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Clemson Football vs. App State: Who has the Advantage?

By Shawn Spencer

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The Clemson Football program will play the App State Mountaineers for the first time Saturday. Let’s see who has the advantage at each aspect of the game.

The Clemson football will face a strong test this weekend. No, the Tigers are not on upset alert, but it will be interesting to see how Clemson responds to the level of athletes Appalachian State brings to the table. The Mountaineers are light years better than Wofford and they do a lot of different things. Clemson will be tested stronger on both sides of the ball, but let’s see who has the advantage with the Clemson Tigers and Appalachian State Mountaineers on each side of the ball.

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When Clemson has the ball:

When Clemson has the ball, we can expect to see the same that we saw last week. The Tigers will show a very basic playbook and won’t show much of their offense. I think the Tigers will take a couple of shots downfield as opposed to what they did last week, but this game will be all about getting the offensive line and the young guys ready for Louisville.

Appalachian State has a much better defense than Wofford and they held Howard scoreless in their opener last week. The Mountaineers will present a challenge, but names like Deshaun Watson, Wayne Gallman, and Artavis Scott will be far too much for the team out of the Sun Belt.

Advantage: Clemson

When App State has the ball:

Appalachian State will be a whole different monster on the offensive side of the ball than that of Wofford. The Mountaineers, as you will see in our film study later this evening, love to air the ball out and spread the field. Their running game is predicated on the passing game and quarterback Taylor Lamb is the perfect balance of passing and running. The Mountaineers will also have a few tricks up their sleeves this week as they attempt to pull off the upset.

Clemson’s secondary will be challenged and I’m interested to see how they and the defensive line respond to the passing game. I want to see the Tiger defensive line in the backfield all game long and the secondary play their assignments perfectly. Overall, however, Clemson just has too many athletes. The depth will start to kick in in the second half and the Tigers will hold the advantage.

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Advantage: Clemson

Special Teams:

Clemson’s special teams have a lot to prove this week. Hopefully, we can see a couple of solid punt returns and let kicker Greg Huegel hit a few field goals. The Tigers have the advantage, but I want to see questions answered and the Tigers put Clemson football fans’ minds at ease before the Louisville Thursday night tilt.

Advantage: Slight to Clemson

Coaching:

Head Coach Scott Satterfield certainly knows the game and will have his troops ready to go into Death Valley. Sattersfield has seen and experienced all the success Appalachian State has had at the FCS level over the past few years and in the FBS and he is a great coach. Unfortunately for him, the Clemson coaching staff is just a bit better. All respect to the Mountaineer staff, but I trust Clemson’s coaching staff.

Advantage: Clemson

The Tigers have an advantage at every aspect of the game. It will be interesting to see how the defense responds to the spread attack, but they should have plenty of practice against it as they have gone up against it the entire fall camp. We will see what happens, but I like Clemson’s chances to cover the spread and head into Louisville ready to go.

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