http://www.independentmail.com/orange-a ... tting-trap

This writer seems to put a lot of weight on App's, at this point, mostly irrelevant performances as a FCS team and little, if any, based on our current FBS team from last year.

I think this will be typical from most Clemson/ACC fans and analyst. That's okay, let's enlighten them on Sept. 12.

Gonzo wrote:

This got me.

I doubt Vegas will have us as a 28 pt dog, but I sure do hope the folks in Tiger town keep thinking like this. I know they have a lot of skill players on O coming back, but they lost a ton of talent on defense and on the OL. The Thursday night matchup vs Louisville isn't going to hurt us either.

Well I would have ranked us ahead of Wake Forest but other than that Clemson has a pretty stout schedule. I don't see them having a chance to "rest" their starters mid way through the 4th quarter. If we can pound the rock against their inexperienced defense, thus keeping their offense "resting" on the sidelines then we have a better than average shot of walking out of Death Valley with a win. It is a trap game by all definitions. I think that the Vegas line will be between 21 and 28. The closer to 21 the better the wagering action.

The one down side to a win in Death Valley is that it could send the Tiger's season into a free fall and thus diminish our SOS for a New Year's Day bowl. (I know I am getting ahead of myself).

Clemson always has a reputation for losing one game a year that they should have won. I want that game this year to be us. On paper they are the clear favorites in this game and I don't expect any analyst to pick us over them BUT I do believe it is within us to take this game from them. Our team stepped up in second half of last year and played big. I believe this team will build on our success last year and has the heart and skills to step up big in this game.

AtlAppMan wrote:Clemson always has a reputation for losing one game a year that they should have won. I want that game this year to be us. On paper they are the clear favorites in this game and I don't expect any analyst to pick us over them BUT I do believe it is within us to take this game from them.

Games aren't played on paper. They are played on television. Unless you're in the SoCon.

I would agree with you about being picked to beat them. This guy is an analyst in the loosest of terms. He is a homer for sure.

this bias reporter conveniently forgot to mention Clemson replacing 9 defensive players, their best offensive lineman who, unexpectedly, went into the draft last week, all American kicker gone after getting caught with drugs in his car, new offensive coordinator, and a qb coming off major surgery. But, these are, of course, minor things in the fantasy world of the Clemson hopefuls. I think we will keep this game somewhat close into the forth, probably losing by 14-17. If the line stays above 21, might have to make a bet, this will be easy money.

There are quite a few things about this year that are encouraging. S&C appears way ahead of where it's been in forever. Tweeting seems to have been 99% positive (100% from coaches). The whole team seems to be pulling together without lauding one player or another as the know-all, end-all, be-all answer. In short, the discipline and determination that won 6 straight at the end of last season appears to have strengthened mightily.

One swim team I coached many, many years ago had team shirts with four words on them - dedication, desire, discipline, determination. App Football version 2015 has all that and much more.

Personally, I think the only thing we may not be able to beat at Clemson is the heat.

Go Apps!

While I think App should be able to cover 28, if healthy we will be playing against quite possibly the best QB an App team has ever faced. Perhaps I'm missing someone.

Flacco was great but he had stone handed WRs and no time to throw.

potentially, he is the most talented, and gifted qb we have faced in years, but with all the time he has missed he is basically starting over. Doesn't help he plays Wofford in the first week, they are going to eat up a lot of clock, and keep him off the field, he really needs all the reps he can get.But one thing in his favor is a great receiving corp, we are going to have a tough time keeping up with those guys.

Saint3333 wrote:While I think App should be able to cover 28, if healthy we will be playing against quite possibly the best QB an App team has ever faced. Perhaps I'm missing someone.

Flacco was great but he had stone handed WRs and no time to throw.

It may be a little early to say he's better than Chad Pennington, Byron Leftwich, JaMarcus Russell, and Joe Flacco.

JTApps1 wrote:

Saint3333 wrote:While I think App should be able to cover 28, if healthy we will be playing against quite possibly the best QB an App team has ever faced. Perhaps I'm missing someone.

Flacco was great but he had stone handed WRs and no time to throw.

It may be a little early to say he's better than Chad Pennington, Byron Leftwich, JaMarcus Russell, and Joe Flacco.

Don't forget Chad Henne!

JTApps1 wrote:

Saint3333 wrote:While I think App should be able to cover 28, if healthy we will be playing against quite possibly the best QB an App team has ever faced. Perhaps I'm missing someone.

Flacco was great but he had stone handed WRs and no time to throw.

It may be a little early to say he's better than Chad Pennington, Byron Leftwich, JaMarcus Russell, and Joe Flacco.

Joe Flacco maybe, but the difference will be the WRs as mentioned. None of those other guys have the total package this guy has. Russell was overrated, Leftwich was slow, and Chad's arm was weak.

I would assume that the Clemson talent of the new starters is as good as the ones that are gone plus they got plenty of reps against 1 st team O and D last year. The writer is right....We are not going to sneak up on anyone. We need to weather the 1 st quarter and If we do it could be a game.

I don't know how we'll do against Clemson, but I think we're at least better than Wake and Syracuse.

A lot of times whenever we're predicted to lose big time (I.e. vs '07 Michigan, '09 ECU) we surprise everyone & either win or lose by the slightest so I feel pretty good about this game. Anyone here planning on attending? I just got myself two tickets!

MountaineerChemist10 wrote:A lot of times whenever we're predicted to lose big time (I.e. vs '07 Michigan, '09 ECU) we surprise everyone & either win or lose by the slightest so I feel pretty good about this game. Anyone here planning on attending? I just got myself two tickets!

Yesssiiirrreeeeeee , going to Clemp's Son with my better half and man sized 16 year old son. Looking forward to seeing the App spirit rise regardless of the temps. Heck, with the way I feel about App this season, maybe we'll get a Canadian low pressure dipping down into upstate SC on September 12th with gametime temps in the 70's .

The last Clemson vs App game I attended was in the 80s and App played them even up for the first half and then ran out of gas in the second half. This App team is deeper than the FCS teams of the past (but very young) and hopefully can make a few big plays and come away with a chance for an upset. I have already bought my tickets via Stubhub and look forward to a good game by the Apps.

Saint3333 wrote:While I think App should be able to cover 28, if healthy we will be playing against quite possibly the best QB an App team has ever faced. Perhaps I'm missing someone.

Flacco was great but he had stone handed WRs and no time to throw.

While we are talking about good QBs over the years,Tracy Ham was good all levels being relative, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tracy_Ham