We are now up to Week 7 of the upcoming Boston College 2013 football season. In Week 1 we took a look at Villanova football, a look at the history of the series, an indepth look at QB John Robertson and an interview with 'Nova Blog VUHoops.com. In May we dived into the difficult challenge of covering Michael Campanaro, and how BC can get on the right foot again against their #rivals. Earlier this month ago we looked at USC, last week we looked at Boston College Atlantic Division nemesis, the Florida State Seminoles. We checked in on Army, and now we are off to Death Valley and Boston College's matchup against the Tigers.
Last season, BC actually stuck with Clemson, this was all before everything went to hell in a handbasket. Even though it was a relatively close game, the 2012 mtachup with the Tigers had all the trademarks of a Frank Spaziani loss. The defense looked completely lost, late turnovers by his offense, and an opponents star player that put up absurd numbers.
Boston College started off the game strong, leading 7-0 after a rushing touchdown by Andre Williams. This was followed though by a thorough evisceration by the Clemson offense who scored on 5 of the next 7 drives. But BC stuck with them, when Chase Rettig hit two touchdown passes in consecutive drives to
Alex Amidon and Johnathan Coleman. But in the end it was
DeAndre Hopkins who ended BC. Nuke ended the game with a career high 197 yards, on 11 catches and a touchdown.
This year, thankfully Hopkins is gone. But Boston College will have another weapon to worry about, junior WR
Sammy Watkins. The future lottery pick again presents BC with a gigantic challenge, and could be the top WR the Eagles face this season (the other being
Marqise Lee).
Andre Ellington has graduated, meaning Dabo is going to have to find someone else to replace his production. The loss of center
Dalton Freeman is also a big loss for the Tigers.
Tajh Boyd will return as well, fresh off a thrilling win in the Chik-Fil-A Bowl against LSU last year. Boyd is a quintessential dual threat quarterback who can burn defenses both with his legs (ran for over 500 yards last year), and his rocket of an arm. it's scary to think what Boyd could do against a defense that is rebuilding and learning a whole new scheme. Boyd is a Heisman caliber talent, who put up 46 total touchdowns in his junior season.
On the defensive side of the ball next year, Clemson was schizophrenic with results that varied wildly from game to game in Brent Venables first year as DC. Against FSU they got absolutely torched for over 600 yards of offense, yet on the other hand against LSU they only allowed 219 yards. BC had mixed luck against them last year, moving the ball well in the first half, but struggling in the second.
The defensive line will be returning two of the three Tigers sack leaders,
Vic Beasley and Josh Watson. The secondary has a lot of room left to grow as three regular contributors have graduated, but the Tigers should be helped out by the return of
Martin Jenkins, and a whole cast of talented recruits who all could easily become starters.
Boston College hasn't beaten Clemson in Death Valley since 2007, and this game proves to be one of the most daunting challenges for the Eagles in 2013. The Clemson fans are going to be crazy this year, with pride in the program running very high, especially after the vandalizing of iconic Clemson landmark Howard's Rock. Boston College will need to play a near perfect game to keep Clemson off the board, and improvements to the defense is a must if the Eagles stand any chance of leaving Death Valley with a win.
Things You Need To Know About Clemson:
Head Coach: Dabo Swinney 40-21
Leading Returning Passer: Tajh Boyd 287-427, 3896 yards, 36 touchdowns, 13 interceptions.
Leading Returning Rusher: Boyd, 514 rushing yards, 10 touchdowns
Leading Returning Receiver: Sammy Watkins 57 receptions, 708 yards, 3 TD's
Recent Success: Beat LSU in Chik-Fil-A Bowl in 2012
Famous Alumni: Brian Dawkins, C.J. Spiller, Levon Kirkland, Chester McGlockton, William Perry,
Clemson Twitter Accounts To Follow:
Clemson Athletics: CU_Athletics
Clemson Football: ClemsonFBall
Clemson SB Nation Blog: ShakinSouthland
Upcoming Schedule for Clemson Week:
Wednesday: Previewing Tajh Boyd
Thursday: Boston College's Key To Victory
Saturday: Boston College-Clemson Historical Recap
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