Clemson Sports: Game Recap - Clemson vs. Ball State

CLEMSON- Clemson had an odd 12:29 start time for Saturday’s game against Ball State, but there was nothing out of sync for the Clemson Tigers.

The Ball State Cardinals never really had a chance after the opening kickoff as the Tigers went on to score 45 points in the first half and ultimately win 52-27.

Several Tigers, including Nuk Hopkins, Charone Peake, Martavis Bryant, Cole Stoudt, and Stephone Anthony had career days, but it was the playing time that back-up players received that was most important.

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said that it was important for the reserves to get a chance to play in order to grow his team for the future.

“Later in the game we got in a situation where we didn’t want anyone to get hurt,” Swinney said after the game. “It was a great opportunity to grow the team. We got to play a lot of guys and give them the chance to get some playing time. I’ve told them at practices during the week, you may not be the starter or even the second guy, but you have to be ready when it’s your turn. You need to practice like you would play. Hopefully we can start off strong next week, and give a lot of guys some playing time again.”

What went right: Because of the lopsided score, 80 different players were able to see valuable game action, including war veteran Daniel Rodriguez and long-snapper Sam Van Gieson who has been a walk-on for four years.

The Clemson offense was almost perfect in the first half. The Tigers had 382 yards of total offense and quarterback Tajh Boyd finished the half-and the game with a line 19-for-23 for 229 yards and three touchdowns.

Nuk Hopkins continues to impress and stake his claim as the number one receiver on the Clemson football team. Hopkins had his third consecutive 100-yard receiving game, finishing the game with six catches for 105 yards. He also scored three touchdowns. Hopkins has never had more than one touchdown reception in a game.

The Tigers won the turnover battle, forcing two interceptions. Linebacker Stephone Anthony recorded his first career interception and defensive back Darius Robinson recorded the other interception. Clemson also recovered an on-side kick.

Back-up quarterback Cole Stoudt had a career day. He saw his first extensive action in 2012 completing 12 passes for 123 yards.

What went wrong: Injuries. Starting left guard David Beasley went down with a sprained MCL during the first quarter and never returned. Backup running back D.J. Howard and starting linebacker Tig Willard both suffered bruised shoulders. Backup linebacker Tony Steward pulled his hamstring in the first half and did not return.

Last week against Auburn, the offense was flagged for numerous procedural penalties, but this week it was the defense’s turn. The Clemson defense was called twice for pass interference that kept drives alive for Ball St.

The Clemson run defense continues to struggle. Clemson gave up 54-yard and 21-yard touchdowns to Horactio Banks. Overall, the Tigers gave up 252 yards on the ground. If Clemson is going to be successful this season, they have to limit the big plays and shore up their run defense.

Placekicker Chandler Catanzaro has been money so far this season, but missed an extra point on the Tigers’ first touchdown.

Turning Point in the game: Kickoff. This game was never in doubt after the 12:29 kickoff. Clemson pulled their offensive starters with about four minutes left in the half after going up 42-10.

Play of the game: Spencer Benton’s 61-yard field goal at the end of the first half.

Player of the Game: Sophomore linebacker Stephone Anthony came to Clemson as one of the top rated linebackers in the country in 2011 and he showed why he earned that high praise Saturday. Anthony recorded a team-high and career-high nine tackles. He also recorded his first interception when he sniffed out a pass over the middle by Ball St. quarterback Keith Wenning .

Stat of the Game: Benton’s 61-yard field goal on the last play of the first half to put the Tigers up 45-10 set a new Clemson and ACC record. The previous record was 57 yards by Obed Ariri.

Post written by Clemson Girl Sports Bloggess, Nikki Steele.

Clemson Sports: Game Prediction - Clemson vs. Ball State

CLEMSON- Last week was fun in the Georgia Dome, but there’s no place like home.

In 2011, the Clemson Tigers were a perfect 7-0 in the friendly confines of Death Valley before going on the road for five straight games dating back to the NC State game in early November.

As fans, we can’t wait to see the Tigers run down the hill, the Clemson band’s pregame performance and tailgate with 80,000 of our closest friends.

Quarterback Tajh Boyd said it best this week when he said that Death Valley is the Tigers’ haven and Clemson must win at home.

"This is home for us,” Boyd said Tuesday. “This is our haven. You are not going to come into somebody's house, take the remote and start flipping through the channels. So for us, it is just you have to win at home. You have to win at home. You have to take advantage of the situations. We don't want anyone to disrespect us at our house."

The Tigers will open up play in Memorial Stadium against Ball State, which beat Eastern Michigan 37-26 in the season opener last week.

So, in the words of Clemson announcer Dale Gilbert, “It’s game time in Death Valley!”

BALL STATE AT NO. 12 CLEMSON

WHY BALL STATE MIGHT WIN

Ball State head coach Pete Lembo runs a spread offense that orchestrates long, grueling drives and takes large chunks of time off the clock. Quarterback Keith Wenning is battle-tested and has played in some of the toughest environments in college football- starting at Oklahoma a year ago. Wenning was 26-for-41 for 267 yards last week. The Cardinals have a home-run threat in running back Jahwan Edwards, who rushed for 200 yards and three touchdowns against Eastern Michigan. The good news for Ball St. is that their strengths of spreading the ball around and having a mobile quarterback play to the weaknesses of Clemson’s defense. The linebackers and defensive line will have to make more plays this week and tackle better if they hope to contain the explosive Cardinal offense. Against Auburn, there were too many missed tackles that allowed the running back to get to the second level forcing the Clemson secondary to save the day.

WHY CLEMSON MIGHT WIN

Ball St. hasn’t faced an offense that has as much speed as Clemson and probably won’t face another one. Andre Ellington proved last week that when he is healthy he is as dangerous as any running back in the country. Just ask Auburn - he torched that SEC defense for a career-high 228 yards.Boyd had- in my opinion- one of the best games of his young career. He showed the growth that he has made over the course of a year by using his legs to keep plays alive and checking down to receivers when the big play wasn’t open. At the receiver spot, not many people have a Nuk Hopkins, a Martavis Bryant and a Charone Peake that can line up at one time. Ball St. will try to use the same defensive scheme that Auburn did to avoid the big play, but it is unlikely that they have the speed to keep up with all of Clemson’s talent at the skill positions.

THREE KEY CLEMSON IMPROVEMENTS

Tajh’s Helmet: The NCAA implemented a new helmet rule for this season- if a player’s helmet comes off-unless as a result of a penalty- that player must sit out the next play. Clemson became very familiar with new rule when Boyd’s helmet came off –or was ripped off- three times forcing backup quarterback Cole Stoudt into the game. The Clemson equipment staff changed the type of helmet Boyd will be wearing, so hopefully that will alleviate his helmet issues from the Auburn game.

Penalties: The Clemson offense was called for seven penalties in the game, which is a record under offensive coordinator Chad Morris. The offense was flagged for two illegal shift penalties that negated big plays, and numerous false starts. The good news, however, is after being called for six penalties in the first half the offense settled down and wasn’t penalized again until late in the fourth quarter. The penalties have to be kept to a minimum to keep drives from stalling and to help the offense take advantage of scoring opportunities.

Dropped Passes: The Clemson tight ends dropped three passes and allowed an Auburn defender to take the ball away for an interception. The Clemson offense definitely missed former tight end Dwayne Allen, who is now playing in the NFL for the Indianapolis Colts. Morris said after the Auburn game that the only way to fix the dropped passes was to keep throwing to the tight ends, so expect a large dose of passes to the tight ends this weekend against Ball St.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN

Ball St. racked up over 500 yards of offense in the opening week, and I expect them to move the ball against Clemson- but just like last week the Tiger defense will hold in crunch time and prevent the Cardinals from scoring a ton of points. On offense, Clemson has proven that they can be slow out of the gate, but they will pull away in the third quarter to allow some of the younger guys to gain some much-needed game experience. And, if the game comes down to special teams, my bet is on Tiger placekicker Chandler Catanzaro who has been money hitting all four of his attempts last week.

FINAL SCORE - CLEMSON 48, BALL ST. 21

Post written by Clemson Girl's Sports Bloggess, Nikki Steele.