Clemson will return to Memorial Stadium on Saturday for its home opener against Furman. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. The game will be televised by the ACC Network.
Clemson’s defense vs. Furman’s offense: Furman put up 52 points in a rout of North Greenville last week, but this isn’t North Greenville.
Clemson’s defense, led by its formidable defensive front, figures to make life difficult for lots of offenses this season. Georgia Tech got a taste earlier this week as the Yellow Jackets mustered less than 250 total yards and less than 4 yards per play against the Tigers.
Furman racked up more than 500 yards last week, including 323 on the ground. But Clemson’s strength, speed and athleticism at each level of its defense is unlike anything the Paladins will see the rest of the season. It’s hard to envision much room for Furman’s running backs to operate or much time for either quarterback – Jace Wilson or Tyler Huff, who each played last week – to survey the field on dropbacks. Advantage: Clemson
Clemson’s offense vs. Furman’s defense: The offense took a while to get going against Georgia Tech. And with just two plays of more than 20 yards, there still wasn’t much explosion in the Tigers’ attack to speak of.
But quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei flashed improved accuracy with many of his throws despite not getting much help from the running game (3 yards per carry) or his receivers, who had multiple drops. With an overwhelming physical advantage in this matchup, the Tigers should be able to overwhelm the Paladins with their team speed and overall talent as long as they’re crisp with their execution.
Perhaps the biggest area of concern for Clemson’s offense coming off the performance earlier this week is the lack of push from the offensive line, which contributed to the running game’s struggles. The bad news for Furman is the Paladins lost some of its most productive defensive linemen off last year’s team (Parker Stokes and Elijah McKoy). Cameron Coleman, a 300-pounder, is a solid nose guard, though. Advantage: Clemson
Special teams: Clemson has an all-conference caliber kicker in B.T. Potter, and Aidan Swanson’s debut as the Tigers’ starting punter was a rousing success. The Tigers’ primary kick returners, Will Taylor and Will Shipley, are also back in the fold. Oh, and Clemson is also coming off two blocked punts, the first time they’ve done that in a game since 2007.
As for Furman, the Paladins missed one of their two field-goal attempts in their opener and are replacing punter Timmy Bleekrode, who transferred to Nebraska. Ryan Leavy did average 47 yards per punt last week, though. Advantage: Clemson
Bottom line: Furman is a proud FCS program that comes in with a lot of confidence fresh off a blowout win and will play hard despite being physically outmatched. But if this is still a competitive game after the first two and a half quarters, something went terribly wrong for Clemson.
Prediction: Clemson 41, Furman 6
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