Tale of the tape
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Tale Of The Tape: #14 Clemson At Auburn
| Dabo Swinney is now in his fifth season and looking to take Clemson to the next level after a BCS bowl appearance last year. | Coaching | Gene Chizik went 5-19 in two seasons at Iowa State, making Auburn’s decision to hire him before the start of the 2009 season questionable at best. And then Chizik won a national championship in his second year. |
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| Quarterback Tajh Boyd and receiver Sammy Watkins hooked up early and often last season. Boyd threw 33 touchdown passes last year, 13 of them being to Watkins. Unfortunately, Watkins will serve the first of his two-game suspension on Saturday. | Offense | New offensive coordinator Scot Loeffler will have to find a reliable quarterback if Auburn is going to make progress on that side of the ball as it moves towards a more pro-style attack. |
| Defensive coordinator Brent Venables comes to Clemson after a long stint at Oklahoma. The reason? The Tigers gave up an eye-popping 70 points in their Orange Bowl loss to West Virginia. | Defense | Auburn also has a new defensive coordinator, Brian VanGordor, who joins Chizik’s staff from the Atlanta Falcons. He has nine returning starters to work with. |
| All of Clemson’s special teams units should be above average, more so once Watkins returns. | Special Teams | Auburn should be strong in all special teams categories. Punter Steven Clark is a returning All-American. |
The winner is
Auburn
3 out of 4
The Clemson Tigers will win, we know that much. Without Watkins, Clemson will struggle offensively at times, but should be able to pull out a victory against an Auburn program that is still rebuilding since Cam Newton left town.
More Tales of the tape
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NCAA Championship Game: #1 Louisville Vs. #4 MichiganRick Pitino has been here before, after making his 7th Final Four appearance, he’s now in his third go-round in the title game. He’s got plenty of experience on the big stage and he has the Cardinals playing high level basketball at the right time.
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NCAA Tournament Championship Weekend: #4 Michigan Vs. #4 SyracuseNo. 4 Michigan and No. 4 Syracuse square off in Atlanta this weekend with the winner getting a shot to play for the National Title.
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NCAA Tournament Championship Weekend: #1 Louisville Vs. #9 Wichita StateRick Pitino and No. 1 Louisville take on No. 9 Wichita State in Atlanta this weekend for a shot to play in the National Title game on Monday.
