Tag: ACC Network

Clemson tops former Tiger’s ranking of the ACC’s best defenses

This former Clemson standout is bullish on the Tigers’ defense heading into the 2022 season. Former Clemson and All-ACC offensive lineman Eric Mac Lain, now an analyst for the ACC Network, co-hosted Packer and Durham with Mark Packer on ACCN on …

This former Clemson standout is bullish on the Tigers’ defense heading into the 2022 season.

Former Clemson and All-ACC offensive lineman Eric Mac Lain, now an analyst for the ACC Network, co-hosted Packer and Durham with Mark Packer on ACCN on Tuesday and gave his ranking of the ACC’s best defenses.

Clemson’s defense, anchored by a loaded defensive line and led by new defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Wes Goodwin, tops Mac Lain’s list.

“Number one, until proven otherwise, is gonna be Clemson,” Mac Lain said.

“This is going to be the best defensive line in the country. The Avengers, not the Power Rangers, because there’s a million of them on the defensive line. You and I have spoke a million times – this linebacking corps is going to be better. They’re faster, they’re more athletic, they’re more aggressive. And then the secondary is going to be some young bucks that we don’t quite know just yet nationally, but we will, and they have some ballhawks, they have some playmakers. And Wes Goodwin, he’s a mad scientist. He was drawing stuff up in the spring game… So, he’s going to dial it up. He’s going to have unbelievable things, and I just think Clemson’s the standard.”

Last season under then-defensive coordinator and current Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables, Clemson’s defense led the ACC in points per game allowed (14.8) and yards per game allowed (305.5) while ranking second in the conference behind defending ACC champion Pittsburgh in sacks (42.0), third in turnovers gained (20) and fourth in tackles for loss (92.0).

Behind Clemson in Mac Lain’s ranking of the ACC’s best defenses is NC State at No. 2, followed by Pittsburgh at No. 3, Miami at No. 4 and Boston College at No. 5.

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Packer calls out ‘some of those idiots’ pushing Clemson narrative

Mark Packer didn’t hold back this week on Packer and Durham on ACC Network when talking about the people that were “trashing” Clemson following its 10-3 loss to eventual national champion Georgia in the two teams’ season-opener at Bank of America …

Mark Packer didn’t hold back this week on Packer and Durham on ACC Network when talking about the people that were “trashing” Clemson following its 10-3 loss to eventual national champion Georgia in the two teams’ season-opener at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte on Sept. 4, 2021.

“Let’s be completely transparent. There were people trashing Clemson after Week 1 because they had a bias,” Packer said. “They had a narrative that they wanted to sell, and it had nothing to do with the Atlantic Coast Conference. Let’s be completely honest.”

Clemson (10-3, 6-2 ACC) rebounded from a 2-2 start in the month of September and finished the season on a six-game winning streak to record at least 10 wins for a school-record 11th consecutive season.

Clemson became only the third program in history to post 11 consecutive 10-win seasons, joining Florida State (14 from 1987-2000) and Alabama (14 from 2008-21). Clemson is the first school to win 10 games in 11 straight seasons as a member of the ACC, as only the final nine of Florida State’s 14 straight 10-win seasons came during the Seminoles’ tenure in the ACC.

With a 20-13 victory over Iowa State in the Cheez-It Bowl to conclude the 2021 campaign, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney earned his 150th career win in his 14th season (including an interim stint in 2008) to move past Barry Switzer (149) for sole possession of the third-most wins through the first 15 seasons of a coaching career in FBS history, while Swinney also joined Urban Meyer (165) and Bob Stoops (160) as the only coaches in FBS history to win 150 games in the first 15 seasons of a head coaching career.

Under Swinney, the Tigers have won seven ACC Championships, made the College Football Playoff six times in the eight years of the playoff’s existence and captured national titles in 2016 and 2018.

Despite all of the accomplishments, some still have an agenda against Swinney and Clemson, and Packer called out the people that like to bash Swinney and the program he has built out of “spite.”

“And you know what, some of those idiots are still beating that same drum, and it’s laughable,” Packer said. “Dabo Swinney has built a power. That’s what it is. You don’t have to love them. You don’t have to have the pom-poms out for them. But some of the trash comments that are made are done out of spite, and being really quite frankly, stupid.”

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Big news from Mr. Clemson

Mr. Clemson had a huge announcement Saturday. Former Tiger and current ACC Network analyst Eric Mac Lain took to Twitter to share the news that he and his wife Kaki will be having a daughter. Mac Lain is very fired up to be a girl dad as you can …

Mr. Clemson had a huge announcement Saturday.

Former Tiger and current ACC Network analyst Eric Mac Lain took to Twitter to share the news that he and his wife Kaki will be having a daughter.  Mac Lain is very fired up to be a girl dad as you can see.

Mac Lain already made it very clear where his daughter will be attending college.  Where else would the daughter of Mr. Clemson go?

We want to send our congratulations to Eric and Kaki.

ACC analyst gives his take on ‘the intriguing question’ in Death Valley

On Packer and Durham on ACC Network this week, Mark Packer and Wes Durham weighed in on the quarterback battles they’re most intrigued to see play out in the conference this year. For Packer, it’s Clemson’s quarterback competition between rising …

On Packer and Durham on ACC Network this week, Mark Packer and Wes Durham weighed in on the quarterback battles they’re most intrigued to see play out in the conference this year.

For Packer, it’s Clemson’s quarterback competition between rising junior D.J. Uiagalelei and freshman Cade Klubnik.

“It’s your highest-profile team with the highest-profile position, and it needs to be right,” Packer said. “Because their defense is national-championship good. The question is, can offensively they be more than adequate? So, to me, the intriguing question is in Death Valley.”

Durham asked Packer what he learned last Saturday during Clemson’s Orange & White Spring Game — a defensive display that saw the two sides total nine sacks in the first half alone.

“Nothing,” Packer said in response to Durham’s question. “I learned that the defense is going to be maybe as good as we’re ever going to see out of this group. I think their linebacker corps is already improved, even though that’s a position that they lost (personnel) from a year ago. They have got size and speed and ferocity at linebacker. I think this defense is going to be filthy good.”

As extraordinary as he expects Clemson’s defense to be in 2022, Packer says the Tigers have to get more production from the quarterback position and that their offense must be better than it was a year ago — when they ranked ninth in the ACC in points per game (26.3) and second-to-last in the conference in total yards per game (359.2) — if they hope to return to the College Football Playoff again after seeing their streak of six straight CFP appearances come to an end last season.

“But their question is, offensively. You can’t be inept,” Packer said. “And if their quarterback play gets answered in some shape or way or form — D.J. takes it up a notch, Cade pushes him, takes over the job — I don’t know how that’s going to play out. But that’s got to happen for Clemson to get back to their standard of hey, College Football Playoff, let’s go.”

In the spring game, Uiagalelei went 17-of-36 passing for 175 yards and threw an interception, while Klubnik completed 15-of-23 passes for 106 yards and a touchdown.

Head coach Dabo Swinney said Uiagalelei is “definitely” the Tigers’ starter coming out of the spring, but there is still uncertainty surrounding Clemson’s QB situation heading into the summer, fall camp and the 2022 season.

“The beautiful thing about football is it’s not just a guy,” Packer said. “It’s a true team effort. But that quarterback answer has to be figured out by Dabo.”

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How to watch the Clemson Spring Game, live stream, TV channel, Clemson Football

We will get our first look at the 2022 Clemson Tigers on Saturday when they take the field for the annual Clemson Spring Game.

We will get our first look at the 2022 Clemson Tigers on Saturday when they take the field for the annual Clemson Spring Game.

The Tigers are coming off a 10-3 season and will be looking to improve that this season as that was actually an off-season for Dabo Swinney and company.

This will be a great day of Clemson football, here is everything you need to know to watch and stream the action this weekend.

Clemson Spring Game

  • When: Saturday, April 8
  • Time: 1:00 p.m. ET
  • TV Channel: ACC Network
  • Live Stream: fuboTV (stream now)

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ACC analyst discusses biggest question marks for Clemson

An ACC analyst recently discussed what he sees as the biggest question marks for Clemson – not necessarily problems, but rather simply areas of uncertainty – heading into the 2022 season. Former Clemson and All-ACC offensive lineman Eric Mac Lain, …

An ACC analyst recently discussed what he sees as the biggest question marks for Clemson — not necessarily problems, but rather simply areas of uncertainty — heading into the 2022 season.

Former Clemson and All-ACC offensive lineman Eric Mac Lain, now an analyst for ACC Network, mentioned the quarterback position first — as you might expect — as the biggest question mark for the Tigers right now.

Of course, rising junior D.J. Uiagalelei was inconsistent in his first full season as Clemson’s starting signal-caller in 2021, completing just 55.6 percent of his passes and throwing more interceptions (10) than touchdown passes (9).

While first-year offensive coordinator Brandon Streeter made it clear last week that the job is still D.J. Uiagalelei’s to lose, five-star signee Cade Klubnik has certainly added competition at QB this spring.

“I think there’s no doubt, quarterback,” Mac Lain said on ACCN recently when asked about the Tigers’ biggest question marks going into the 2022 campaign.

“When you have the expectations that you do from a program like Clemson, there is a very, very high expectation at that position, and D.J. will be the first to tell you they did not meet that standard last year. Now, it wasn’t all on him. It was not all his fault. His wide receivers dropped a ton of passes, offensive line not giving him time that he needed. But to see that development, to see that next step is going to be extremely important.”

Mac Lain, who played at Clemson from 2011-15, when the Tigers captured two conference championships and made a national championship appearance, also cited the offensive line as another big question mark for the team.

“I will always, always say that because of the position that I played, having the relationship with the players, the coaches that I do,” Mac Lain said. “So, that’s something that certainly Clemson is going to have to focus in on and continue to get better, the offensive line position.”

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A ‘bittersweet’ day for Swinney

When Clemson held its Pro Day on Thursday in the Poe Indoor Facility, it marked the final time that Dabo Swinney was able to see some of his players work out there. It was a “bittersweet” day for Clemson’s head coach as he watched guys from his …

When Clemson held its Pro Day on Thursday in the Poe Indoor Facility, it marked the final time that Dabo Swinney was able to see some of his players work out there.

It was a “bittersweet” day for Clemson’s head coach as he watched guys from his senior class like James Skalski, Nolan Turner, Darien Rencher and Will Spiers, all of whom joined the program in 2016 and were a part of teams that won two national championships, appeared in five College Football Playoffs and earned five ACC Championship rings.

“It’s bittersweet a little bit, because you know this is the last time you’re going to see them really compete in here,” Swinney said in an interview with former Clemson offensive lineman Eric Mac Lain during ACC Network’s coverage of Clemson’s Pro Day. “But you also know they’re prepared. This is a great group of men that are going to be awesome in life without football, and they know that. They all know that, so this frees them up to just go play, go compete. This is a game with a very short shelf life.

“So, I’m just proud of them – who they are as men, how they’ve transformed their lives over their PAW Journey, as we like to say, and know that they’re all finishers, they’ll do their best today, and I think a lot of these guys are going to have a chance to make it. But we’ve had a hundred percent job placement the last four years. So, they’re either going to work in the NFL or somewhere else, and wherever they go, they’re going to be ready.”

You can watch Swinney talk about the Tigers’ senior class and more during his interview with Mac Lain on ACCN below:

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Analysts discuss Clemson’s QB situation, one says he’s ‘still a believer’ in Uiagalelei

During The Huddle: 2022 Football Schedule Reveal on ACC Network this week, when talking about Clemson, ACCN analysts Eric Mac Lain, E.J. Manuel and Mark Richt discussed the Tigers’ quarterback situation and the looming competition between rising …

During The Huddle: 2022 Football Schedule Reveal on ACC Network this week, when talking about Clemson, ACCN analysts Eric Mac Lain, E.J. Manuel and Mark Richt discussed the Tigers’ quarterback situation and the looming competition between rising junior D.J. Uiagalelei and five-star freshman Cade Klubnik that all eyes will be on this spring.

Manuel voiced confidence in Uiagalelei, despite the former five-star prospect’s struggles as Clemson’s starting signal-caller last season.

After throwing for a total of 781 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions while completing 69.4 percent of his passes across two starts against Boston College and Notre Dame as a true freshman in 2020, Uiagalelei had a 55.6 completion percentage, 2,246 passing yards and nine touchdown passes with 10 interceptions in 13 starts last season.

“I’m still a believer that D.J. can get himself out of that whole,” Manuel said. “He has all the tools. You can’t play that well, going back to the 2020 season against Notre Dame, against BC, and then not get back to that. So, I still believe that he can do it.”

Uiagalelei will be pushed this spring by Klubnik, a five-star prospect from Westlake High School in Austin, Texas, who enrolled at Clemson in January ranked as the top quarterback in the 2022 recruiting class by Sports Illustrated, PrepStar, Rivals and the 247Sports Composite rankings.

Klubnik, who earned Gatorade Player of the Year honors in Texas for 2021 and was named the All-American Bowl’s National High School Player of the Year, comes to Clemson with no shortage of accolades and hype.

But Richt expressed caution about Klubnik going into his freshman season, considering the struggles he witnessed from Matthew Stafford as a freshman at Georgia in 2006 when Richt was the head coach there.

That season, Stafford — who went on to be drafted 1st overall by the Detroit Lions in the 2009 NFL Draft — completed 52.7 percent of his passes for 1,749 yards and seven touchdowns with 13 picks.

“The thing about Cade – true freshman, right – it’s hard to be great as a true freshman,” Richt said. “I mean, Matthew Stafford, first pick of the draft, he struggled his freshman year. He did some great things, he did some not-so-great things. So, it’s hard to be a consistent winner when your quarterback is not consistent.”

Regardless of who takes the field as Clemson’s starting quarterback next season, Mac Lain acknowledged that the Tigers (10-3, 6-2 ACC in 2021) need more production at the position in order for Dabo Swinney’s program to return to the standard it is accustomed to after seeing its streak of six straight ACC titles and six consecutive College Football Playoff appearances come to an end last season.

“I think everyone can sit here and say that the quarterback position is going to have to be better. That’s not a knock, it’s not being rude, it just is what it is,” Mac Lain said. “And when you have the most important position on the field not meeting the level of expectation that has been set by others, you see a ‘down’ year. 10 wins, 11 straight seasons there.

“So, for Clemson to be able to get back to where they expect to be, where they want to be, where the fans want to be, something is going to have to happen at the quarterback position – whether it’s D.J. Uiagalalei increasing his play to the flashes that we saw in 2020, or is it a change? Is someone else going to make the most of their opportunity and be able to get Clemson back to where they need to be?”

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Packer on ‘million-dollar question’ at Clemson, stretch of games that will determine its 2022 season

On the Packer and Durham show this week on ACC Network, Mark Packer and Wes Durham weighed in on Clemson’s 2022 schedule, which was released Monday. Durham pointed to the conclusion of Clemson’s 2022 campaign – the three consecutive home games …

On the Packer and Durham show this week on ACC Network, Mark Packer and Wes Durham weighed in on Clemson’s 2022 schedule, which was released Monday.

Durham pointed to the conclusion of Clemson’s 2022 campaign — the three consecutive home games against Louisville, Miami and South Carolina to end the regular season — as what jumps out to him about the Tigers’ 2022 slate.

It will represent Clemson’s first time ending a regular season with three consecutive home games since 2012, when the Tigers hosted Maryland, NC State and South Carolina to end the regular season.

“The thing that pops off the page about Clemson’s schedule is the three home games in a row to finish at the end,” Durham said. “It’s been a while, Pack, since that’s happened.”

Packer, though, has a different perspective about Clemson’s schedule next season. He is circling the stretch of four straight games at Wake Forest (Sept. 24), vs. NC State (Oct. 1), at Boston College (Oct. 8) and at Florida State (Oct. 15).

Packer believes Clemson must figure out its quarterback situation with rising junior D.J. Uiagalelei and five-star freshman Cade Klubnik prior to that stretch of games, which he thinks will go a long way toward determining what type of season the Tigers have.

“It doesn’t pop at me, Wes. You’ve got a different view than I do,” he said. “I think this. To me — I could be a thousand-percent wrong — the million-dollar question at Clemson is what happens at quarterback, right. D.J. Uiagalelei, does he improve? Does the Klubnik kid come in from Texas and just steal the thunder? I don’t know how that’s going to play out.

“Clemson better figure out the quarterback answer, though, early, because I think the stretch of four consecutive at Wake, the showdown with NC State, at BC, at Florida State — that’s four consecutive weeks, three on the road, and it’s early — to me, determines what the Tigers are all about.”

Packer added that the Tigers will “be a problem” at Death Valley if they’re undefeated at home heading into the month of November with those three straight home games to end the season.

“They get through the middle of that schedule, and if they’re still rocking and rolling, I think they take their chances at Notre Dame and they welcome everybody to Death Valley,” he said. “I mean, listen — if we get to November and the Tigers still haven’t been beaten at home and they cruise away and find a way through the mines there, they’ll be a problem in November in Death Valley.”

Durham pointed out that next season will mark the first time since 2006, and just the second time since 1996, that the Tigers will have only one road game after Oct. 15 — the date at Notre Dame on Nov. 5.

Clemson enters the 2022 season with a 34-game win streak at home — a school record for both the longest home winning streak and longest home unbeaten streak in school history (as well as the nation’s longest active home winning streak).

“How many in a row have they won at home? 300 in a row?” Packer quipped. “Good luck with that.”

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‘There’s gonna be a Tiger being a Super Bowl champ once again’: Swinney talks Tigers in Super Bowl

No matter what happens in Super Bowl LVI on Sunday, Feb. 13 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., at least one former Clemson football player will walk away from the big game as a Super Bowl champion. If the Cincinnati Bengals emerge victorious, …

No matter what happens in Super Bowl LVI on Sunday, Feb. 13 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., at least one former Clemson football player will walk away from the big game as a Super Bowl champion.

If the Cincinnati Bengals emerge victorious, then rookie offensive lineman Jackson Carman, second-year NFL wide receiver Tee Higgins and sixth-year pro defensive tackle D.J. Reader will all get rings.

And if the Los Angeles Rams come away with the win, then offensive lineman Tremayne Anchrum Jr. will end his second NFL season as a Super Bowl champ.

Clemson leads the ACC with four players on Super Bowl rosters, and head coach Dabo Swinney talked about those players Tuesday during a guest appearance on the Packer and Durham show on ACC Network.

“I’ll say this – Jackson Carman, I’m really proud of that young man,” Swinney said. “But Jackson Carman, his freshman year here in 2018, he won a national championship. And Tee Higgins’ second year here in 2018, he won a national championship. So, it’s the second year for Tee in the NFL and the first year, rookie year, for Jackson.

“But man, Jackson’s going to be a great player. Heck of an offensive lineman. He was a second-round pick, came out early. He’s started some for them, and it’s good to see him having some success and making an impact.

“And then you see what D.J. Reader’s done. D.J. Reader’s last year here was 2014. He was on our No. 1 defense in the country that year. What a career he’s had. He’s a great leader. I texted with his mom, Felicia, the other day. I’m really happy for him, just his career. And then same thing with my man Tee. I talked to his mom, Lady, the other day and she’s excited, going to the Super Bowl. But Tee Higgins, a couple huge plays down the stretch there (in the AFC Championship Game vs. Chiefs). And then you’ve got Tremayne Anchrum, he’s the lone guy with the Rams.

“So, no matter how the game goes, there’s gonna be a Tiger being a Super Bowl champ once again. That’s pretty cool for our program.”

–Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images 

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