First, we haven't played anyone of value yet, so I doubt the playbook has stretched its legs at all.
Offensively, we've got two very talented running backs in Andre Ellington and Jamie Harper. We did lose Spiller, but it shouldn't hurt as much as the 'experts' are saying. Ellington (RS sophomore) spelled CJ Spiller all year long last season, and averaged something like 7 yards per carry. This season he had a 122-yard, 2-TD performance against NT, and looks to be extremely quick to the holes. Harper will simply knock you down. He's a 240lbs back with a lot of quickness in his step. He's received significant playing time the past two years, so he should be just fine, as well.
QB Kyle Parker has a laser for an arm. He's only 6'1, but he can throw 30 yards on a line, and while he's not a scrambler, he's mobile enough to pick up 5 or 6 yards regularly. He threw for 2526 yards and 20 TDs as a freshman last year, so Clemson fans are fairly confident in his ability. The wideouts are our biggest problem. We've got a boatload of 4-star guys at receiver, but they're all young. Included in our two-deep are two freshmen, a sophomore, and two inexperienced juniors. We rotate a corps of about 7 receivers on the field during the game to keep them fresh. Our best catcher is TE Dwayne Allen. The guy is everything you can ask for in a balanced TE, and Clemson does a good job of getting him the ball.
Along the line we'll be just fine. We returned 4 of 5 starters, and one of our backups has played a good number of meaningful snaps over the last couple years. They're a solid bunch.
Defensively, our strength is with the D-line. We rotate four DT's, but our best two are Jarvis Jenkins and Brandon Thompson. They stuff the middle real quick. On the ends we've got DaQuan Bowers and Andre Branch, with Malliciah Goodman, a DE/LB hybrid, subbing in and out for our nickel packages. DaQuan was ESPN's #1 overall recruit a few years back, and while his stats haven't lived up to the hype, he disrupts everybody. The guy causes a lot of problems in the backfield, even if his numbers aren't flashy.
Our linebackers are our biggest question mark on the entire team. Against North Texas we started a freshman and two sophomores. Clemson's been weak at the linebacker spot for 2 or 3 seasons now, so the coaching staff compensates by playing a whole bunch of nickel and dime. I'd grade our linebackers at a "B" on a good day.
In the secondary, we've got a ton of experienced talent. DeAndre McDaniel is the star of the show, and picked by a lot of folks to be a first-team All-American. Simply put, Auburn shouldn't have an easy time putting the ball through the air. Our secondary has been lights out for a number of seasons now.
All the experts like to talk about the loss of CJ Spiller, offensively. Clemson fans aren't concerned about his loss on the offense. Believe it or not, we've got the talent to make up for that. The way losing Spiller hurts us is on special teams. We've got some quick return guys, but we will no longer find ourselves on the 45 every time like we did with Spiller.
Overall, I'd put Auburn at about a 5-point favorite considering y'all are at home. Clemson's got a real swift defense, but our linebackers are very inexperienced, and I fear Newton's legs are going to chew our rush-D to pieces if our LB's can't mature quickly. Expect a very balanced offensive attack and a good bit of TE use from us, offensively. Also expect to see a whole bunch of subbing. We tend to keep our guys pretty fresh throughout the game.
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