Monday March 30, 2009

Offensive Scrimmage Observations

Offensive Scrimmage Observations
This past Saturday, Tony Eubanks of the Spiritual Two-a-days program at Clemson invited Ryan and me out to the football scrimmage and we had a blast. After the scrimmage Ryan got a chance to talk to some of his favorites like Jeff Davis, Willy Korn, Jarvis Jenkins and Xavier Dye. He met some new guys like Dalton Freeman and wide receiver coach Jeff Scott. Perhaps the best part of the day was when he was reunited with his favorite Tiger, Dabo. The head coach asked Ryan what he thought of the scrimmage and Ryan told him he loved the goal line situations because of the hitting.

Usually whenever we get a chance to do get invited out to a practice or scrimmage I would not publish any thoughts from the day. But Saturday the media was allowed to attend and I noticed the local newspapers and both the rivals site and scout site had a bunch of stuff up from the scrimmage, so I thought it was OK to give some of my thoughts on the offense today and defense tomorrow.

This was only the second time I have been to practice this spring and the one thing that I took from both days was the tempo. There is a sense of urgency that reminds me of the Rich Rodriguez days. Everyone runs on and off of the field. There is more intensity and the play is a lot more physical also.

As I have mentioned before, Bowden’s practices were long and drawn out. Dabo gets the work done and moves at a much faster pace but they are out there for a shorter time frame.

Also, this staff is much more demanding and in the kids’ faces. They make it very clear what is expected of the players. The new coaches bring intensity.

The single most impressive player I saw Saturday was Jamie Harper. He has lost about 20 pounds and looks fantastic. Last fall I was at the scrimmage where he put on a show and some on the staff felt he was the best back on campus at the time. He suffered the ankle injury and never recovered last year. He was overweight and could not cut as well. This spring Harper looks terrific. He has unbelievable feet. Harper also has power and can break tackles. I look for big things coming from this future star.

The running game was dominant Saturday. To be fair to the defense, Ricky Sapp, Da’Quan Bowers, Kourtnei Brown, Stanley Hunter and Spencer Adams did not play and Brandon Maye only played a few snaps. Sapp, Hunter and Adams missed with injuries. Bowers and Brown had class obligations and Maye was kicked out of practice for his attitude blowup. So the defense was not at full strength.

However, the offense was missing Mason Cloy, Wilson Norris, Phillip Price, C.J. Spiller and Jacoby Ford. Spiller and Ford were held out of the scrimmage and the other three had the same class obligations that Bowers and Brown had.

I was very surprised at two freshmen offensive linemen. Dalton Freeman was the starting center because Cloy was out and the red-shirt freshman was impressive. True freshman J.K. Jay is the best tackle prospect Clemson has signed in recent memory. He was dominant at times.

Harper was not the only impressive back. Andre Ellington broke a long touchdown run and will be a big part of the offense but Saturday’s surprise was Rendrick Taylor. He has lost about 10 pounds and ran with authority.

The physical presence of the offense was also seen from another bruiser on offense, Chad Deihl. I think the offense is better when Diehl is involved. He is a crushing blocker and catches the ball well.

I am very happy to report the offensive line play was improved. Antoine McClain has really matured and is ready to become a major factor. If Cloy and Freeman continue to improve at center and Thomas Austin and McClain can continue to improve, this could be a very good offensive line. Chris Hairston will be the left tackle but the right tackle spot will go to either Landon Walker, Corey Lambert or J.K. Jay.

It was difficult to critique the quarterbacks because it poured rain all morning but I thought both looked good at times. Korn and Kyle Parker both have their strengths and weaknesses but both have a chance to be very good players.

The weather made it very tough on the wide outs and this group is my major concern this spring. Marquan Jones made a outstanding touchdown reception and looks like he is ready at times. The same can be said for Jaron Brown. Jacoby Ford did not participate so I was looking for others to step up. Xavier Dye had a nice catch but was limited in his opportunities and none of the others really stood out.

From what I saw of the tight ends, I think this group looks improved. Michael Palmer had a great touchdown reception. Dwayne Allen is every bit the player we thought he would be at this stage but is still raw.

I liked the play calling. The tempo of the offense was faster. The offense even called the same play four times in a row just to prove a point because the staff wanted more toughness. We saw some option. We saw two full backs in the game at the same time. We saw a scrimmage where it was obvious they made a commitment to the running game.

It was just a spring scrimmage in March but it was a physical scrimmage. If you were a fan that was looking for toughness, then you found more of it on Saturday. Harper, Diehl, Taylor, Ellington, McClain, Jay and Freeman caught my eye.

Tomorrow we will look at some of the defense from Saturday.

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We have started a prayer list on the blog. Here are the guidelines:
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Those who need our prayers include:
Finn Brookover, Mrs. Kathleen Bowers, Larry in Naples, FL, RTG-Pawsitive Tiger, Mary-Louise Pawlowski (John's daughter), Sandy Wright, Jo Ann Bachman, Frank Taylor, Kenneth Bryant, Pruitt Martin, Got igers and his family, David Rowland, Leonard Gillespie and his family, Jim S, Christine Hepfer, Daniel Rosborough, Amy Murphey, Jack Huffman, Nancy Winkler, Dr. Nancy Strom Morgan, Edward Putman, John Reeve, Eileen Woodrum, Ethel Southard, Anna Rawl, Vinnie Brock, Jean-Pierre Bailey, Kaitlyn L, Fariba Kamalabadi, Jamaloddin Khanjani, Afif Naemi, Saeid Rezaie, Mahvash Sabet, Behrouz Tavakkoli, Vahid Tizfahm,Vincent Lee, Martha Bryant Carr.