	1/1	2	100	85	45	33	32	74
NCSU	4.99	11-1	0/0	1	110.0	102	68	61	64	99

Full NCST statistics.

Full Clemson stats.

Good pitching beats good hitting, especially when theres this much of a gap between the two pitching staffs. One stat really jumps out at me....Look at the amount of walks given up by their staff, thats an outrageous amount for 110 innings pitched, and thats why theyre giving up so many runs. Notice the similarity with our own ER-BB stat columns as well. Only if the Woofers can throw strikes and the starters go deep into the game should we be in trouble this weekend against their staff.

Given the firepower of this lineup and the occasional shakyness of the Clemson pen, I could see them winning at least one game this weekend, but I doubt it will be Sunday with their problems finding a 3rd guy. I think Clemson takes the series at home 2-1. This series would really do alot for the confidence of our staff if we can hammer down that .392 batting average. Either way it turns out, we will know just what we have in our pitching staff this weekend.

The College Baseball Blog previews the entire weekend in the ACC here.

A few spring-time odds and ends

2010-03-12T15:30:16Z

Alas, Spring is here. With the warmer temperatures and longer days come two other great things--baseball and spring football. We have discussed the positions at length over the past few weeks, and will get the opportunity to speculate much more about a variety of items as the next month progresses. Today I will expand some of my opinions (you know what they say about those things), some hopes, and some concerns as we move into the second quarter of the year 2010.

We will start with baseball today. The season is still young, but I am pleasantly pleased with last weekend's outcome in the 3 game set with our foe from Columbia. Clemson was able to fight back for a big win in game 1 and throttled SC in game 3. The obvious disappointment was the performance of the bullpen in the buffer game of the series, giving up late runs to allow the Gamecocks to dodge a Clemson sweep.

I will be the first to admit that March baseball is relatively unimportant in the grand scheme of things. You will also hear me state that one or two games really cannot capture how good a baseball team really is. Baseball is a completely different monster than either of the other two major sports for a variety of reasons. It differs from college football because a playoff system dictates the winner and the main thing that counts is getting hot late in the year. The large number of games played puts a premium on consistency. Series play also gives you a better idea of who the better teams are by allowing teams to immediately avenge fluke losses or a simple bad night on the diamond. Teams hope to grind through the regular season then peak for the conference then NCAA tournaments, with the good teams showing consistent improvement into the summer.

Purely from a fan's perspective, I wish these two teams could get together for both an early season and late season series for a good overall comparison. These two programs have a lot to offer from both a regional and national standpoint. First off, both schools have baseball programs that have been consistently good. Clemson has been good forever, USC since Tanner came on board. Both schools can boast nice baseball facilities. Beautiful Tiger Field has seen substantial upgrades over the past decade and SC has a new stadium that is extremely impressive (especially when you realize the facility is ONLY utilized for USC baseball and does not host a minor league squad after college baseball season). While we will probably never see any more than three regular season games between the two teams in a given year, more games would be nice for the fans.

That being said, you can take what you wish from the SC series. I really hope that this team can build some momentum from the SC series as we move towards conference play. We all like taking the series from the in-state rival, but let's remember that a baseball season is long and grueling. The best teams peak at the end and are flush with pitching, something that will be a question for Clemson as we progress.

Basketball wise, this team was one W shy of our preseason prediction of 10 ACC wins this year. On the year, Trevor Booker has been a disappointment, forgetting the fierceness that he showed in years past. Lack of effort, basic fundamentals, and a the need for a pure shooter have hurt this team over the long haul. Honestly, I expected more out of this group and have been sorely disappointed with the output and overall effort shown on the court.. The loss to NCST was indicative of poor effort and a team that was really unprepared for ACC Tournament play. We were pathetic (as usual) on the offensive end and allowed the Pack to shoot well from the field for most of the evening.

I have to think that Clemson is in the Big Dance, but really would understand if we were left out and would not be too pissed at the selection committee given the epic collapses and lapses we have seen out of this squad this season. The Tigers have been pretty average all season and, when including the tournament, finished just above average (9-8) in an ACC that is having a "down year" when compared to previous ACC seasons.

While I think the group probably has the ability to make it deep into the NCAA tournament, there are tons of questions left about their heart and character. We will see if one of the Freshmen can come up big in postseason action. Can Purnell actually get his team excited about a game in March? Will Trevor Booker actually give effort all game long? Clemson has played itself into yet another tough scenario by losing games they should have won, giving minimal effort, and not playing good fundamental ball. Now the Tigers will suffer with a probable 10-seed. Thanks for playing.

On to a few football items near and dear to my heart. Dr. B has already exposed the ridiculousness that is the "indoor practice facility", so I won't go into it too much but will fire in a few takes. First, is an indoor facility absolutely necessary here? No, this is a luxury item that is nice to have to allow players a year-round practice area but not an absolute necessity. I will say, there are some facilities--I have toured the Nebraska IPF--that are magnificent. IMO, these items are an indicator of how serious an administration takes its athletic programs.

However, at a place like Nebraska who's administration actually wants its athletic programs to succeed, their facility houses a variety of weight rooms, general areas, indoor beach volleyball courts (yes, they are good at beach volleyball in Nebraska--so good in fact that they were not happy with local sand and were importing their beach volleyball sand in from Hawaii when I was out there), and a state of the art indoor practice facility. While I understand that their climate makes such a complex a necessity, this school did not go half-ass when putting up a structure.

Thus, the core issue that I have with this indoor track facility is that it is a cheap out for Clemson. B. Robinson sold the fact that it would be a great tool for the football team when not being used by track, when in-fact that is not the case. I am not sure how necessary such a structure is at Clemson and really don't have an IPF at the top of my list. However, for the administration to EVER claim that they were meeting the needs of the football team with this track bubble is preposterous. The point of the story is that we are (and have been) falling behind and our administration does not care. We are so preoccupied playing the "shell-game to a Top 20 university" that (I believe) the administration almost secretly roots against the athletic teams and merely views the football program as a revenue stream to subsidize non-revenue sports and the general university coffer. Clemson would be much better off embracing athletics (and football in particular) as athletic programs are some of the best recruiting tools that a university has. However, this is how it has worked at Clemson since Jan 1990, and I don't see it changing especially with the higher ups keen to lag on items that could immediately help athletic programs (training table is a pretty obvious one, but we will save that one for another day).

Moving along, Clemson is obviously in the midst of spring practice. While I used to get all jazzed up about the in's and out's of SP, I have come to realize that this is pretty much a mini-camp for the boys and that ~~half~~ seven-eighths of the crap that comes out of the Spring has no real bearing on fall football. Hence, I will refer to this period as a refresher course for existing players. This time period gives the reserves a chance to brush up on Clemson's playbook, learn basic fundamentals, and begin jockeying amongst themselves for slots in the fall. That being said, here are a few spots that I am interested in fundamental issues and how the competition looks headed into summer:

1. Wide receiver. Our receiver corps was pretty slim last year and is really lacking productivity this season. When we did see someone other than Ford, Ashe, or Dye as a WR on the field (this happened mostly early in the season), the results were poor as these guys could not catch a cold butt naked in Alaska in the middle of winter. We have to see vast improvement here. Hopefully McNeal will step up after his RS year. I really expect Jaron Brown and Marquan Jones to see more of the field this fall, and would like to see these guys push for starting roles. Other that Dye, we really have a lot of question marks (and even with Dye, there are still some questions that need to be answered, although I have heard a lot of positives about his leadership and progression for this team).

2. Tight End. I realize that Dwayne Allen played a lot as a freshman, and gave this squad some really good snaps. I am really curious how he will respond being the starting TE. We know that you can flex him and get quality routes and catches, but how will he hold up out of a three-point stance running the football all game? Will we have to move a better blocker out there in obvious running situations? I think that Allen has the ability to do these things and have seen numerous articles writing about the staff being very excited about his ability. Let's hope that he will be able to fill Mike Palmer's void in all aspects of the game.

3. Offensive line. We go through this one almost daily, so no surprises here. With Cloy out, and Brad at the healm be prepared for the usual 5-lineman Monte game that good 'ole BS likes to pull at any given point.

4. Linebackers. Another spring is great for Kevin Steele and crew. This time period will hopefully allow the staff to straighten up a lot of the issues we saw last season that involved players grossly out of position. I really wish Justin Parker was in school and could participate in these spring drills, as we are thin and desperately need his services.

5. Odds and ends. Obviously we all will be paying attention to Boyd as he gets a lot of reps this spring. He has wow'ed most of the staff and current players on the practice squad and we are all excited about seeing him rep with the 1st and 2nd-teamers. I have heard that Ellington has bulked up a little. As has been stated here numerous times, I am really excited about seeing more of him on the field IF he finds the cure for the fumbleitis he had at points of last season. Not too concerned about the DB's and know that whoever does not win the corner battle will still see a lot of action over the course of the season.

With Increased Performance Comes More Expectations, Oliver

2010-03-12T07:57:27Z

More photos » Gerry Broome - AP

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How do I not blame Purnell for losses like this?And yet another 1st round ACC Tourney loss to a lesser team.

I'm fully cognizant of what OP has done for Clemson since he's been here. He took the garbage Larry Shyatt left him to play with and took us to a level we've never consistently been at before. We have more talent on the team today than we've had since at least the late 80s. We've won more games the last 4 years than we ever have before. I'm not calling for OP to be fired, and even those who do want him gone realize that he's not going anywhere.

But the man can't coach an offense. He hasn't gotten through to Trevor Booker, who still takes days off and actually seems to have regressed. He hasn't recruited any shooters to take pressure off the interior game. His teams don't play defense on the road and generally look AWFUL away from Littlejohn.

In all fairness, Booker is a senior, so his problems are partly on himself. He's mentally weak. When his offensive game is ever stifled, he lets it affect his defensive play. He begins to look lethargic and instead of being the man who leads his team by demanding the ball and using the talent he has to score when we need it, he gets lazy and doesnt play ball anymore. Against Wake Forest OP noticed it I'm sure, and Booker was yanked quite a bit from the game. I'd have sat him down much faster, like last year. Maybe OP believes he's got nothing else to run out there yet that can do better than Trevor can when he's on. To me it seems that Trevor's attitude infects the whole team, and thats the Coach's problem to fix.

Clemson lost K.C.last year, that was expected. You can recruit one to make up for the loss. Losing Terrance Oglesby was not, and we should've had our necessary shooter. Still, Purnell seems to have a preference for a ton of Wing players and no PG, and none of them can shoot deep consistently. Does it not seem to anyone else that we have a glut of guys in here to play the same positions with similar skill sets, when we really need someone who can a) shoot 3s, and b) distribute the ball and run the offense? Are we going to have to recruit all 5-star lineups like Georgia Tech just to win more than 9 conference games?

Speaking of offense, where is it? Our half-court sets are....to be honest....shitty. I have never seen a team that set screens worse than we do, and with a motion offense you have to set screens!!!! The spacing is bad, we dont box out, we can't set screens, and even though we run motion I often see guys NOT moving at all. I see no offensive strategy out there, and its not even there with the experienced players.If it was just the young guys it would be ok, but it isnt. Thats the Coach's problem.

And the defense....where is it when we go on the road? We play very good D at home and lets be fair, winning a road ACC game is a struggle anytime, but we can't beat the weaker teams on the road. How is that any different from going up to Wake Forest in football and barely beating them, or going up there and getting smacked around 45-17? Or a trip to Maryland where we're one of only 2 teams they beat all year? How do we trail an entire game against a team we should beat in a neutral site, and who we beat at their place? We do show up and make a fight of it sometimes, but the killer instinct that I see missing from Clemson football is still missing from Clemson basketball too. Whenever the opponent plays bad, we decide to match their level. Its all mental weakness. If a team is that different home vs. away, then they are not mentally tough. That ultimately comes down to the Coach.

"It seemed like they wanted it more," Stitt said. "We just didn't play with a lot of energy, a lot of passion. "You can't really explain it. If you don't play with want-to, energy and passion, there's no explanation for that. It comes from within. At Littlejohn, we're pumped up and our fans are into it and we feed off of that. At away games, we've got to create our own energy. We can't let other crowds get to us and let frustration get to us. That's what it boils down to."

"I think we came out and played a little flat," Booker said. "N.C. State came out and they wanted it. You could tell they wanted it."

WTF? How can I hear that and not blame the Coach? Mental preparation is HIS job. Thats no different than going down to Columbia and shitting the bed against a team that got their ass kicked by UCONN. Then, Purnell made a Tammy-like statement.

"You're swimming upstream when you're a high seed and if you don't have a bye, because that other team is coming in highly motivated," Purnell said. "That other team is coming in highly motivated, because this is their Super Bowl. This is their opportunity here. So they're coming in highly motivated with everything to play for, and you've got to get yourself really juiced up."

Yeah no shit Oliver, I know its their Super Bowl, its your job to make sure your team doesnt piss the game away and lose because they dont have the "want-to". Last weekend we pissed the Bye away because they didnt "want it bad enough". At Sakerlina last November didn't have the "want-to"....for half of Bowden's tenure we didnt have the "want-to" either, despite having the talent to win the damn conference.

Purnell wants Clemson basketball to elevate itself. He wants those sellouts every week and wants students camped out for basketball tickets. However if he expects that to happen, he needs to elevate himself or eventually Clemson fans will grow tired of early exits in Tournaments and find a new coach. Getting to the NCAAs won't be a hurdle if it goes to half of Div 1-A soon.

It won't be this year, and it won't be next year, but if this trend continues his monster is going to eat him.

CU Administration allows Clemson to be embarrassed yet again.

2010-03-11T23:19:20Z

Today was Pro Day at Clemson, many seniors and former Clemson players like Cullen Harper and Nick Watkins were there to showcase their talents for NFL Scouts...until early this afternoon when they wanted to do some shuttle runs and some route running and decided the astro turf in our "indoor practice facility", as the AD would tell you our Indoor Track building is if you asked them why CU doesnt have an indoor practice facility, was too bad in some places to make proper cuts and make proper evaluation of our players.

They said they preferred to go outside in the rain over the turf inside the building. Embarassing. You'll recall Bobby Robinson sold us on the Indoor track building as a dual-role facility back in the '90s, but it really isnt. Its also obviously in poor shape when we've shown that IPTAY at least has the cash reserve to build one.

Now I have come out against the necessity of an Indoor Practice building before, because for the most part they do go unused. Some years are wetter and theyre needed, but for the most part I don't think they are used enough to justify the cost....that is unless you have the money available. Not even the entire SEC had one, as of 2 years ago, though UGA is building one, and Florida could have one tomorrow if they wanted it.

Phase III of the WEZ was given the go ahead about a week ago, and according to Greg Wallace's twitter feed, the cost is expected at $4.9 million. An indoor practice facility itself would cost in the ballpark of $5-7 million for a basic structure, but closer to $12-15 million for one on par (though this is an all-inclusive complex) with some of our wealthier competition. All of the expense could be done in two years with just the AD budget if Barker and Sikes Hall would not take $2.8 million away as a tax/surcharge on departmental budgets. If Barker was truly committed to the 10 year goals he laid out when he was named the Boss, then he'd not push the AD into the red with taxes every year.

Dabo commented on it this afternoon

"Maybe that will help us (raise momentum) a little bit today, when you've got head coaches standing out there. It's something that we've talked about, but we'll have to fund-raise for. There's a priority list on things that have to be done, but it's definitely something I would love to have here. I'm very thankful for what we do have. At least we can go inside and get something done. But it's a need.

"Couple of things: One is, we had a lot of rain this year. And that's not the norm, but we went inside a lot. You just can't go full speed in there. It's too dangerous as far as the surface is concerned, number one. But we can get something done, and I'm thankful for that.

"The other thing that you don't think about is, a lot of time in the summer we have skills-and-drills going on for these guys. And a lot of times it'll rain. When I was at Alabama, that was the thing I always loved. We never missed a day throwing and catching. Ever. You get your day in, you have your school and you get your workout. It's time to do skills-and-drills, and here comes the rain and you can't do it. Whereas when you have an indoor (facility), you never miss a moment.

"And also days like today. There's a lot of benefits to it. It can benefit other sports. It would be a very useful thing to have.

"And a lot of schools are doing it. I know Florida State is building one now. Georgia has theirs in the works. Duke's building one. Tennessee is expanding theirs. So at some point...

"Rome wasn't built in a day. But we're trying to build Rome. We're working on it. It's just not quite there yet."

Now someone go wake TDP up and tell him.

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.