Atlanta, GA – Well the long wait is finally over. It is time to kickoff another season of football for the Tigers. Expectations are high for Clemson after winning the ACC Championship in convincing fashion over Virginia Tech last season. Although many in the media still want to discuss last year’s Orange Bowl debacle, the team has long since moved on. For the third year in a row Clemson and Auburn meet in an SEC ACC showdown.
“The guys are really excited now that it is game week. I am personally just looking forward to watching us play and seeing where we are against a very tough opponent in Auburn. Looking at Auburn they are a very, very talented team. There are a lot of unknowns with their team that we probably won’t figure out until we get going in the game,” said Swinney.
Clemson begins the season ranked No. 14 in both polls. Last season the Tigers tasted the national spotlight getting as high as No. 5 in the BCS poll after starting 8-0. The Tigers hope to be back in the national spotlight again this season and it all starts with another SEC battle. If the Tigers want to be a top team nationally victories over Auburn and South Carolina are critical.
Auburn on Offense –
The Auburn offense will look different from the one that came to Death Valley last season as Gus Malzahn left for a head coaching job and was replaced by Temple’s Scot Loeffler.
Clemson isn’t the only team with an inexperienced offensive line. Auburn will start red-shirt freshman Greg Robinson at left tackle, senior John Sullen at left guard, sophomore Tunde Fariyike at center, sophomore Chad Slade at right guard and true freshman Avery Young at right tackle.
Clemson will find out quickly if Coach Venables defense can doing something that the Tigers struggled to do under coach Steele, stop a running quarterback. Auburn selected sophomore Keihl Frazier to start at quarterback after a battle in spring and at camp. Frazier was 4-12 last season for 32 yards with two interceptions.
“When you look at them offensively they are going to be a little different from a philosophy standpoint. What we have had to do is prepare for what we think they are going to do with that system but also prepare for some of what they have done in the past so that makes it a bit of a challenge. We have to get ready for two different systems. 10 has played in big games already. He started at Alabama. He played against us last year. He is a highly recruited guy. They have some very good skill at the receiver position. They have guys that played against us last year and made big plays in the game. I think their tight end is outstanding. 43 is a guy that they are going to use a lot of different ways. He is a very athletic guy that can create mismatches. Their running back McCalebb is a home run hitter. He has the speed to take it the distance. The guys behind him we don’t know a whole lot about as far as film study but they are very talented. A lot of people are going to talk about their offensive line. They are young up front like we are. If you really break them down and study them those guys are big and every single one of these guys was heavily recruited,” said Swinney.
Auburn on Defense-
Auburn also changed defensive coordinators in the offseason bringing in Brian Van Gorder. Van Gorder moved over from the Atlanta Falcons to take the job at Auburn.
Auburn brings a very experienced defense to the Georgia Dome. All of the starters are juniors or seniors with the exception of sophomore Angelo Blackson at defensive tackle and Jermaine Whitehead at safety. Dee Ford and Corey Lemonier give Auburn two of the top defensive ends in the SEC.
“Defensively, similar to the offense, we have had to look at a lot of different things. We have seen about all that you can see. It is a lot to prepare for so at the end of the day you just have to focus on yourself and really understand you system and be able to apply your system to what you see on game day. I think they want to be a four man front, but we have seen a lot of odd as well. I think they are going to be much better on defense and the main reason for that is they are going to be much more experienced. There is no greater teacher than experience. I think they have nine or ten guys in their two-deep that have started for them at some point. They only have one freshman in their two deep. I think their defensive line is very, very good. The two ends that they have, 55 and 95, are as good as any that we will play. They are very talented, very disruptive. 55 had nine sacks last year so this is a very good football team, especially up front,” said Swinney.
Prediction-
It is always difficult to predict the first game of the season. Clemson comes into the game as a 3 point favorite by the “experts” in Vegas and is ranked No. 14 in both polls while Auburn is ranked No. 25 in one of the polls.
Auburn’s strength is their defense and Clemson’s is their offense. Both teams bring young offensive lines into the opener. Clemson’s defense will try to stop the run and force Auburn to beat them through the air. If they can contain Frazier and McCalebb the Auburn offense will not be able to outscore Clemson.
Coach Swinney is looking for some answers that can’t be answered until his team battles another opponent. Tiger Nation will get plenty of answers Saturday night.
Clemson is the more talented team and they should come away with the victory. Look for Auburn’s defensive ends to get pressure on Boyd at times, but Clemson simply has too many playmakers on offense. If Tajh and the offense can avoid turnovers Clemson will leave Georgia Dome with another victory over an SEC opponent and get the 2012 season off to a great start.
TCI Predictions
Heath – Clemson 27 Auburn 20
Will – Clemson 24 Auburn 13
Robert – Clemson 34 Auburn 23