The "Bayou Blues" Edition

Will Vandervort stops by the show, plus the official Clemson Sports Talk simulation of the LSU game comes down to the wire.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Each time for Clipson Sports Talk with Lawton Schwan.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
Now finally Clemson Sports Talk has come back two drive time,

(00:51):
Hell everybody long and Swan back in the saddle once again.
It is the show that shakes the south Land. Clemson
Sports Talk for you each and every after noon as
you make your way around the great state of South
Carolina and beyond, listening to us on incredible radio stations
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(01:12):
It's free the website. But the dot com on the
dog gone it that's Clemson sportsnunt dot com ETO three
four five oo zero zero eighty six. That is the
text one in the phone line. And you're getting the
show that Shakespeare South ay and brought to you in
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Plumb dot com. Two two six seven one o eight.

(01:35):
That's mets Plumb and that's two two six seven one
oh eight. Give them a call today, all right. The
simulation is underway in Studio Clemson, n LSU facing off tomorrow.
Death Valley got the sim rolling. We will keep you
updated with that and how things play out on that front,

(01:58):
Clemson in the simulation risk eves the opening kickoff. All right,
So last night we had college football galore around the
country and I got a couple of takeaways.

Speaker 3 (02:11):
From that.

Speaker 2 (02:11):
First and foremost, I feel like when we talk about
college football, we talk about like.

Speaker 3 (02:19):
The rumph of the SEC and the Big Ten.

Speaker 2 (02:23):
And it's not to say that the Big Ten teams
that were playing last night were the top of the
mark in that conference, okay, but the Big Ten teams
that played last night, to me, left a ton to

(02:43):
be desired in terms of that conference. For example, Rutgers
in a home game versus Ohio, not Ohio State, the
Bobcats wins thirty four thirty one. I gotta go on
the record and say this, they all won. It's not

(03:04):
as if a Big Ten team lost yesterday.

Speaker 3 (03:07):
They all won.

Speaker 2 (03:08):
And two Big Ten teams, two Big Ten teams will
be playing tonight as well. But Rutgers beat Ohio by three.
Minnesota was hosting Buffalo. That was a tight ball game.
Twenty three to ten was the final, but honestly, it

(03:28):
was a lot closer than that.

Speaker 3 (03:31):
Late in the game.

Speaker 2 (03:33):
As a matter of fact, Minnesota led ten to three
at the break. They took a thirteen to three lead
in the third quarter with six forty eight left, Buffalo
trimmed it back to thirteen to ten. Minnesota got a
field goal with eleven thirty one left and then got
a touchdown just a few minutes later to win at

(03:55):
twenty three ten, But it was not a dominant performance
by Minnesota in that game. Then you had Wisconsin beating
Miami of Ohio seventeen to nothing, but that game was
three to nothing into.

Speaker 3 (04:13):
The third quarter.

Speaker 2 (04:15):
Three zip Wisconsin into the third quarter of that ball game.
I mean, I don't know what the norm is supposed
to be, but I feel like you should be up
by a lot more than just three nothing if you
are the Wisconsin Badgers and you're hosting the University of

(04:40):
Miami RedHawks. As a matter of fact, Wisconsin didn't score
their first touchdown until four h eight left in the
third quarter to take a ten to nothing lead. They
got their final touchdown with six forty five left in
the game to take a seventeen nothing lead that they
would hold on to. And then in the final game

(05:01):
Nebraska and Cincinnati, the Cornhuskers, led by Dylan Reola, who
who did throw for two hundred and forty three yards
beat Cincinnati twenty to seventeen. But quite frankly, that game
was coming down to the wire. Cincinnati threw an interception,

(05:22):
they had a field goal to tie the game in
their back pocket in the final moments. Malcolm Hartzak Junior,
who had given up a big fourth down conversion, then
had a penalty for I can't remember. I think it
ended up being defensive holding. Yeah, it was a ten
yard penalty for defensive holding that put Cincinnati in field

(05:45):
goal range. Ends up on the very next play, making
the game winning interception with thirty four seconds left as
the Bearcats went for the touchdown in this matchup twenty
to seventeen to the final score. But again, if we
are talking about that league at this point, and none

(06:05):
of those teams, not Rutgers, Minnesota, not Nebraska or Wisconsin
are as well thought of as say Oregon and Ohio State,
et cetera. But still that is, even with four wins,
to me, not the greatest of starts for that conference. Now,

(06:26):
it also could be an indicator of just what we
talked about a lot here on the program over the
past few days, how difficult getting a good bead or
a good read on week one can be and so
that might be a part of it as well. Now tonight,
out of the Big Ten, at seven o'clock on FS one,

(06:47):
you're gonna get Michigan State hosting Western Michigan, and then
at seven thirty on Peacock it'll be Illinois hosting Western Illinois.
Are the Big Ten games coming up? But I was disappointed,

(07:07):
And maybe that's not the right word, but it was
pretty obvious to me that the Big Ten, at least
at the bottom at this point, does not seem to
be very good. Flipped that to what was good about
the Big Ten their coverage and the fact that their
game was synced up, and the fact that the audio

(07:28):
was not lagging dreadfully behind, so much so for the
ACC network in ESPN for the second week in a row,
that when a play was made on the field and
I had already witnessed it, or in this case, you
had already witnessed it West Durham and then calls that

(07:50):
play that I just watched with this level of excitement
that makes it feel like he's the one that's not
watching it live, Like that's how far behind the tape
delay the audio was now granted. The inverse of that
would be worse right, giving you the audio of the
big play before you see the video. But still ESPN

(08:13):
iron this out. I know it's not my TV. I
know it's not YouTube TV. I know it's not the
way I'm watching it, because when I flipped to the
Big ten network, perfection, no problems at all. Speaking of
the Atlantic Coast Conference, of course, last weekend, Stanford got
things going with a twenty three twenty loss at Hawaii.

(08:33):
We talked about that on Monday. By the way, speaking
of Monday, no show coming up this coming Monday because
of Labor Day. Last night, though NC State held off Elon,
it looked early like the Wolfpack we're gonna run away
with this thing. They jumped out to an early seventeen
nothing lead. East Carolina would get a touchdown with two

(08:56):
to twenty one left in the second quarter to make
it seventeen seven. In the third quarter, the wolf Pack
picked up a touchdown on a Hollywood Smothers what a
beautiful name two yard run to make it twenty four seven.
But then Scully Nation would score a couple of well
a touchdown in a field goal. They would score a

(09:16):
couple of times in the fourth quarter to make it
twenty four seventeen with I want to say it was
about six minutes or so to go in that ball game,
maybe a little more, maybe seven when they scored eight
thirty two excuse me eight thirty two. The wolf Pack

(09:38):
then got the ball, went five plays on forty six
yards and missed the field goal, and that put the
ball in East Carolina's hands with five thirty seven left,
with a chance to go down and tie the game,
and they did put together a threatening drive. They went
twelve plays sixty one yards in five minutes, got all

(10:00):
the way down to I think the nine yard line,
and facing a fourth and one, had an incomplete pass
instead of trying to convert the first down with thirty
seven seconds left, East Carolina turns the ball over on
downs and the wolf Pack survived and what ended up
being a very close contest after the way things started there.

(10:23):
Then Duke walloped elon forty five seventeen. Darien Mensa threw
for three hundred and eighty nine yards in the ball
game tonight, A couple of Atlantic Coast Conference schools will
be on the docket as well. At seven o'clock on
the ACC Network. Wake Forest hosts knnessas State, and then
a game we've all sort of been anxious to see

(10:46):
because of Georgia Tech and their expectations in the Atlantic
Coast Conference. And of course the commentary of the offseason
about Dion Sanders, his health, his team at Colorado. That's
on ESPN, and I can only hope. I can only
hope that the lip sync is working on that front.

Speaker 3 (11:10):
All right.

Speaker 2 (11:10):
As for the simulation of the Clemson and LSU game,
I gotta tell you dimante K Part Clemson. I recall
Clemson received the opening kickoff, the Tigers end up punting.
Demonte K Part makes a big hit on Garrett Nusmeyer
and forces a fumble. K club that and Clemson then

(11:31):
respond and finish about a forty someidd yard scoring drive
with five minutes and forty eight seconds remaining in the
first half of action. Twelve plays forty nine yards over
six minutes, Clemson with an early lead over LSU, and
the Tigers would get the ball back shortly thereafter, as

(11:56):
the Bayou Bengals fumbled the ensuing kickoff, setting up Cad
Klubnik and the Clemson Tigers. At last check for me,
at the ten yard line, maybe just outside of the
ten yard line, looking to take a decided advantage in
this ballgame. And I'm not gonna give my prediction on
the real game at this point, but a play like

(12:17):
that is one of the exact things I've been thinking
about when it comes down to this matchup in Death
Valley tomorrow night. If your team has some sort of
game changing fumble turnover like that right off of a
kickoff or a muff punt like we saw with Kansas

(12:39):
State and again these Week one games can go that way.
I think the big question is which team could absorb that,
and I like to believe at home Clemson could, although
the past two times Clemson has played South Carolina in
Death Valley when those things have happened, they have been

(13:00):
unable to overcome that kid Clubnick did cap the drive.
I just saw the touchdown, A beautiful throw to the
corner of the end zone to Antonio Williams with fourteen
to twenty six remaining. Number four. Clemson takes a fourteen
to nothing lead, and what a beautiful ball from cade

(13:20):
Clubnick placed it where only Antonio Williams could come down
with it, and the Tigers have an early advantage in
our official Clemson's Sports Talk simulation. Last night in the SEC,
Missouri was the only team on the docket. They played
Central Arkansas. The bad news for Missouri was that their

(13:43):
starting quarterback Sam Horn left the game with a leg
injury very early on, but that didn't slow them down
as Bo Prebula came in. Prabula, the transfer who was
a portal addition from Penn State, ended up going when
twenty three of twenty eight for two hundred and eighty
three yards and two touchdowns in a sixty one six

(14:07):
victory over Central Arkansas. Tonight, the Southeastern Conference will have
just one team, playing Auburn as they go on the
road at Baylor eight o'clock on Fox. So several big
games tonight Georgia Tech, Colorado, Auburn and Baylor facing off

(14:27):
out in Waco, Texas. Auburn is a one and a
half point favorite, and thinking about that ball game, and
you know, sort of like if you look at Clemson
in LSU, I think everybody will acknowledge that even in
a loss, Clempson's opportunity to battle back into the College

(14:47):
football Playoff, I would say is much greater because Clempson
is more likely to be the champion of the ACC
than LSU is to be the champion of the Southeastern Conference.
But I think if you talk about fan bases, right,

(15:08):
I think if you talk about fan bases and their passion,
when you are an Auburn in the Southeastern Conference, you
feel you feel like every game that you play outside
of your league has to be a must win because
you got such an uphill climb in your conference. And
if they were to go out tonight at Baylor and lose,

(15:30):
I can only imagine what the message boards will be
like on the planes, because fans will be eyeballing their
schedule the rest of the way and wondering whether or
not this whole Hugh free situation, regardless of how good
they're doing and recruiting, is going to pan out. And
when you have the slate that Auburn plays every game,

(15:56):
every game is of incredible importance. They do play ball
State next week, they got South Alabama, so a couple
of weeks to write the ship. If things don't go
good tonight at eight o'clock on Fox, then you're at
Oklahoma at A and M. You face Georgia, you play
Missouri at Arkansas versus Kentucky at Vanderbilt Mercer and then

(16:19):
of course the Crimson Tide. Looking at that, there are
five games, maybe six not named Baylor, that go into
that unknown category in my opinion, And when you start
off slow, if you don't play well tonight, six and
six starts to stare fans who and I don't think

(16:42):
Auburn fans thought twelve to zero was a possibility, But
everybody has this level of grandiose hope out of the gates.
But you get beat tonight in a game where your
favorite even though it is on the road, then all
of a sudden, the other games will long your slate
become increasingly more daunting in the mind's eye of the

(17:05):
fan base. And that's where and that's why I think
this game is so important for Auburn step in the
right direction. You win this week, you start off the
season three and zero entering that game on the road
at Oklahoma. You win that, you got a four to
oer and momentum going into that game in College station.

(17:26):
That's why I think this game is important. This is
a game that could turn the momentum very early for
Auburn in the right way or the wrong way. And
we'll see the night at eight o'clock on Fox as
they take on Baylor. Let us know what you think
in the comments if you're watching on TikTok and to me,
like that's a little bit of a luxury that Clemson has,

(17:47):
Like there's no way I'd ever come in here and go, yeah,
you know what, Clemson can afford to lose a game.
But last year Clemson lost to Georgia and made the
College FOOTBA Playoff. Last year Clemson lost to South Carolina
and made the College Football Playoff. And the reason is
is because, like I said yesterday, Clemson, to me, I

(18:08):
think has some of the best odds to go undefeated
in the country because if they can beat LSU, it
sets them up to run the table into that South
Carolina game. If they lose to LSU, they still have
a great chance of getting into the College Football Playoff
because I think Clemson will still compete and likely win
the Atlantic Coast Conference. LSU and other teams like Oliburn

(18:30):
they don't have that advantage right now given their conference.
And that's something that Clemson has created by differentiating themselves
from their peers, not because their peers aren't good football teams,
they may not have the depth that we see in
the Southeastern Conference. I agree with that, but like I

(18:53):
just said, talking about the Big Ten, everybody bangs their chest.
Did you watch the Big Ten last night? I'm not
sure that's a league where I'm banging my chest. And
all eyes will be on the Southeastern Conference, the ACC,
the Big Ten, and the Big Twelve as the power
for pecking order begins to sort out over the next
week or two. All right, eight oh three, four five,

(19:14):
oho zero zero eighty six, Well, a quick break will
come back, will take you up to Tiger Town as
we'll get a chance to hear from Peter Woods as
he met with the media earlier this week.

Speaker 3 (19:25):
Plus, I'll give you up.

Speaker 2 (19:28):
I'll give you an update on the official Clemson Sports
Talk simulation as the Tigers from Pickens County jumped out
to an early fourteen to nothing lead. I'll tell you
where things sit after the break when we return. Keep
it lot right here on Fox Sports Radio fourteen hundred
and of course on the iHeartRadio app. It is the

(19:50):
show that shakes the south Land. Clemson Sports Talk Stay
with us, back at it Clempson's Sports Talk, Rocking and
rolling along with you on a football Friday. Lots of
games to get to. We'll take a look at the
slate for tonight and tomorrow and we'll give you our prediction.

Speaker 3 (20:08):
On Clemson and LSU. An hour number two of.

Speaker 2 (20:10):
The show, the official Clemson's Sports Talk simulation is rolling.
In the second quarter, Clemson with a commanding seventeen nothing
at Vanues, they got a field goal from Nolan Hoosier.
I did not see the distance on the kick. Looked
like it was probably about a forty two yard or

(20:30):
maybe a forty five yard or somewhere in there.

Speaker 3 (20:34):
But Clemson's in control.

Speaker 2 (20:35):
LSU driving as that continues to churn well, speaking of
LSU driving, one of the things that could slow that
down is Clemson's defense, and Clemson's defensive line more specifically
well Peter Woods, who I would say is arguably as
close to Dexter Lawrence as anybody that's played the position

(20:56):
at Clemson since Dexter Lawrence made his way into the NFL.

Speaker 4 (21:04):
Sexy Dexi Clipson.

Speaker 2 (21:08):
I like Peter Woods, and I had a great opportunity
to sit down with him at the ACC kickoff in Charlotte.
Here's Peter Woods, as he met with the media earlier
this week, and he was asked about the fact that
the center for LSU is a transfer from Virginia Tech,
who Climpson faced off with a year ago, and how

(21:30):
much of that game or whatever he may have studied.

Speaker 5 (21:33):
I mean, from my understanding, you know, they probably have
a couple of guys that came in from other schools,
and so I mean, the best thing that you can
do is just watch the games that they that they
played when they were at their other.

Speaker 6 (21:44):
School and just kind of see what you can get
from that.

Speaker 5 (21:46):
From a preparation to standpoint, my thing is really about
just doing you know, preparing for our scheme and make
sure that we have all our ducks in a row.
I think most of that is just you know, just
getting your eyes on a player and a lot of
guys I didn't play in the game, but a lot
of guys did play against him, uh this past year,
so he's not completely foreign, you know, as a personal player.

Speaker 6 (22:05):
But yeah, we that's that's how we would deal with that.

Speaker 2 (22:08):
Peter Woods was also asked about LSU having four new
offensive linemen and how he felt that could be an
advantage or how that could impact the game for Clemson.

Speaker 5 (22:17):
Uh, you know, I don't really know. You don't don't
really know how how they're going to play as a group.
You know, I know that that their coach is gonna
put the guys out there that he's most confident in
to to get the job done on their end, and
I feel like that we're just gonna go out there
and do the same. And so you know, I can't
really predict the future.

Speaker 6 (22:32):
Uh and how big of an advantage that will or
won't be for us?

Speaker 2 (22:35):
But that's Clemson interior defensive tackle Peter Woods. Woods was
also asked about the confidence that Clemson has going into
this season stopping the run, given it was a bugaboo
a year ago.

Speaker 3 (22:48):
How good do they feel entering this game against LSU.

Speaker 6 (22:51):
Yeah, I think I think we're very confident.

Speaker 5 (22:53):
You know, obviously we got a little bit of chipping
our shoulder because you know some of our results that
we had last week last year. You're as it pertains
to stop and the run, and so that's definitely a big
emphasis for us and something that we're not willing to
let up, something that we been working on all off season.

Speaker 6 (23:08):
And it just starts with a.

Speaker 2 (23:10):
Mindset Woods was also asked if he felt like sort
of the biggest difference with Tom Allen was, you know,
building that confidence and getting these guys feeling better about it.

Speaker 5 (23:22):
Just the energy that he brought every day just brought confidence.
Just knowing that, you know, you have somebody that believes
in you and knows that you can be better. I mean,
it's easy to talk about all the things that you
did bad, but for somebody to come into a room
and just point out the bright spots and what we
really have in the room just brings confidence to a group.
And so I think that's that's the main thing that

(23:43):
he did right there. It's just about, you know, just
the simple things, just doing the simple things. Well, alignments,
gap assignments, like just simple stuff.

Speaker 6 (23:53):
Yeah, we've got all the tools.

Speaker 2 (23:55):
That's Clemson defensive tackle Peter Woods. Woods was also asked
about how you know Dabos Dabos Wing excuse me, talks
about like win the one, but how do you compartmentalize,
you know, a game of this magnitude with it being
the season opener and just kind of handle all that
as a player.

Speaker 6 (24:14):
You know, just give the results to God.

Speaker 5 (24:16):
You know, we put in the work all off season,
and we're confident because of the work and the preparation
that we put in, and I mean, I don't think
it should be that way for any other team, And
so regardless of the result, I know going into the game,
at least right now is only the only thing I
can speak on is pre game, and I know that
I'm very confident and what the result might be if

(24:36):
it's based merely off of the work that we put in.

Speaker 2 (24:39):
Peter Woods was also asked about during the recruiting cycle
when he decided to come to Clemson out of.

Speaker 3 (24:45):
Alabaster, Alabama.

Speaker 2 (24:48):
He talked about being able to play in big environments
and this is the first home opener he's ever had
at Clemson, and if this was the kind of game
that he felt like he was talking about back during
his recruiting days.

Speaker 6 (24:59):
Yeah, I mean, I'm excited.

Speaker 5 (25:00):
I mean, there's no shy way that we got a
tremendous opponent opponent coming here and it's a night game
and it's in the valley, but at the end of
the day, you know, we're just playing another game. And
you know, I think that's what excites me the most,
just being able to get out there and play football
again that we haven't done in almost a full calendar year.
So I think it's a little bit of mixed emotions.

(25:20):
I think if we were playing anybody in the nation
right now, first game of the year or not game
in the Valley, I'll probably be super juiced up, and
so it's just add a little feel to the fire.

Speaker 2 (25:29):
Peter Woods was also asked about trying to describe how
loud Death Valley gets and what that must be like
for the opponents.

Speaker 6 (25:36):
It's definitely electric.

Speaker 5 (25:38):
You definitely have to have to practice that way sometimes
because especially in the Valley night game, you know, the
atmosphere is crazy great opponent, I mean, it gets loud,
but we pride ourselves in and being a noisy, communicative
defense and making sure that we all are communicating very loudly,
very bearably, and we practice it that way. So in
game time, it's just like we're in a zone ready

(26:00):
to go. It's like we're going our little bubble down there.

Speaker 2 (26:03):
Woods was also asked about how difficult it is for
Clemson to communicate when the crowd is really getting after.

Speaker 5 (26:08):
It got to be pretty loud, especially on like a
big third down or something like that. It gets pretty loud,
it's it's deafening. So we got all types of stuff
that we do that just to you know, we're yelling,
we tap in, we moving around on the field. It's
a long process, but uh, you know, it's worth at
every play and make sure that we get the job done.

Speaker 2 (26:28):
Peter Woods was also asked to give his thoughts only
if he believed that Clemson could maybe reset the record
for the loudest home environment in this ballgame against LSU.

Speaker 6 (26:38):
I definitely do.

Speaker 5 (26:39):
I mean, it's it's a lot of a hype around
this game from a fans perspective, so I definitely think, like,
I know our fans are going to show out. I
know their fans are going to show out. I mean,
I'm pretty sure it's already sold out.

Speaker 6 (26:52):
You know, I don't really know, but I'm.

Speaker 5 (26:54):
Sure a lot of people are gonna be there and
it's gonna be It's gonna be a good one.

Speaker 4 (26:58):
Man.

Speaker 6 (26:58):
I'm super excited.

Speaker 5 (27:00):
And you know, everybody both Tigers getting in one stadium
yelling go Tigers, and you don't know who railing for
what team, So it'll be super fun.

Speaker 4 (27:08):
Man.

Speaker 6 (27:08):
I'm excited.

Speaker 3 (27:10):
So there you go.

Speaker 2 (27:10):
That's Peter Woods talking about how loud he thinks it
could be in Death Valley. All right, we got another
scoring update in our CST official simulation of the Clemson
LSU game. They are getting closer and closer to half.
I'll tell you what's going on when we return. Stay
with us Clemson Sports, Salt, Lawt and Swan the show

(27:32):
The Shakes the Southland. All right, A know three four
five h zero zero eighty six text line phone line
Clemson LSU official simulation prediction coming up an hour two. Also,
Will Van Dervoort will be a part of the program.
But don't forget about our full coverage on our website
clemsonsports dot.

Speaker 3 (27:50):
Com for you.

Speaker 2 (27:53):
All right, So LSU did answer. Clemson was up seventeen
to nothing to buy you. Bengals got solid drive led
by Garrett Nusmeyer to make it seventeen to seven. Clemson
would march right back down the field though, and get
another Nolan Hoosier. This was a chip shot, a little

(28:15):
missed opportunity in my opinion from Clemson in the ballgame
in that moment, had a chance to put another seven
on the board. Instead, they get three and it's twenty
to seven with under two minutes left in the half.
Garrett Nusmyern LSU driving at the Clemson twenty five, facing

(28:35):
a second and seven. Nusmeyer drops back deep ball to
the end zone. It is knocked away. What to play
Avion Terrell? Avion Terrell puts LSU in a third and
seven and this is big here, folks. If LSU can
convert keep this drive alive, they'll have a chance to

(28:58):
make it a touchdown game. Stadium pulses through the roof
Clemson his rock and we heard Peter Woods talking about
the sound of the volume, but wasn't enough. LSU goes
underneath a little slant route. Nusmeyer finds sharp. Nusmeyer's got
about one hundred and sixty yards passing. With one thirteen

(29:18):
remaining in the first half, LSU still in business, looking
to make this game much more competitive before the break.
Now what I talked about earlier with the big mistake
LSU maybe one they fumbled on a kickoff return, and

(29:39):
I think the team that can avoid that tomorrow will
be in the cat bird seat for the ballgame. I
think a major miscue, a pick six, a fumbled punt,
I mean, anything like that to me would put either
of these two teams in jeopardy. I think because of

(30:01):
the game's in Clemson, and I think the fans are
going to be electric. I think the fans, I think
you have the right as fans to try to go
out there and own the loudest stadium record or even
cet a mark in Clemson, just because of the Moniker's
death valley and all of that that goes into it.
There were some comments. I don't know if you guys
heard this or not. I'll play it for you.

Speaker 6 (30:22):
Though.

Speaker 2 (30:24):
This is Brian Kelly. I believe during his Coaches Show
it got a little bit weird. Not weird in a
bad way, just weird in a way that I wouldn't
think a coach would wanted to get weird. A day
or so before venturing into a top ten team and
playing in Clemson, as Garrett Nussmeyer scrambles to the end zone,

(30:46):
I mentioned the concern I have about that that his
legs might be a bigger part of the game by
on purpose this Saturday, Nussmeyer waits, waits, looks in the pocket,
then scamper's ten yards to pay dirt. When things open
up underneath, Clemson could not get pressure up front Man,
that was eerily similar to the touchdown Clemson gave up

(31:10):
late in that game against South Carolina and Leonora Sellers.
I know that was a much longer run for Sellers,
but man, watching that play right there and how it unfolded,
it felt like it. So with seventeen seconds remaining in
the first half of action of the official Clympson Sports
Talk simulation, LSU goes on an eleven play eighty four

(31:30):
yard scoring drive to make it twenty to fourteen, Clemson.

Speaker 3 (31:34):
With a narrow lead.

Speaker 2 (31:36):
But I mentioned Brian Kelly and things. I find it
odd that you would say the Brian Kelly show from yesterday.
Here's Brian Kelly wrapping up this conversation. I'm again we
will see you in South Carolina tomorrow and then on
Saturday night, looking for a big, fighting Tiger victory.

Speaker 7 (31:53):
Let's get ready for a great environment, not Death Valley,
but it's going to be a great road win. Get
there early and share on the Tigers. Thank you for
your support tonight being a little late, We'll come early
next week and talk about this win.

Speaker 2 (32:10):
See y'all enjoin a late Saturday night with a Tiger victory.
So I don't know if that's how they always do it.
I mean, I really don't have much of a measuring
stick other than Dabo Sweeney's coaches show. I don't, however,
recall coach Sweeney ever kind of being like, yeah, after
this win, I mean, maybe maybe they do. Maybe they do.

(32:33):
Maybe he does, and I just missed it. But that
to me came across as just a little bit awkward,
just a little bit awkward. And so look, I don't
know one way or the other about you know, who's
gonna end up coming out on top of this ballgame.
But I do know if I'm the head coach of

(32:54):
either of these teams, I definitely don't want to give
the old bulletin board material, let alone give it where
people can play it back where these guys can play
that before the game. Like it's one thing to read
it in a newspaper and you have to kind of go, well,
did he actually say that or not? But then when

(33:17):
you hear it, it's like, I don't know if that's
I don't know if I would have said that. I'll
put it that way, I don't know if I would
have said that either way. Though, these two teams will
face off tomorrow night and it'll all be settled. And again,
whoever wins, whoever wins, puts themselves in a pretty good position,

(33:39):
I think for the College Football Playoff, because you've got
a marquee victory on the schedule, and if Clemson wins it,
I think, barring some kind of crazy injury, I see
them getting into that South Carolina game undefeated. I mean,
I just I think Clempson is that much better than
the teams they're playing outside of LSU in South Carolina,
and they might be better than both of those teams.

(34:03):
And that's no slight to South Carolina or LSU. That's
just a measure of who Clemson is now. I mentioned earlier.
I mentioned earlier, we got a lot of games, a
lot of games coming up tonight and this is you know,
P four Group of four stuff. But I did not
mention this South Florida hammering Boisy thirty four to seven yesterday.

(34:27):
And I'm so happy that Boise State got beat because
again I don't think they could compete a year ago.
They gobbled up Clemson's spot in the top four, and that,
you know, that to me was reason enough to root
against them. And so that's the reason Clemson had to
go to Texas, and I don't mind Clemson playing at Texas,

(34:48):
but I'd much prefer the bye, and I think this
year Clemson will likely get the BUYE. Now that game though,
for South Florida, what a huge win. They were the
underdog and they came up with a thirty four to
seven win. All Right, when we get back, we'll talk
about the slate of games coming up tonight.

Speaker 3 (35:03):
Right after this.

Speaker 2 (35:04):
Final segment of our number one the BYU being going
to strike first in the second half, Nick Anderson takes
a little screen pass.

Speaker 3 (35:12):
Terrible defense. Who missed that tackle? There was that Brandon Strozer.
I don't know.

Speaker 2 (35:18):
Somebody missed the tackle and that allowed Nick Anderson to
break into the open field. With eleven minutes and ten
seconds remaining. In the official Clemson Sports Talk simulation, LSU
has moved out in front. They have bounced back from
being down fourteen to nothing seventeen wasn't that seventeen to

(35:43):
nothing to take a.

Speaker 3 (35:45):
Twenty one twenty lead?

Speaker 2 (35:47):
Oh the other you faithful are on their feet in
Death Valley. All Right, I mentioned games coming up tonight.
We had a ton of games last night. I think
we have about ten, maybe eleven games. Tonight at six
o'clock as we go off the air, Army will host
Tarleton State on the CBS Sports Network. At seven o'clock

(36:10):
on FS one, You've got Michigan State in Western Michigan.
Also at seven on the ACC network, Wake Forest host
Kennessas State up in Winston Salem. Also at seven on ESPNU,
Charlotte host app State, and at seven on ESPN plus,

(36:31):
Florida International will host Bethune Cookman at seven thirty on
Peacock in Champagne, Illinois, it'll be the Fighting Lion I
twelfth rank hosting Western Illinois at seven point thirty on ESPN.
The Kansas Jayhawks, that's right, Kansas, who played this past weekend,

(36:56):
looks to go to two to zero before Clemson even
play a game, as they host Wagner at seven thirty.
How sad would that be to have two games done
in your season in a twelve game regular season, two
games done by August twenty ninth at eight o'clock on Fox,
I think the biggest game to watch today Baylor host

(37:19):
Auburn out in Waco. Auburn a one and a half
point favorite. As I mentioned in our number one then
at eight o'clock on ESPN, you've got Colorado hosting Georgia Tech.
Georgia Tech's favored by three and a half.

Speaker 3 (37:35):
At nine to.

Speaker 2 (37:35):
Thirty, a little game, the kind of throwaway contest CBS
Sports Network, Sam Houston hosting UNLV. And then at ten
thirty on FS one, San Jose State hosting Central Michigan.
So you know that's seven eight o'clock window. That's about
where the games that you probably want to tune in

(37:57):
and watch are and so we'll see how well those
games play out. Again, I think Auburn probably beats Baylor tonight,
but if they don't, I concern myself with what their
season looks like. I do think Georgia Tech beats Colorado.
I really do believe that. I think Georgia Tech's gonna

(38:17):
go in there and actually beat Colorado, probably by ten points.
I think Georgia Tech's that much better than Colorado. I
don't buy the deon hype. I like Dion, I don't
buy the hype. I think Georgia Tech's the school where
he really would have been dangerous, really would have been dangerous.
So that's the slate of games tonight. Also, last night

(38:38):
we talked about how bad the Big ten teams look
that played. None of them looked as bad as the
haircut that one of the Rutgers assistance coaches wait training.
I'm not sure what this guy does, but he definitely

(38:58):
looks like he cuts his hair with a bowl.

Speaker 3 (39:01):
I mean, it's it's rough. All you gotta do is
throw in barstool.

Speaker 2 (39:07):
Big Cat tweeted it out, but I gotta feel Let
me just throw this in the old YouTube or the
Twitter Google machine, if you will, the Twitter search. Let's see, uh,
haircut and Rutgers. Let's see if I got it. Yeah,
that's it, just throwing haircutting Rutgers. You throw that in,

(39:27):
you're gonna find something worth looking at this guy. This
guy's haircut looks like remember the You remember the Three
Stooges back in the day. I don't know how many
of you are even old enough to remember that stuff.
I mean, I personally grew up with it. I like
to think a lot of you grew up with it.

Speaker 6 (39:47):
Why skulls, I'm broadcasting, but.

Speaker 2 (39:50):
That's Mo and I'm assuming that this guy goes to
the same barber that Moe went to. If you will,
it's rough, it's rough. All right, A three four five
zero zero eighty six. That's the text line in the
phone line six forty five left in the official Clempson's
Sports Talk simulation. So we'll have this thing wrapped up.

(40:14):
Just after our interview with Will Van Derfort, Clempson still
trails LSU twenty one twenty. The Tigers were the first
and ten out near midfield, Kay Klubnick trying to navigate
against this LSU defense. The good fortune for Clemson is

(40:34):
that you're playing at home, and when when Kate Clubni's
at quarterback, everything looks pretty good. When Garrett Nussmeyer is
quarterbacking on this EA Sports simulation, I'll just tell you this,
every player's numbers have question marks over their head, so
it doesn't come across like nuss Meyer's in a very

(40:56):
good position outside of having his team currently in the
lead by one. And I have to question k club there.
Kay broke the pocket on a second ten and probably
could have picked up eight yards and threw the ball away.
Disappointing that decision making. Clemson is gonna have to punt

(41:18):
with six twelve remaining in the third quarter, and this
game if LSU scores a touchdown here The two point
conversions are not easy in this ballgame, so we'll see
if Clemson can end up getting a stop here. Defensively,

(41:39):
the fans and the stadium polts have drifted down quite
a bit, the nerves starting to ramp up in simulation
bill for the Tiger fans in the tennis there in
Death Valley as LSU looks to come in and sneak
out of the simulation, the official Clemson Sports Talk simulation,

(42:01):
they look to sneak out with a victory against your Tigers.
All right, with a quick break, our number two right
around the band, Will van Dervoort joins the show. Keep
it locked for more. Fox Sports Radio fourteen hundred and
on the iHeartRadio app.

Speaker 1 (42:19):
It's time for Clipson Sports Talk with Lowton Swan Swanny.

Speaker 2 (43:00):
It is our number two. That's drive time. Ready, We're
on the show. The shakespare south Land, Clempson, Sports Taltlaw
and Swan hanging out with you. Will van Dervoort set
to join the program momentarily Again. We've got our official
Climpses Sports Talk simulation going on.

Speaker 3 (43:21):
I will give you the rundown.

Speaker 2 (43:22):
Of how that plays out after we're done with our
conversation and if something big happens, I might bring it
up with Will. But again, the show that Shakespare south
Land brought to you in part by our good friends
over at.

Speaker 3 (43:34):
METS Plumbing mets plumbing dot com.

Speaker 2 (43:39):
Give them a call today two two six seven one
o eight. That's METS Plumbing. That's two two six seven
one oh eight, or online at mets plumbing dot com.
Speaking of dot coms, go check out our dot com.
We got a little upgrade.

Speaker 3 (43:55):
That thing is.

Speaker 2 (43:56):
Looking sharp speaking a look at sharp, Will vand always
looking sharp in the press box, willye V.

Speaker 3 (44:03):
What's up, buddy, man?

Speaker 8 (44:05):
I can't believe you're starting off this Friday just by
lying like that. I mean, come on, I am not
sharp at the press box.

Speaker 3 (44:12):
I don't know. I mean, have you looked around?

Speaker 8 (44:14):
Will?

Speaker 3 (44:15):
I think you're probably one of the better dressed guys
up there.

Speaker 8 (44:19):
Well, I appreciate the compliment, Buddy.

Speaker 3 (44:21):
I mean, look, it's yeah, it's a very low bar.
It's a very low bar that's been set. How about
that well.

Speaker 8 (44:29):
You got I'll take it on the list. I'll take
it on the list, all right.

Speaker 2 (44:33):
Will Clemson in LSU, we've been talking about it all Summer.
Can't wait for tomorrow night as these two teams kick
it off seven fifty two foot meats Ball had Tim
Berey on the program yesterday and he said, Swanny, the
guy that produced the intro to Clemson and Georgia in
twenty thirteen, is back in the production truck. And Tim said,

(44:57):
that's why I think this thing is kicking off. A
little bit later, he says, I think it's gonna be incredible.
You know what they put together. What are your thoughts
on how Clemson will be portrayed nationally for this game?

Speaker 8 (45:09):
Oh, he said, they're gonna put something together for Death Valleys.
What you're telling me, I mean that's not what you're
saying saying, but it sounds like it's that right.

Speaker 3 (45:18):
I mean it must be something.

Speaker 8 (45:20):
Yeah, that's a good point. I was wondering why it's
like twenty two minutes gonna take the kick off the game. Yeah, man,
I tell you it's gonna be electric. Man. Whatever they do,
whatever is going on, it's gonna be. And again, you
know today, Brian Kelly came out last night after his
show and again takes another pot shot at Death Matter.

Speaker 3 (45:41):
Yeah, you know I played that. I played that earlier.
What's he doing?

Speaker 8 (45:47):
I don't know. I don't know if he just wants
to get the Clemson people so riled up that they're
pissed off at him and knock the LSU. But I
mean that's gonna affect his offensive line, right, I mean,
they're the ones that are gonna be the most effected
by the crowd noise. And it's a brand new offensive
line that's never worked together, and he's over there just
poking them in the does he I guess he thinks

(46:09):
maybe the way they handled the fake noise that practice
this week was great, But come on, we all know
that noise they had at practice any close to what
it's gonna be like on Saturday. And the decimal level
is gonna be even louder. Because he's poked the bear
since mid July and he hadn't stopped, and I thought
he was done until last night. He comes out again

(46:32):
and takes a shot at Clemson, says, yeah, we're going
to a great environment, not Death Valley, but a great environment. Nonetheless,
you know, just taking a shot at Clemson, and just
like wow, I was just like kind of sunned. This
guy has done it again. But man, I think it's
gonna cause the electricity to be electric in that stadium.

Speaker 4 (46:49):
Yeah.

Speaker 8 (46:49):
And I'm gonna see what Clemson does on the on
the marketing team does to kind of poke it, like,
did you put the picture of Brian Kelly up from
the Notre Dame game?

Speaker 6 (46:58):
Oh?

Speaker 8 (46:58):
My lord, put that up on the thing.

Speaker 2 (47:00):
Can you imagine what that would do? You know what
that would sound like in the stadium?

Speaker 8 (47:05):
Oh, that would be That would be a tremendous, tremendous roar,
if you will. And and I like some of the
things you heard. You know, I was reading John Blouse
article this morning on the death Valleys, and you know,
he talked to Chris Low of ESPN, Mark Packer form
of the Acecy Network, talked to a couple other people,
and you know, people obviously giving praise to LSU and

(47:29):
all that, but the national people were kind of given
more praise to Clemson. Where Mark Packer his comments were,
you know, I've been in I've been in both stadiums,
and I've been to LSU in a day game. I've
been to LSU at night and I've been to Clemson
in the day game. And he says, yeah, LSU at
night is electric. It's unbelievable. He's like, but in the
day game, He's like, it's a dead atmosphere there. He says,

(47:51):
it's not loud, it's not really intimidating at all. He says,
we're Clemson is consistent. No matter if it's a day
game or night game, it's loud. Chris hours that he
thought Clinson was louder in his his opinion of the
two Death Valleys. He's gonna be calling the game on Saturday.

Speaker 3 (48:08):
Night, and so.

Speaker 8 (48:11):
What does it all boil down to. It's gonna be fun, man,
That's just all I'm gonna say. It's gonna be fun.
Two top ten teams coming into Death Valley. Only the
third time now in the history of Memorial Stadium that
Clemson's opened the season in a top ten with against
the top ten opponent. The first time was nineteen seventy
seven against Maryland number ten. Maryland came and played Charlie

(48:34):
Pails Tigers and beat Clemson twenty one to fourteen. Clempton,
of course, worlanda had that great season that year. And
then nineteen excuse me, then twenty thirteen against Georgia when
Aaron Murray and the number five Dogs came into Death
Valley and TYJ. Voyd and number eight upset them thirty
eight thirty five. Yeah, game only time, that's the only

(48:55):
time prior to now, those are the only two times
that's happened where you're watching a top ten team play
against Cmpson. Now there's only the second time that we
see two top ten teams playing to open a season
at Memorial STATEUM. So it's pretty historic night here in
Death Valley come Saturday night.

Speaker 2 (49:14):
You know, I think based off of that, and adding
to the fact that this is an LSU team that
has never played in Death Valley, I harke him back
to when Miami came in for the first time back
in four five, whatever year that ended up being. And
I think about, like you add all that to two

(49:37):
top ten teams in a college football playoff era where
you feel like the winner really sets themselves up for
the opportunity to get into the postseason this early. I mean, look,
if Clempson loses, I said this earlier, they can still
win the ACC They can still get in the postseason,
no doubt about it. But if they win this game,
will And we had a text or text the program
the other day and ask, you know, if Clemson wins

(49:59):
this game, w are the odds that they go undefeated
this season? And I said, man, if they win this game,
I think you feel good that they're probably going into
Columbia unscathed at this point. But all that being said,
I mean, is this the greatest home opener because of
those factors that's ever taking place in Death Valley?

Speaker 3 (50:16):
In your opinion?

Speaker 8 (50:18):
Well, I think because Georgia was number five, that Georgia
is still probably that's from at least from a ranked
on rank standpoint that was thought that that would mark
to be bigger. But then throwing all the other things
in first time, they're coming in, as you mentioned, coming
in to say this is the quote unquote battle of
Death Valley. You know, the both teams are called Tigers,

(50:43):
they played for the national championship in twenty nineteen. You know,
all those factors kind of laying on top of it.
I think you're right, and I think the atmosphere will
show that and if Clinton wins. Now, I'm not gonna
go ahead and say Clinton's gonna run the table if
they win this game, because in two weeks that's a
pretty dog gone good George Tech team Clinton's gotta go play.

Speaker 2 (51:05):
Well and we'll find out about them a little bit
more tonight. Right, they play Colorado tonight, so we'll see,
we'll see.

Speaker 8 (51:10):
Yeah. I think that's a really good team. I really do,
and I'm not. And here's the thing that people look
at Georgia Tech schedule after Clemson. It's easy until they
get to Georgia. They could run the table till they
get to Georgia if they beat Clemson. So that game
in two weeks in Atlanta is gonna be bigger than

(51:32):
this game here tonight, not because it's the next game,
but because I think the winner of that game is
gonna be in Charlotte playing for they championship.

Speaker 2 (51:41):
Will Van Dervoort joined the program on Twitter at Seala
Willie Rights for the Clemson Insider dot Com. Will when
you joined us, LSU had jumped out in our official
Clempson Sports Talk simulation to a twenty eight twenty lead. However,
about a sixty five yard scamper from me. Antonio Williams
put the at the one yard line, they punched it in,

(52:02):
got the two point conversion. We're in the fourth quarner
with a twenty eight to twenty eight ball game. The
atmosphere in the simulation is absolutely electric. I can only
imagine what this type of game would be. I mean,
are we in for in your opinion? You know, twenty
eight twenty eight fourth quarter? Every possession matters in this
ball game.

Speaker 8 (52:23):
And if you're Clemson, you better I hope not, because
you know what that means. That means you're playing in
a track meet and you're trying to keep up with
LSU instead of and it means that your defense is
not playing well and that the things that they needed
to do to win this game aren't happening. So YEA
hope not because I think Clemson can score on LSU
and will score. I still have doubts whether LSU could

(52:46):
consistently drive the football on Clemson's defense. And here's the
reason why some people have asked me, like, well, will
Clemson's defense suck last year? They did, but they I
don't think it was personnel. You heard say that too, right, Dabos.
Somebody asked Dabo after I think it was South Carolina game,
do you think the problems on defense are personnel related?

(53:08):
And Dabo said no, and then of course we know
what happened. He fired what's right. And I think that
was a statement to that him saying no, it's not
personnel that he thought it was pretty much coaching told
us a lot. And he's not wrong because if you
go back and remember two years ago, Clemson was a
top ten nationally ranked defense with the same players on

(53:32):
this team. Now, they had Khalil Barnes, they had Avancerell,
they had Peter Woods, they had TJ. Parker, they had
the monte K park they had most of the same
players they have now. Wade Wood ads is on that team.
So that's like, how many is that? I just think
six guys off of that defense. So they're talented guys

(53:52):
at personnel. LSU rebuilt its whole defense. They got two
new starters on the defensive line, they got two new
starters corner, they got a new starter at safety. The
only area which is their strength is their linebacker. That
is that are just their guys, right, So I mean
to see, how is that gonna work? First game, they
got to communicate together and all this, and they're going

(54:14):
up against the really good Clinton offense, who, by the way,
last time we saw this Clinton offense play that didn't
have a running game. They went up and down the
field on one of the best Texans defenses, on on
the best defense in the country in Texas. Right, And
so we know Clemson with Kay Clemmick and these receivers
to move the ball up and down the field in anybody.
So that's why I say, when you look at this,

(54:35):
look at this game, I really like Clemson being able
to move to football against them. I think Clemson's defense
should be able, especially with the brand new offensive line
as we mentioned earlier, coming into Death Valley. And also, okay,
Virginia Tech went and got you know, they went and
got I mean, excuse me, LSU went and got Virginia
Tech center from the transport where they got a couple

(54:57):
other guys out of the transporport on the offensive line
to help, you know, replaced the four guys they lost.
That's all good and all, but the last time I
saw that guy at Virginia Tech played Peter Woods. Peter
Woods eate them for lunch.

Speaker 3 (55:08):
No, that's a great point.

Speaker 2 (55:09):
And I will ask you when you talk about the
situation that just came out with aj Halsey and his
inability to be able to play in the first half
the transfer, how big of an impact is that on
this game that he's not available until the second half,
huge deal in your mind or not really a big
deal at all.

Speaker 8 (55:27):
Well, that can be a huge deal because you know,
if you look at kay Klubnick, when he's really had
to go against just average safeties, he's exploited them, right,
And so it could be it could be a big deal.
We'll see in that first half. But here's the question
I asked about. It is he why isn't he suspended
the whole game? He pushed a referee. It's not like

(55:50):
he got called thrown out, not like he got thrown
out for targeting. He got thrown out because he pushed
the referee and that's why he suspended. So I'm like,
I thought that was like a referee putting your hands
on a referee, like a whole one game suspension, not
a not just a half suspension. So I'm interested to
see what the whole story is there. We're assuming because
I think a lot of people thought it was targeting

(56:11):
or something. I don't know. Yeah, I found out today.
It's more he got his hands on a referee and
pushed a referee down.

Speaker 3 (56:21):
That was me.

Speaker 8 (56:22):
I'm not saying that's what's gonna happen. But yeah, I
just found it interesting.

Speaker 2 (56:25):
Yeah, and that's why he was at Houston. For everybody,
this is the whole story on why that was confusing.
He was at Houston. He did have I think five
interceptions last year, and Soul could have a big impact.
By the way, speaking of a big impact, west Coat
to the house, broke free, putting the Tigers up late

(56:47):
thirty five, twenty eight, A little.

Speaker 3 (56:49):
A little inside screen, a little.

Speaker 2 (56:51):
Bubble if you will, to the house for the Tigers
as they take the lead.

Speaker 3 (56:56):
The valley's going to be rocking if this happens, all.

Speaker 8 (56:59):
Right, it's in real life. Oh my god.

Speaker 2 (57:02):
Yeah, man, listen, every every Friday we do the simulation,
so you get used to it.

Speaker 3 (57:06):
You're gonna be here.

Speaker 2 (57:08):
I don't know how exciting the Troy simulation will be
next week, but we'll find out anyway. As we kind
of look at, you know, this team defensively, I kept
thinking today as I get closer to kickoff, like I think,
Will helt Is gonna be a problem. I think Will
helt Is gonna be a guy that's gonna have to
be dealt with. And I can't imagine what that's gonna

(57:31):
do for the other guys around him, because I think
he's not talked about enough. I think that he's almost
in some respects as the transfer kind of forgotten, and
I think he's got a chance to be really good
this year.

Speaker 3 (57:42):
What do you what do you think.

Speaker 8 (57:45):
I do too? I mean that's why they went and
got him and Debo kind of playing with the media,
you know, basically after that first scrimmage said he's okay average,
you know, like you did with like you did with
the you know, Nolan Hoosier, and then will help goes
out in the second scrimmage any balls, you know, and

(58:06):
you know Thata Daba has a way of doing that
right of of motivating guys, and so you know, I
expect him to be a guy that's gonna come out
in this game. He's gonna be an impact player in
this game. And that's why Crimson went and got him.
I put him as one of the people to watch
in this game for me because I think l s U.
I think Clemson is gonna try to with their inside guys,

(58:30):
with Peter Woods and demonte Kate part and those guys,
I think they're gonna try to get a good push
up the middle. I think they got an advantage to
do that because I think yels who's weakness. It's inside
guards and center. And then when you do that, you
get a guy who's not very mobile, who also, let's
keep in mind, might have some knee issues, right, so
he's gonna be even less mobile. Well what do you do?

(58:52):
You push him right in and if he tries to
move around, he's gonna right, he's gonna world right into
who will Help and PJ Parker. So I think I
think will Help's going to have to make an impact
in this game. And I'm interested to see, you know,
how Clemson tries to control that line of scrimmage when
LSU has the ball, and I want to see how

(59:13):
LSU tries to defend that pass rush because if I'm
if I'm Tom Allen and I'm sure he's done that
this week. One thing we know about Garrettusmierscher, he's got
a quick relief, he's got a quick release correct. I
think he's going to be trying to get the ball
out fast. So I think you've got to get your
hands up and deflect those passes because they're going to

(59:35):
be short passes to the screen. I don't think they're
going to come in trying to run the ball with
any consistency. I think they're going to use the short
passing game as their run game. So that means t J.
Parker and those guys got to get their hands up
and try to swap some of these balls down.

Speaker 2 (59:49):
Weird question, by the way, Will Van Dervoort with us
here on the program from the Clemson Insider, who's this
game more important for in your mind?

Speaker 8 (59:57):
Wow, that is a great question because it's I think
it's important for both teams. But as the part I
wrote in my game day predictions for today, you know,
I talked about how like the impact is a team
who wins obviously gets an inside track to tall Football playoff, right,
But I think for Clemson it's more important because Clemson

(01:00:19):
plays in a conference that doesn't get the perception that
the other conference gets for whatever reason. Now you know
we've talked about this before and I want to go
into all the details, but the SEC gets a little
bit more. You know, you get a couple more mulligans
for playing in the SEC than you do the ACC
and for whatever that reason we won't go into. But

(01:00:40):
because of that I think Clemson's got to win because
if Clemson loses, then Clemson's got to run the table
in the ACC, beat South Carolina, and then they're in
of course, because they be ACC champions, right, But will
they do enough to get a bye? I don't think
they will. I think beating LSU and winning the ACC
and be in South Carolina will earn you a bye.

(01:01:01):
But losing one of those two SEC games would cost
Clemson to buy in that sense. So I think from
an impactful standpoint, it really is more important for Clemson
this game than it is LSU, because LSU is gonna
have opportunities down the road to punch some impressive wins
on the table, you know, when they play the Alabama's
in Tennessee and Florida's and those guys that they'll have

(01:01:23):
opportunities where Clemson because the a SEC doesn't get the
respect sometimes it needs, you know, you know, is SMU
gonna be ranked? You know, is Georgia Tech gonna be ranked?
Is North Carolina gonna be ranked? You know? Is Duke
or is Florida State? Right Clinton, that's the potential. I'd
beat some more ranked teams, but right now, only one

(01:01:46):
team is only two of other teams are ranked, and
Clemson plays only one of those teams and right now,
and that's SMU. So they don't play Miami unless they
get to Day C championship game. So you see why
it's more important for Clinton at this moment. This game
is more important for climb.

Speaker 3 (01:02:00):
I think in LSU, Will, do you have time to
hold over to give your prediction?

Speaker 8 (01:02:05):
I do, I do, yeah, absolutely, all.

Speaker 3 (01:02:06):
Right, We're gonna put Will on hold.

Speaker 2 (01:02:07):
We'll come right back. Keep it a lot right here
on Fox Sports Radio fourteen hundred the Midlands, of course
around the world on the iHeartRadio app. It is the
show that shakes the south Land. Back at it on
a Friday afternoon. Will Van Devoort, the Clemson insider, hanging
out with us here on Clemson Sports Talk as we
talk about Clemson and LSU. We talked about who this
game was big for, Will and you talk. You talked

(01:02:29):
about kind of conferences and I know, before we get
back to your prediction on Clemson in LSU the Big
Ten last night, it wasn't their top flight teams, but dude,
that was a struggle bust across the board for some
of their mid to bottom tier teams. And I find
it funny because I think if the Atlantic Coast Conference

(01:02:49):
went out and did the same, that's all we would
have heard about today. And I don't know how many
people were talking about the Big Ten, but man, that
sure seemed like a disappointing performance by four teams in
that league last night.

Speaker 8 (01:03:01):
I agree, But of course we don't hear anything about it. Right,
Maybe if Nebraska would have lost there in the last minute,
we'd hear something about it. But you're right, I mean,
they didn't look very good last night. They're average, you know.

Speaker 5 (01:03:13):
There.

Speaker 8 (01:03:14):
I guess Nebraska would be considered middle of the pack,
right and then below Wisconsin, and then would be below them.
Wisconsin is not going to be a very good team.
I don't think Minnesota is going to be a very
good team. So yeah, I'm with you. I think, you know,
it kind of showed that the Big Ten, as I've
always said, you got two teams in the Big Ten

(01:03:35):
before they added Oregon and Southern Cow is not good
right now.

Speaker 3 (01:03:39):
So let's just be honest, right.

Speaker 8 (01:03:41):
You know, So Washington it was a one hit wonder, right,
They've had two good teams in the last ten years.
So I'm not saying Washington is like this powerhouse by
any stretch. They're like they're they're they're just a little
bit above where Nebraska is in the Big ten. So
you got Oregon, you added to the phrase. So now
you've got Oregon, Penn State, Ohio State, Michigan. Those are

(01:04:03):
the four teams that really matter in the conference. Before that, though,
it was just really two teams because Michigan wasn't living
up to snuff for a long time, right, So it
was always just the highest state, Penn State for years, right,
and always a highest state winning it. And that's the
same what we got in the ACC. I just described
the Atlantic Coast Conference. You got Clemson, who's always there

(01:04:25):
and dominating it, right, and then you had you got
a couple of other teams every once in a while
to sneak up, but nobody consistently you know, playing well,
I mean, consistently playing at the same level. Clinton was right, well,
and I'm like, so the big the big team gets credit.
It is no better than the ACC in my opinion.

Speaker 2 (01:04:43):
I've always said that well and I think too, right, Like,
the issue with the SEC going to nine games is
where if we're eliminating these matchups, and I know LSU
they're concerned, even though it's the only Power Four game
on their schedule. People are concerned that Clemson might not
play at LSU next year because of the the changing
of the guard in the SEC. And I think less

(01:05:05):
non conference games is bad for the sport. But anyway,
that's just me. All right, here's our update. Will thirty
five to twenty eight. A minute fourteen, LSU did convert
a big fourth and ten. They're inside the five yard line.
Garrettnusmeyer took a sack. They're backed up. It's now fourth
and goal. Well, here's the final call, and thus Meyer
drops back, looks right, looks right, going to the end zone,

(01:05:26):
it's caught incomplete. The ball coups free. Clempson takes over
one to ten remaining thirty five twenty eight. Clemson will
take a knee and get out of here with a victory.
Will the Tigers winning at the buzzer? All right, tight game.
It kind of reminds me of a Notre Dame back
in the hurricane. All right, give us your scoop. Now,
you said you put your story out folks, if you

(01:05:48):
want to go read it on The Clemson Insider dot
com is where you can find Will's work. Give us
your breakdown on this Clemson ls YOU match up and
how you see it playing out, Because the one I
just watched was a dog one good football game.

Speaker 8 (01:06:01):
Yeah, I think it's gonna be a pretty good football game.
I don't think it's me a dog gone good football game.
I think Clempson. I think Clemson will will be able
to drive the ball more consistently, I think, and I
think Cleminton's gonna be able to run the ball a
little bit better than the LSU. And I know a
lot of people are still wondering about the run game.

(01:06:23):
But everything I'm hearing out of David Usmay and also
out of Adam Randall and and of course you know
Gideon Davison is those three guys are really at another level,
as separated themselves from the others in that room. And
I think they're just they're playing at a different level
and they're gonna I think there's some pretty good depth
at running back, better than what people think. And and

(01:06:46):
in that offensive line, I think Clinton's gonna lean on.
I know everybody thinks Clinton's a passing team, and oh
they're gonna come out and they got these receivers. But
if you look at Garrett Riley's offense, he wants to
run the ball first. It's all about play action. Well,
Clinton was that best last year. Phil maffl was healthy
and they led the acc and rushing and yards per carry.
What was he doing. He was running the ball, setting

(01:07:08):
up the play action and then he's killing people over
the top, right, That's what they were doing, and I
think that's what they're gonna try to do tomorrow. I
think you're gonna see kg with a couple of touchdown passes,
say Brian westco is gonna get a long one. I
think Clemson's defense is gonna get pressure on Garrettnsmeier. I
think LSU is gonna have go ad. I'mad set the
over and under at five illegal procedure penalties for LSU.

(01:07:31):
That's gonna cause them to be playing behind the sticks,
playing off schedule. That's gonna play right into Clemson's defensive hands.
I musta say go ahead and give me Clemson thirty
four LSU twenty.

Speaker 3 (01:07:42):
Wow.

Speaker 2 (01:07:42):
All right, So our official simulation was thirty five twenty eight,
with Clemson scoring fifteen points in the fourth quarter.

Speaker 3 (01:07:49):
To come back. Will Van Dervoort says, what was it?
Thirty four twenty.

Speaker 8 (01:07:55):
Thirty four to twenty.

Speaker 2 (01:07:56):
Yep, thirty four to twenty So to score big deer
by the Tigers tomorrow in Death Valley. I've got my
prediction coming up in about fifteen minutes twenty minutes here
on the program. So I'll give you that one with
everybody else again, go follow Will on Twitter at Steeler
Will Final thing. Will, what'd you think about that trade
in the NFL yesterday? How surprised were you that that

(01:08:18):
went down?

Speaker 8 (01:08:19):
If I'm TJ Watt, I go and fire my agent
because TJ. Watt, who just signed that big deal with
the Steelers one hundred and thirty three million, You're thinking,
all right, you know, and then they give a guy
who hadn't even one player of the year defensive player
of the year, you know, six more million dollars per
year than what TJ. Watt has and Miles Garrett has,

(01:08:41):
and so it's pretty crazy, right, But man, it was wild.
You know, I'm interested see what happens because Jerry Jones,
they let go of who I thought was a pretty
good player. Now he was hurt last year and maybe
there's something the guys at Dallas see with him, with
Michael Parson. Maybe there's something they saw and they're like,

(01:09:03):
you know, do we really want to invest that kind
of money into them? So it may not show this year,
you know, it may not show next year, but maybe
it shows quicker than what people think before that contract
runs out. Regardless, Michael Parson's got his Uh, he got
his one hundred and twenty million dollars guaranteed, so he
gonna be okay.

Speaker 2 (01:09:22):
Yeah, no doubt, man, no doubt. We'll enjoy the game tomorrow.
I'll see you in Death Valley, my man. Appreciate you all.

Speaker 8 (01:09:28):
Right, Loton, thanks buddy, thanks having me.

Speaker 3 (01:09:31):
There you go.

Speaker 2 (01:09:31):
That's Will Van Derwart from the Clemson insideer. A couple
of segments left. We got our prediction in the final segment.
What a game, man, That simulation was spectacular. You paid
for the whole seat, but you only need the edge
as Clemson comes away. Man, I thought the guy caught
the ball in the end zone and he dropped it.
He dropped it, and the Tigers win it. Rocking and

(01:09:53):
rolling along with you, Clempson's sports dog. All right, if
you don't get a chance to get your text message in.
That is all right eighth three four five zero zero
eighty six. Don't forget about our friends at Alumni Hall
on the corner of campus on College Avenue and downtown Clemson.
It's Alumni Hall for all your officially licensed Clemson merchandise
has t shirts Telgate Gary Moore. Go check them out

(01:10:14):
today or online in Alumni Hall dot com. It's Alumni
Hall where Tiger fans shopping. As I told you several
weeks ago, you don't just have to be a Crimson fan.
If you go to Alumni Hall dot com, I mean Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn,
Florida and Florida State, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Tennessee, North Carolina.

(01:10:36):
I mean, there's a ton of schools and if you
go to their site through our site, we will get
some credit when you do make your purchase. So make
sure you find the link to Alumni Hall on clympsuons
sports saul dot com. Then do all your shopping. Of course,
Clemson students faculty in all military get ten percent off
when shopping in the store. All right, we got some predictions.
Austin listened to the program in Greenville shout out to

(01:10:58):
the Upstate fans. Austin says, he's calling it right now.
Clemson thirty one LSU twenty seven. Club Nick throws for
three hundred yards and the defense gets a late stop,
Tigers by four. Austin, That's about what I just watched.
K Clubbing threw for three h five in that game.
Clemson got a late stop. It was to come from

(01:11:21):
behind that ooh did not like. But they they figured
it out. Down twenty eight to twenty. Clemson got the
big touchdown in two point conversion and then of course
took the lead and held on as the fans. The
fans got electric. Jason listened to the program in Anderson,

(01:11:41):
says Dabos boys will start with a statement win on
Saturday and could run the table death valley magic all
season long. That's Jason listening to program. Listened to the
program in Anderson. Eight oh three four five zero zero
eighty six. That's the text line. All right, let's see Tie,

(01:12:04):
he's a game Cock fan, he says. In Colombia, he says,
my prediction Clempson fans blaming the rest by the third quarter.
Ha cut, Tie, I've got a cough Man hold on
I gotta gotta get the old throat clear. That's that
is beautiful clips. My prediction Clipson fans blaming the rest

(01:12:24):
by the third quarter. LSU wins thirty eight twenty and
y'all start talking about basketball season early.

Speaker 3 (01:12:34):
I appreciate tie peeking over the fence, so.

Speaker 8 (01:12:37):
You could continue to peek over the fence at the
best radio showing the naked ty.

Speaker 2 (01:12:41):
I'm gonna give you some credit. That's one of the
best lines of a prediction in the history of this program.
My prediction, Clemson fans blaming the rests by the third quarter.

Speaker 3 (01:12:54):
I love it.

Speaker 2 (01:12:56):
And finally, Heather to the program in Atlanta, she says, honestly,
think this game decides who's in the playoffs. I'll take
Clemson ten to two for the year, but LSU steals
the open there thirty to twenty eight, So Heather must
have Clemson losing the LSU and South Carolina. But I

(01:13:18):
still think, Heather, Clemson could get in, right, I mean,
if they go ten to two, and I don't know,
maybe maybe you're second loss that you're talking about to
an ACC school in Clemson. Somehow on the outside of
the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game will one loss in
the league, which I guess is theoretically possible. But I'll
say this either, I think if Clemson, if Clemson loses

(01:13:43):
this game to LSU, I mean, they gotta play well
the rest of the way. I think they can go
in defeated. Though I've said that, I mean I think
if they win this game, not that South Carolina will
be some some pushover any means.

Speaker 3 (01:14:01):
I think that South Carolina game is gonna be tough,
tough ballgame.

Speaker 2 (01:14:05):
But the reality is, by the time these two teams
get there, and you don't know one way or the other. Right,
Like we did this show the other day where we
talked about we did a segment on like Christopher Vezina
and what if it had to be Zina? And I think,
you know, an eight and four, nine to three year
would be probably a pretty good year with Visina.

Speaker 3 (01:14:26):
Well, what if Carolina? What if South Carolina had to
run what I'm assuming Aaron Nolan is the backup? Did
South Carolina put out a depth chart? I honestly haven't heard.
I can look real quick on Twitter. I know Clemson
didn't put one out.

Speaker 2 (01:14:44):
Let's see if South Carolina's got a depth chart where's
Mike Yova when you need him?

Speaker 3 (01:14:50):
Swanye?

Speaker 2 (01:14:50):
I know, right, what are you doing, Mike? He's probably
eating lobster up in Boston. All right, let's see South
Carolina and depth chart. I have no idea if they
put one now or not. Virginia Tech depth chart. There's
Virginia Tech's depth chart. Okay, here, here we go. Virginia

(01:15:15):
Tech put out a depth chart, and oh it's only
Virginia Tech.

Speaker 3 (01:15:25):
Dang it.

Speaker 2 (01:15:26):
It had the two helmets of it. It had the
two helmets on it, and I thought for sure we
were getting both teams. But then when I looked at it,
on the top it was offense. On the bottom it
was defense. So no depth chart.

Speaker 3 (01:15:44):
Rats.

Speaker 2 (01:15:46):
All right, Well, we got a lot of games to
get to predictions on tomorrow's matchups. We'll jump into some
of that right now. We got about a minute and
a half. Let's kind of go through the We'll go
back back to front if you will. We'll start with
the final game of the weekend. That's Monday. We're off
the air. On Monday, eight o'clock Monday night, North Carolina

(01:16:11):
hosted TCU. TCU's favored by three and a half. I'm
not buying the hype of Bill Belichick coaching collegiately, I'll
take TCU to win that game over North Carolina. We'll
back it up to Sunday, seven thirty pm on ABC.
Miami's hosting Notre Dame at hard Rock Stadium. Miami's favored,
excuse me, Notre Dame's favorite by two and a half.

(01:16:32):
I think Notre Dame beats Miami. I don't want to
say handily, but I think Notre Dame wins that game
by eight to ten points. Then at three o'clock, South
Carolina and Virginia Tech, and this will be my final
prediction in this segment, will save the Saturday slate for
the next segment. South Carolina's favored by seven and a half.

(01:16:56):
I think this game is probably closer than Gamecock fans
would like it to be. They might pull away late,
but I can see this thing being somewhere in like
the thirty one twenty four range. Something like that feels
pretty good to me. Thirty four to twenty one, and
so I'll take South Carolina to win, but I think
it's gonna be tight. I really do. And I would

(01:17:18):
not be completely shocked if Virginia Tech pulls the upset.
All right, final segment plus our predictions on Clemson and LSU.

Speaker 3 (01:17:26):
When we get back, stay with us.

Speaker 6 (01:17:30):
What have you done for me lately? It's a fair question.

Speaker 4 (01:17:35):
Just don't lose sight of the bigger picture, don't forget history.
Lucky for us at Clemson, the answer to the questions
what have you done for me lately?

Speaker 6 (01:17:48):
And what have you done? Always are the same. We win.

Speaker 2 (01:18:43):
Final segment On a Friday, Clemson sports a college football
galore tonight, getting ready to get going here momentarily as
we have a little six o'clock kickoff in the world
of college football as Army host Tarleton State, and then
we've got a couple of big games at eight o'clock

(01:19:04):
with Baylor and Auburn and Colorado and Georgia Tech facing off.
I can't wait to watch those games. We gave our
predictions again. I think TCU beats North Carolina. I think
Notre Dame meets Miami, and I think South Carolina beats
Virginia Tech. I think the Game Cocks fans will be
disappointed that South Carolina does not cover that game, but

(01:19:24):
I do think they win, and I think there's a
possibility Virginia Tech wins. By the way, I'm not one
hundred percent sold that the Hokies won't shock the world,
at least shocked the local world in the Midlands.

Speaker 3 (01:19:39):
With a victory.

Speaker 2 (01:19:40):
And of course, Virginia Tech fans can shop at Alumni Hall.
They are one of the fan bases that has in
Alumni Hall store, So go check them out Alumni Hall
dot com. Or when you're in Clemson tomorrow downtown right
there on the corner of campus on College Avenue, it's
Alumni Hall where Tiger fans shop. Go check out all
their new gear for the fall season.

Speaker 3 (01:20:03):
All right, the big noon kickoff.

Speaker 2 (01:20:06):
Number one Texas, number two slash number three Ohio State
depending on where you look. Lee Corso's final game day,
the Buckeye is favored by one and a half. You know,
I know everybody wants to buy in on the Texas hype.

(01:20:27):
I'm gonna pump the brakes a little bit here. I'm
gonna take Ohio State to win this ball game. I've
never truly been sold on Texas, and I got a
little bit of a wait and see approach on arch Manning.

Speaker 3 (01:20:42):
I certainly have a similar wait and see approach on Julian.

Speaker 2 (01:20:46):
Saying, but the fact that this game's in Columbus, I
don't think people are given that enough.

Speaker 3 (01:20:54):
Umph if you will.

Speaker 2 (01:20:55):
And I understand a lot of money came into day
on Texas winning that game. But I'm gonna take Ohio
State to beat Texas and for the Buckeyes to advance
to the number one spot in the polls this time
next week. I think Ohio State gets the victory there.
I think it has a chance to be a great game.
Though Alabama's at Florida State. That game is now up

(01:21:19):
to fourteen and a half. You heard facts and childrens
on this program say he thinks Florida State's gonna win
that game. I am of the opposite ILK. I thought
Alabama would cover the thirteen and a half. I don't
know if they'll cover the fourteen and a half, but
I will take the Crimson todd to win that ballgame,
and I think they'll do it convincingly tomorrow. By the way,

(01:21:44):
that game is a the three to thirty start on ABC.
Then you've got a course at seven point thirty Clemson
and LSU, and my thoughts on it are as such,
much like Ohio State, I think there is a tremendous
advantage that this game is being played in Death Valley

(01:22:06):
for Clemson, I think that the fact that LSU has
multiple new players on their offensive line is a big deal.
I think the fact that Clemson has gotten only better
at wide receiver, and I might argue, while it's still

(01:22:27):
very much an unknown, much like say Arch Manning is
the quarterback at Texas, that the running back spot is unknown.
I think there is grounds for improvement in this running
game at Clemson from a year ago, even with Phil
MafA going for over a thousand yards. Like, I think
this running back group and this running back corps can

(01:22:48):
be better than the one we've seen here in recent years.
And I think part of that's predicated by the fact
that you are You've got a more talented and diverse
wide receiving group. And I can't wait to see see
what Adam Randaald can do as a wide receiver out
of the backfield. Now defensively safeties, what's the health to

(01:23:08):
look like there? You know, I think some of that stuff,
like Khalil Barnes and how he looks it, certainly has
a chance to have an impact on the game. But
I don't think it'll be so much of an impact
that Clemson will come up short. I think Clemson wins it.
I think the Tigers actually cover this game as well.

(01:23:29):
I think thirty to twenty four is about right for me.
I mean, I'd love to tell you thirty to seventeen
so that you could feel pretty good the whole fourth
quarter and sit there and you know, do all the
celebrating that you want to do. But I do think
there's likely a possession somewhere in the fourth quarter where
you feel like you've got to get this stop to
get out with a W. And I think Clemson will

(01:23:53):
be loud enough. I think the fans will be electric,
and I think Death Valley will have an impact.

Speaker 3 (01:24:00):
On this game.

Speaker 2 (01:24:01):
As I said several times this week when I was
asked by people who cover LSU, I think if this
game was being played in Baton Rouge, I might have
a different feeling on it.

Speaker 3 (01:24:12):
I might pick LSU.

Speaker 2 (01:24:13):
I don't know that I pick them to win by six,
but I might pick them to win like a thirty
twenty seven, right. But I think this game goes Clemson's
way and I think the Tigers win it. Thirty to
twenty four, all right, we gotta get out of here.
We'll talk to y'all on Tuesday. Don't forget enjoy your
Labor Day weekend. We will be back on Tuesday to
recap the entire weekend and you can keep up with
it all on our website, Clemsonsports talt dot com, so

(01:24:35):
go check that out while we are away. We'll talk
to you on Tuesday. Until then, it's always y'all. Take
care now and go Tigers.