Sep 12, 2007, 14:49 GMT
Clemson, SC - The 20th-ranked Clemson Tigers have a chance to improve their record and pad their stats as they host the Furman Paladins on Saturday.
Furman opened the season with a lopsided victory, but last weekend's clash with Hofstra resulted in a 32-17 defeat. Clearly, Saturday's matchup with nationally-ranked Clemson marks a major leap in competition level for the Paladins, who compete in the Southern Conference.
Clemson, a member of the ACC, moved to 2-0 with a 49-26 romp over UL- Monroe this past weekend. The Tigers opened the campaign with a thrilling decision over league rival Florida State. After Saturday's tilt, the third straight at home for Clemson, the club will play back-to-back road games.
The Tigers own a 40-10-4 lead in the all-time series with the Paladins, including 28 straight wins over Furman.
Furman scored 10 points in the first quarter of Saturday's game against Hofstra and added a touchdown in the second quarter. Unfortunately, the Paladins were held scoreless over the final two quarters of the contest, as the offense suddenly became stagnant. With 85 rushing yards on 34 attempts in the clash, the ground game was clearly ineffective. In fact, no player rushed for more than 28 yards for Furman. As for the passing attack, Renaldo Gray and Jordan Sorrells combined for 228 yards, but both quarterbacks threw an interception in the contest. Through the first two games of this new season, Furman is scoring 28.5 ppg while racking up 424.0 total ypg. Clearly, however, those solid numbers are more a result of the first outing than the second. No player has emerged as the clear choice to be the team's featured tailback. Expect the Paladins to use the committee approach again this weekend.
Put simply, the Furman defensive unit did not play its best against Hofstra. The play against the pass was particularly concerning, as the Paladins surrendered 285 yards through the air on 24-of-36 completions. Furman can, however, take pride in the fact that it limited Hofstra to 2-of-11 success on third down conversion attempts. Through two games, opponents are scoring 24.0 ppg against the Paladins while positing 373.0 total ypg. A great deal of damage has been done through the air, as Furman is yielding just a shade under 300 passing yards per contest. Thomas Twitty leads the defense with 19 total tackles, and he has recorded a pair of TFLs to go along with a forced fumble. Justin Brown is tops for the defense with four TFLs.
Quarterback Cullen Harper shined for Clemson in the win over UL-Monroe, as the junior threw a school-record five touchdown passes in that contest. Harper, a first-year starter under center, finished the game 20-of-26 for 270 yards with no interceptions. Versatile tailback CJ Spiller led the team with four catches for 87 yards and a touchdown. The feared Clemson ground attack got contributions from several different players, and James Davis led the bunch with 68 rushing yards and one score on only seven carries. Davis ran for 102 yards in the season-opening win over Florida State, and he is one of the top players at his position in the nation. Spiller provides a change of pace to the hard-charging style of Davis. Harper threw for 160 yards with a pair of touchdowns and no interceptions against Florida State, so it appears that he is more than capable of being a big-time performer for the Tigers.
While the offense for Clemson was outstanding last weekend, the defense did not play as well as the coaches expected. To be specific, the Tigers yielded 24 first downs and 419 total yards of offense. The run defense was particularly poor, permitting the Warhawks to post 271 yards on 53 carries. There was an obvious lack of big plays made by the defense, as the unit managed just a single sack and failed to record a takeaway. It is surprising that Clemson did not play better defensively against UL-Monroe, as the club managed to limit Florida State to 256 total yards in the opener, including just 114 yards on the ground. Clemson had five sacks in that tilt, but there were no interception registered.
© 2007 The Sports Network
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