By William Qualkinbush.
Clemson hosts NC State for a 3:30 kickoff on Saturday. TCI takes a look at the game By the Numbers.
8.99: Yards per play average for Deshaun Watson. The freshman is the best in the ACC and ranks 14th nationally in that category. Watson’s presence has served to open up Clemson’s offense by focusing on the vertical passing game and utilizing Watson’s athleticism a little bit in the running game. Cole Stoudt is only averaging 5.76 yards per play, meaning Watson is taking full advantage of every opportunity he has with the ball in his hands to make a play.
11: Total penalties committed by Clemson this season, making the Tigers the least-penalized team in the country. Dabo Swinney’s team has only been penalized a total of 94 yards in four games—an average of only 23.5 yards per contest. To put that into perspective, no other team in America has fewer than 15 penalties, and only Navy can match Clemson’s 2.8 penalties per game average. The contrast is even more stark within the conference, as no ACC team has fewer than 20 penalties or averages less than 40 yards per game in penalties. N.C. State is third in penalties per game (4.8) and yards per game (40.2) this season.
27: Career sacks for Vic Beasley. The senior has been dominant once again in 2014, picking up at least one sack in each of the Tigers’ first four games. He has two sacks apiece in each of his last two games—at Florida State and against North Carolina—and is only one sack away from tying the all-time sack record at Clemson. The record is currently shared by Gaines Adams and Michael Dean Perry, two great Tiger pass rushers that remain well-respected across the fan base. Beasley ranks second in the country with an average of 1.5 sacks per contest, and he has feasted on N.C. State historically, accounting for six combined sacks in two career matchups with the Wolfpack.
73: Number of plays run by N.C. State against Clemson in last season’s matchup. Dave Doeren wants to run a hurry-up no-huddle offense, but it stalled at times against Brent Venables’ defense last season. Only twice all year did the Wolfpack run fewer offensive plays in a game in 2013, when Matt Canada’s attack averaged 78.8 plays per game. So far this season, even with a more mobile threat at quarterback, N.C. State’s offense has averaged 73.8 plays per game. Playing at a slightly slower tempo has seemingly benefited the Wolfpack to this point, but Venables said this week he expects a good bit of variety in tempo from the opposition—including some of the break-neck pace North Carolina employed a week ago.
304: Yards of total offense per game for Jacoby Brissett. That number is second-best in the conference behind only Jameis Winston of Florida State. Brissett is a legitimate dual-threat option at quarterback that also leads the ACC in passing yards. He has thrown passes to 12 different receivers this season and is a fan of spreading the ball around at random. Seven of his targets have at least 90 receiving yards, and six of them have at least ten catches. That gives Clemson a bunch of players to defend all over the field, and that’s not even including the challenge of corralling Brissett when he scrambles away from pressure or runs the zone read.