When opening the season against an opponent like Auburn, at their place, sometimes it is good to have a little extra time to prepare. It is especially important when you don’t know who those Tigers will play at quarterback or even running back for that matter.
Auburn’s personnel is different than it was from the year before, and that has Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables having to go back and watch film on its 2013 offense just to get an idea of what to expect.
“Sometimes as coaches we can be our own worst enemy if we have too much time,” Venables said. “I’m thankful that we do because they are a little bit unfamiliar in some ways and in some ways there is some carry over with some things our offensive staff does.
“That goes without saying with the background with Coach (Chad) Morris and Coach (Gus) Malzahn having shared a lot of ideas through the years. It has given us time to do more than just get ready for Auburn but get ready for our season.”
But are the Tigers ready for Auburn’s three-headed monster at quarterback. Right now, Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn has not come close to naming a starter, even though the game is 10 days out. He says Sean White, Jeremy Johnson and John Franklin III are all getting first-team reps. And that is why Venables is having to go back to 2013 to watch film.
He has clips from last year on White and Johnson, but Franklin is a junior college transfer, who Venables says can flat out fly. He reminds Venables of former Auburn quarterback Nick Marshall, who led the SEC’s Tigers to the BCS National Championship Game in 2013.
“He is real fast and he can really fly and can take the top off,” Venables said. “He doesn’t need much.
“Taking a look at what they did with Nick Marshall and the quarterback run game. I’m sure he knows how to throw it as well.”
Venables says, from what they have seen on tape the schemes for the most part will remain the same.
“They do a good job spreading you out and running the football, being physical and utilizing the entire field,” the Clemson defensive coordinator said. “(Johnson and White) have experience and have been in the system for a few years now so I’m sure there is a good trust factor. Moving forward, we have to prepare for (three) quarterbacks.”
Venables says Clemson cannot have a false illusion that it will just roll into Auburn and think it is going to put a beatdown on those Tigers. He says Auburn is a much better team than people realize. He brought up the fact they were a few plays away from being an 11-win team instead of a seven-win team. And the quarterback issues they had, was not always the quarterbacks’ fault.
“They were virtually in every game they played last year. They had a bunch of dropped balls, very inconsistent at receiver and had their opportunities deep in many of the games, including Alabama to win those games,” he said. “They took Georgia to the end. They took Ole Miss to the end. They took Alabama to the end. I’m just naming a few teams. I think they came on the short end of triple overtime-game against Arkansas.
“That was kind of the tale of the season for them last year so doing this long enough you know you can be on both sides of that. You know, when you just can’t get a break. That was kind of the case a year ago (for them), but they were really close. They are very talented. They have recruited well.”
Does it matter then that Malzahn has not named a starting quarterback?
“I could care less. That does not matter to us,” Venables said. “That is not coach speak. We are going to prepare and do what we do and adjust that as we go. That is up to them whether or not they have confidence in their guy.”
Venables just has to be prepared for whoever Malzahn trots onto the field on Sept. 3, which is why he is glad he has had a little extra time to get prepared.