Saturday night, the Dogs head to Death Valley for a battle with the vaunted Clemson Tigers. We're facing off against the #5 team in the nation, so surely Evan will just give up and not write a three keys to victory post this week, right?
You think I'd crumble? You think I'd lay down and die?
At first I was afraid... I was petrified...
If there were ever an understandable time to have some pre-game jitters, it would be in a raucous Death Valley on a Saturday night. But if Tech is going to have any success Saturday night, they'll have to come out ready to punch Clemson in the mouth and prove they belong on the field. They will need to establish a running game, find creative ways to protect the quarterback with quick reads, and play a clean and perfect game... all to have a shot. Clemson scares the bejesus out of ME, a fan, but the team can't play scared - that's a recipe for abject failure.
Go on now go!
Looking at some advanced metrics through Clemson's first two games (against Georgia Tech and Furman), there are a few things that stand out. One, Clemson is pretty damn great at a lot of things. They pass the ball well (11th in Expected Points Added (EPA) per pass play), they run the ball well (21st in EPA per run play), and they have an excellent defense. Opponents average -.331 points per pass and -0.191 points per run. That means for every pass play run by a Clemson opponent, the expectation is that Clemson will score 0.331 points. EVERY pass! With that being said, Clemson is... pretty bad on third downs offensively. Again looking to advanced stats, their 3rd/4th down success rate is 18%, which is 122nd in the nation. The problem is... they hardly ever get to third downs. Their offense is 4th nationally in picking up 1st downs on 1st or 2nd down. Clemson picks up a first down on 1st or 2nd down 86.7% of the time! If Tech can force Clemson into some third down looks, they just might be able to force them off the field.
From outer space
In last week's game against SFA, we saw that Sonny Cumbie isn't afraid to call some innovative plays out there. This week, I hope we see more of the same. Let's go out there and just get bananas with it, man. Swinging gate? How about we take that a step further and have an oscillating turnstile? Get some statues of liberty, (more) flea flickers, some Philly Specials. Let's at least shoot for like #4 on SCTopTen Saturday night. What do we have to lose? Should we play sound, fundamental football? Absolutely! But if we're gonna go down, we might as well go down in a freakin' blaze of glory.
Tech's got all their lives to live, and they've got all their love to give, and they will survive!
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Evan is also a contributor to gtpdd.dog, a lighthearted Louisiana Tech blog. Be sure to check out @gotechplsdntdie on Twitter, play the gtpdd Contest and CUSA Fantasy, and listen to the gtpdd Podcast!
