[Fredvic247]

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[Fredvic247]

The ACC Atlantic looks to be a two horse race with Florida State and Clemson battling it out for a spot in the ACC Championship Game.

Clemson returns ACC Player of the Year Tajh Boyd....while FSU counters with highly regarded recruit and redshirt freshman Jameis Winston.

Clemson:

Offense:

Returning Talent: Boyd is back off a 2012 season in which he threw for 3,896 yards and 36 touchdowns with just 13 interceptions.
Tigers will also return an abundance of talent at the receiving position: Sammy Watkins, entering his junior season looks to regain the swagger he had as a true freshman. Clemson also returns 4 of 5 along the offensive front.

Question mark: Running Game: Andre Ellington graduated and gone with him are back to back 1,000 yard seasons. While Ellington was effective, he could have been dominant....he couldn't get the carries in this offense as Chad Morris refused, at times to commit to the running game. Clemson needs to average about 120 yards on the ground to win ball games, they did break the 300 yard mark three times....and much of that was attributed to Ellington and Boyd. Ive never been a huge fan of power running your franchise quarterback, and that is what Clemson does a lot. Boyd was clemson's second leading rusher with 769 yards.

Roderick McDowell takes over for Ellington, and while he is a senior, he has not been battle tested. He has set behind some pretty good backs in CJ Spiller, Jamie Harper and Ellington. McDowell did show glimpses in 2012 as he rushed for 461 yards on 83 carries. Behind McDowell, DJ Howard and Zac Brooks will battle for the backup. Brooks was the high school player of the year 2 years ago in Arkansas. While Brooks has nice size at 6'1" and 180 pounds, he runs straight up and needs to learn more traits of a big time running back.

The wild card in the running game may be true freshman Tyshon Dye. Dye is from Georgia and could be the big pounding back Clemson has been looking for. He is a freshman and it will take time to pick up the scheme, especially blocking and blitz pickup.

[Fredvic247]

Clemson Offense Continued:

tight end could once again be a position of strength for the tigers....following in the footsteps of Michael Palmer, Dwayne Allen and Brandon Ford, Jordan Leggett, the freshman who enrolled in January went through spring practice. Leggett shined throughout the spring and made some nice plays in the spring game...I firmly expect Leggett to be in the mix for a starting position and make plenty of big plays during his freshman season.

Clemson is still strong at wide receiver despite the loss of DeAndre Hopkins....Sammy Watkins, now a junior moves to the 9 position played by Hopkins. Martavis Bryant, now a junior, has shown glimpses of being an elite player. Bryant is actually the Tigers fastest receiver and averaged 30.5 yards per catch in 2012. He then missed the Chick Fil A Bowl due to academics. He looks to have gotten it together during spring as he came in rejuvenated and has become one of the leaders on the clemson offense. Look for Bryant to be a house hold name by the end of the 2013 season. At 6'5" and 200 pounds, he is a nightmare to defend and will get single coverage with Watkins on the opposite side.

Moving into the slot will be redshirt freshman Germone Hopper. G Hop redshirted in 2012 but the staff had him ready to contribute as a true freshman. Hopper will get the ball in a variety of ways, similar to what offensive coordinator Chad Morris has done with Watkins over the last 2 years.

Adam Humphries and Charone Peake round out the receiving corp. Both have solid hands and are more of the possession type of player but definitely will be needed in this offense.

Offensive Line:

4 of 5 starters back on the offensive front....big loss though in center Dalton Freeman...

Coaches are really wanting sophomore Isaiah Battle to take the reigns at left tackle as that would allow senior Brandon Thomas to move back to the right side.

Offensive line was solid in 2012, but did have problems at times being able to fire off and run block...the game that comes to mind was Wake Forest, where the tigers only rushed for 101 yards which was their 2nd lowest total of the year, the lowest being 99 vs LSU.

Defense on deck....

[Fredvic247]

Defense:

Clemson brings back an abundance of talent on defense. But this was a defense in 2012 that gave up an average of 396 yards per game.

Defense does return 10 of top 14 tacklers....

Defensive tackle should be strength of defense: Nice rotation of pretty good players in Josh Watson, Grady Jarrett, DJ Reader, Carlos Watkins and Deshawn Williams.

Vic Beasley will move full time to the defensive end position....in 2012, he was more of a pass rush specialist and finished the year with 8 sacks. Opposite Beasley will by Corey Crawford, who had 6 tackles for loss and 6 qb hurries.

Linebacker should be a strength as well: Stephone Anthony, Spencer Shuey, Quandon Christian and Oklahoma transfer Kellen Jones should make for an improved run stopping force.

Kellen Jones could be a big name by midseason if he plays to form like most people around the program think he will. He sat out in 2012 after following Venables from Oklahoma. Jones dominated the clemson offense as he played mostly on scout team defense during the 2012 season.

The question mark once again will be the secondary. Gone are two starting safeties, but Travis Blanks will move from his nickel position and back to his natural position of free safety. Blanks was a freshman all american in 2012. Joining Blanks at safety will most likely be Robert Smith. Smith a junior, hasn't played a ton but should be an improvement over what played in front of him in 2012. The wild card at safety will be true freshman Jayron Kearse, the son of former Florida defensive end Javon Kearse. Kearse has a ton of upside. Tall fast and rangy and could be a ballhawk and get significant playing time in 2013.

The corner position returns two player who missed significant time in 2012: Bashaud Breeland and Darius Robinson both return from extended time due to injuries. Breeland was Clemson's best cover guy before he was hurt.

Clemson took 8 db's in the 2013 recruiting class with 5* Mackensie Alexander being the best of the bunch. Alexander should come in and compete immediately for playing time. I really think by game 2 or 3, you could see two true freshman starting in the Clemson secondary.

[WorkHorse]

Good stuff Fred.

I look for Georgia to go after Clemson's secondary early and often. Defending the run (Gurley) and
getting a pass rush on Murray will be crucial for the Tigers.

May just be the most entertaining game opening week.

[carolinacapper]

Nice Fred- curious if you have any thoughts on Morgan Roberts ( Soph QB) ? I'm from Charlotte and saw him play in HS- kinda surprised he got an offer from the Tigers. Also, my opinion is Hopper could turn out to be a good player- Thanks!

[Fredvic247]

Good stuff Fred.

I look for Georgia to go after Clemson's secondary early and often. Defending the run (Gurley) and
getting a pass rush on Murray will be crucial for the Tigers.

May just be the most entertaining game opening week.

It should be an outstanding game Workhorse...IM really excited about it

tigers will have to get pressure, if you let Murray stand and progress, they could be in trouble.

Murray works so well off playaction...so stopping or trying to contain Gurley will be a huge key.

[Fredvic247]

Nice Fred- curious if you have any thoughts on Morgan Roberts ( Soph QB) ? I'm from Charlotte and saw him play in HS- kinda surprised he got an offer from the Tigers. Also, my opinion is Hopper could turn out to be a good player- Thanks!

Roberts was injured in spring of 2012 and could never get on the field, he ended up transferring to Yale in January...

[Killer_Demo]

Shout out Fredvic and Workhouse putting out in-depth NCAAF material for this season. So ready for the season

[Fredvic247]

Florida State:


They return an abundance of talent.....
- First and foremost, FSU lost just 2 games in 2012. Versus NC State, FSU led 16-0 at the half. They dominated the Wolfpack to the tune of 221-68 yard advantage. In the 2nd half, it was like they turned the offense off. NC State converted three straight 4th downs on their final drive and ended up winning 17-16.
- Versus Fla, they were in total control in the 4th qtr, up 20-13. EJ Manuel got hit and fumbled. Very next play Fla ripped off a long td run, ole mo had swung and FSU was done.
- As far as FSU's offense in 2013, yes Winston will be a redshirt freshman. But, redshirt freshman quarterbacks, who have sat for a year have had great runs of late. Johnny Manziel, Marcus Mariota, Bret Hundley just to name Now, some can say Winston is not Manziel, well he probably isn't but the fact is, we just don't know. We didn't know how good Manziel was before he took the field.
- I will say this, Ive watched Jimbo Fisher over his career and developing a quarterback, in my opinion, has not been his strong suite. I have also talked about the fact, that Jimbo calls plays, which takes away from his being able to prepare a football team. While I love Jimbo Fisher as a person, Im not a huge fan of his as a head coach.
- FSU does return 4 of 5 starting offensive linemen.
- They return 2 of their top 3 rushers, 5 of their top 6 receivers, and 8 of their top 12 tacklers.....Not to mention, guys that were rated as top prospects coming out of high school, such as Mario Edwards and Ronald Darby have yet to really explode on the scene.
- Christian Jones and Lamarcus Joyner, two returning starters on defense are as good a linebacker/DB combo as there is in the country.
- FSU's schedule is very manageable....Road trips to Clemson and Florida are worth getting up for but everything else is laughable....
- FSU could very well run the table in 2013....their season is basically three games: Clemson, Miami, Fla
- A big factor in 2012's two losses were turnovers: They fumbled 24 times and were ranked 110th in the country with 17 lost fumbles. They also finished 106th in penalty yards and 85th in penalty yards per game. Both big factors linked to an ineffective offense at times.

[Fredvic247]

Maryland:

Offense -

- Year three of the Randy Edsall experiment starts in College Park
- CJ Brown returns from injury and should be an immediate upgrade at quarterback
- Terps do have one of the most exciting young players in the country in sophomore all purpose player Stefon Diggs
Diggs played in 11 games, starting 8 as a true freshman. A real do it all type of player: 848 yds receiving, 114 rush, 221 punt return and 713 on kickoff returns
- 3 of 5 starters return on the O line
- Lookout for junior college transfer Deon Long who played for Off Coord Mike Locksley at New Mexico....Long led all junior college receivers with 100 receptions for 1625 yards with 25 tds

Defense shortly.....

[BigdaddyQH]

FSU has not defeated Clemson in Clemson since 2001. They lose their QB and their entire defensive front line. That is too much to make up. FSU will have a successful season, but that is more because of the schedule than anything else. I see two losses. ATS, there will be a lot more than two losses.

[Fredvic247]

FSU has not defeated Clemson in Clemson since 2001. They lose their QB and their entire defensive front line. That is too much to make up. FSU will have a successful season, but that is more because of the schedule than anything else. I see two losses. ATS, there will be a lot more than two losses.

Agree somewhat Bigdaddy, but FSU is reloading. I think it all boils down to how Winston plays and progresses through the year.
I think the NOles defense will be just as good if not better than last year, even tho they lost a ton of great players.

FSU's schedule is not that difficult either, I think they lose 2 maybe 3 at worst.

[WorkHorse]

Strong point Fred - "how Winston plays and progresses through the year" will determine a lot about the Noles. My concern with Florida State is six of the assistant coaches will be new this year.

This is a talented team...lot's of talent and my view is the Seminoles are the class of the ACC and will win the conference. I know Jimbo from his days at Samford (B'ham, AL) when he was an assistant under Terry Bowden. He got a great opportunity under Nick Saban at LSU and has put lessons learned into practice...took a couple of years but FSU is a team to be reckoned with now. Let's see how they do this season. My bet is pretty damn good.

[Fredvic247]

Strong point Fred - "how Winston plays and progresses through the year" will determine a lot about the Noles. My concern with Florida State is six of the assistant coaches will be new this year.

This is a talented team...lot's of talent and my view is the Seminoles are the class of the ACC and will win the conference. I know Jimbo from his days at Samford (B'ham, AL) when he was an assistant under Terry Bowden. He got a great opportunity under Nick Saban at LSU and has put lessons learned into practice...took a couple of years but FSU is a team to be reckoned with now. Let's see how they do this season. My bet is pretty damn good.

FSU did lose some really good coaches, the best being Dameyune Craig because he can really recruit, but they did add Jeremy Pruitt and Sal Sunseri.....

remains to be seen how Pruitt will be as defensive coord, as I believe this is first crack at it.

I really think Jimbo needs a quality off coord, ive never been a fan of his playcalling.

I grew up in alabama as a kid so I remember Bowden and Fisher at Samford, then at Auburn for that 93 campaign.....he's definitely been around a while and made it up through the ranks.

[Fredvic247]

Maryland: Defense

- Only return 4 starters on defense
- Lost 2 quality defensive linemen in Joe Vellano and A.J. Francis
- Cole Farrand does return after a 2012 season in which he had 78 which tied him for the team lead
- 2 corners do return in what should be the strength of the defense
- this is a defense that gave up 27.1 ppg in 2012, if they could improve on that, they could win some games
- road trips at FSU, Wake, Va Tech and NC State could present problems
- a neutral site matchup vs West Virginia highlights the week four schedule

[Fredvic247]

North Carolina State -

- The Dave Doeren era opens in Raleigh as he comes over from Northern Illinois
- Wolfpack return 4 starters on offense and 4 on defense along with their kicker and punter
- Pete Thomas will be under center as he transfers over from Colorado State and sat out 2012
- NC State will be more uptempo in 2013 and this will be a change from the Tom O'Brien era in what was more of a pro style attack
- Thomas has big shoes to fill as Russell Wilson and Mike Glennon have been solid quarterbacks for the Wolfpack
- the offensive line could continue to be an issue as it has been in the O'Brien era...only two starters return from 2012
- There are playmakers at wide receiver: Bryan Underwood returns and will become a starter after he finished 2012 tied for second in the ACC with 10 touchdown receptions.

[chunk]

Just for some perspective with Maryland, that dismal QB situation last year put a lot of stress on their defense. In the right spot I think the Terps could have some value this year.

[Fredvic247]

Just for some perspective with Maryland, that dismal QB situation last year put a lot of stress on their defense. In the right spot I think the Terps could have some value this year.

Totally agree Chunk....at one point last year, they had a linebacker starting at quarterback....

CJ Brown returns will definitely put some stress on opposing defenses

[WorkHorse]

Randy Edsall hasn't been the second coming of Vince Lombardi during his first two years at Maryland. Of course when you lose 10 or 12 players to season ending injury like last year...good things don't normally happen.

Injuries killed any hope of a good offense last year but the defense was actually pretty decent overall. For 2013, other than Duke, this may be the weakest D in the conference. Edsall needs a huge improvement in the offense for any hope of turning this program around.

Maryland jumps to the Big Ten Conference next year...ouch!

[Huckleberry Pig]

any insight on VT?

[Fredvic247]

any insight on VT?

Slowly but surely we're gonna get there before kickoff....

I was going to go Atlantic then Coastal...

I'll go ahead and preview Va Tech tomorrow....

Thanks for reading

[DvdBonan]

thats so funny... i was just looking for some insight on vt as well when i saw this thread... good work tho... was originally leaning clemson to win acc but now i am starting to lean fsu as qb seems to be their only real question mark but the kid they have at qb looked good in spring

[Huckleberry Pig]

Slowly but surely we're gonna get there before kickoff....

I was going to go Atlantic then Coastal...

I'll go ahead and preview Va Tech tomorrow....

Thanks for reading

my bad fred! take your time man, didn't realize how you were doing it. Thanks again for updating the thread and providing all the insight!

[BigdaddyQH]

Maryland returns 7 starters on offense and 5 on defense. The offense will improve if they can stay away from the injury bug, but the defense is going tohave problems. If Maryland is to have any chance at a 6-6 season, they are going to have to win games against the likes of UConn, West Virginia, Virginia, Syracuse, Boston College, and N.C. State. Edsell's 3-13 Conference record is not going to cut it. He must improve or Maryland may be looking for a new HC come Big 10+4 time.

[Fredvic247]

Back after some days off from the forum, sorry guys.

I was at Clemson Tigers practice Friday and Saturday. They look pretty good, freshman wide receivers really impressed, look the part of big time athletes.

Some nice young talent on defense as well: Mackensie Alexander, Jayron Kearse really caught my eye.

Should be a great game in the opener vs UGA...I can't wait for it.

Not a game I'd bet, I think thats a game you sit and watch as a fan and for the love of the game, much better bets on the board and no need to get crazy in the opening weekend of games.

Gonna jump back on my notebook some this week, lets get to Virginia Tech since some have asked.....

[Fredvic247]

Virginia Tech:

The first thing I think of when someone says Virginia Tech is "Beamer Ball." What does Beamer Ball mean to me?

It means a physical downhill running game, a defense that flies around and attacks, and special teams that make game changing plays.

On defense, seven of top 10 tacklets return including nine starters....all four starters in the secondary return.

This has the ability to be one of the top defenses in the country, but I say that with caution, because it was supposed to be that good in 2012.

And honestly, the defense was pretty good in 2012....They only gave up 22.9 ppg and 333 ypg, which was good enough for 18th in the country.

The problem with Va Tech has consistently been their offense....this year they have a new offensive coordinator: Scott Loeffler

Loeffler comes to Blacksburg from Auburn where he looked really bad calling plays in 2012.

Not so sure it was all Loeffler, more going on behind the scenes than let on. He does have a great resume and should help this Virginia Tech offense.

More coming in a few......