Orange Invasion

The guys over at Danny Ford is God were kind enough to answer some questions on short notice today. Even though that doesn't make me like them enough to hope they win Saturday, it gives them at least a little good will.

I also answered some questions for them, which you can find here.

1. I haven't heard his name much, but Cullen Harper has apparently put up some very impressive numbers this season. 23 touchdowns to 4 interceptions is tough to argue with. Is Harper really that good, or is the real star someone else? If so, who is it?

Danny Ford is God: Cullen has really been a godsend and almost a call back to Charlie Whitehurst's non-senior years with his ability to win games. He's a huge step up from last year's field general, Will Proctor, who was simply terrible. Perhaps the main reason for his lofty numbers is the system to which he's attached. We don't try and put the game on his shoulders. Our OC mainly gives him short 6 and 7 yard passes, screens, and dump outs to our speed guys as opposed to long risky tosses downfield. Clearly, he is indeed a pretty good fit for the offense we run however he tends to get pressured (not his fault) and make bad decisions. He also has a brief history of hanging out receivers to dry, resulting in our guys catching the ball getting blasted (Jacoby Ford against VT and Maryland, Tyler Grisham against Duke of all teams). We also have some of the better receivers in the ACC in Rendrick Taylor, Tyler Grisham, and Aaron Kelly. Losing Jacoby Ford is a huge loss but those guys have filled the gap very nicely.

2. Clemson is in the top 3 in the ACC in almost every stat category and has an impressive margin of victory in almost every win, yet the two losses to GT and VT were both pretty ugly. From what I can see there's a bit of Jekyll and Hyde going on here. What factors contribute to the huge difference between performances in wins and losses?

DFIG: That is a result of having an offensive coordinator and head coach like we do. Rob Spence tries to force schemes to work and doesn't make correct adjustments until after everyone in attendance has picked up on the fact that "Hey, that play isn't working." Bubble screens, swing passes, screen passes, etc just don't work against teams that do their homework and play more physically and with more intensity than us. This also helps buttress the old Clemson adage that "It depends on which Clemson team shows up." Some games we just come out and fall flat on our face. Other games we woodshed teams. We can't find a happy medium.

3. What aspects of the game do you expect Clemson to dominate this week, and where do you expect to struggle?

DFIG: We think our defense, kick off return team, and passing game will be great against the Deacs. Our disadvantage is still special teams.

4. Death Valley is known for the home field advantage it provides. For a noon game in the cold, how much home field advantage do you really have?

DFIG: Well, a noon game is terrible for us. Nobody likes to wake up early and rush to the stadium because the traffic situation is simple awful. People flood the gates just minutes before kickoff. We do expect your team to have trouble with noise and communication because our stadium is pretty loud. Our fans realize that this game is a must-win if we want to have a shot at the division next week versus Boston College, and have been talking a lot this week about how loud the stadium needs to be, so we don't think this game will so much resemble the normal nooner. Probably won't be that loud at the beginning of the game. We really wish this was a later game, but of course we sold out to the man and
put our game on early on ESPN 2, thus the noon kickoff.

5. I try to make everyone do it, but some shy away: predict the final score. If you won't do that, tell me how you think Clemson will finish out and where you expect to be going in the post season.

DFIG: We can't give you a final score quite yet as we haven't put our heads together and posted our weekly preview, feel free to link to it when we post it tomorrow. One thing is for sure; Clemson's destiny is solely in their own hands. If we beat Wake and BC, we're a lock for Jacksonville. If we flounder, I could really see us lose all three of our next games (Wake, BC, South Carolina) and going to another crappy bowl game that nobody watches. If we get to the ACCCG and lose, I see the Chik-Fil-A bowl being a good possibility.

Thanks again to the guys for taking the time to answer my questions. Make sure to head over there any time you need some good Clemson analysis, or some fun analysis of their opponents' mascots.