Auburn Football 2010: Matchups That Matter, Clemson

Auburn will face their most formidable non conference game of the season on September 18, 2010. Clemson will travel to Jordan Hare Stadium hoping to give Auburn a seasonal setback. Clemson won their division in the ACC for 2009.

Clemson was 9-5 during the 2009 season and finished with a big win over SEC opponent Kentucky. As we know Auburn was defeated by Kentucky at Jordan Hare Stadium in 2009.

Kevin Steele, the Clemson defensive coordinator, counts on defensive safeties making plays to stop the running game and short passing attack. It is a very aggressive defense with a high risk side.

It counts on safeties making open field, one on one plays against running backs. It is very aggressive in pursuit and misdirection has worked well against it. It has also been very susceptible to wildcat sets.

The weak point of Clemson’s defense both in strategy and talent is at linebacker. They get out of position easily following the play. Clemson’s safeties are very susceptible to teams with good blocking receivers.

Clemson could not stop the Georgia Tech or South Carolina rushing attack that featured an athletic quarterback. They allowed an average of 241 yards of rushing in their final three games in 2009.  

You can follow these links to find information on the Clemson defense and offense for 2010.

This game will come down to several important matchups. Clemson had one of the best defensive backfields in the nation in 2009. The matchup between the Auburn receivers and Clemson defensive backfield will be the key to success in this game.

Byron Maxwell Sr. Cornerback 6’1” 200 lbs 4.4 forty yds	Darvin Adams Jr. Receiver 6’3” 192 lbs 4.5 forty yds
Marcus Gilchrist Sr. Cornerback 5’11” 190 lbs 4.4 forty yds	Terrell Zachery Sr. Receiver 6’1” 211 lbs Sub 4.5 forty yds
DeAndre McDaniel Sr. Safety 6’1” 210 lbs 4.5 forty yds	DeAngelo Benton Soph Receiver 6’2” 205 lbs Sub 4.5 forty yds
Rashard Hall Soph. Safety 6’2” 195 lbs 4.5 forty yds	Emory Blake Soph Receiver 6’2” 194 lbs Sub 4.5 forty
Coty Sensabaugh Jr. Backup Cornerback 6’0” 180lbs 4.5 forty yds	Quindarius Carr Jr. Receiver 6’1” 184 lbs Sub 4.5 forty yds
Xavier Brewer Soph Backup Cornerback 5’11” 180 lbs 4.4 forty yds	Kodi Burns Sr. Receiver 6’2” 207 lbs 4.6 forty yds

Here the two teams statistics for 2009 side by side.

Statistic	Clemson	Auburn
National Ranking Offense	74th	16th
Offensive Yards Per Game	362.36 yds per game	431.77 yds per game
Passing Offense Rank	88th	56th
Yards Passing Per Game	192 yds per game	219.77 yds per game
Rushing Offense Rank	40th	13th
Rushing Offense Per Game	170.36 yds per game	212 yds per game
Punt Return Ranking	7th	113th
Punt Returns Average	14.38 yds per return	4.46 yds per return
Kick Returns Rank	24th	27th
Kick Return Average	23.78 yds per return	23.7 yds per return
Scoring Offense	28th	17th
Scoring Average	31.14 points per game	33.31 points per game
Passing Efficiency Rank	67th	22nd
Total Defense Rank	20th	68th
Yards Allowed Per Game	314.29 yds per game	374.08 yds per game
Rushing Defense Rank	67th	78th
Rushing Yards Allowed	151.5 yds per game	156.08 yds per game
Pass Defense Rank	7th	57th
Passing Yards Allowed	162.79 yds per game	218 yds per game
Scoring Defense	25th	79th
Pints Allowed	20.43 points per game	27.54 points per game
Pass Efficiency Defense	Ranked 21st	Ranked 31st
Sacks Ranked	27th	46th
Sacks Allowed Ranked	31st	45th

Here are the two projected starting teams for 2010 side by side.

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Quarterback	Kyle Parker Soph. 6’1” 200 lbs 4.6 forty yds	Cameron Newton Jr . 6’6” 247 lbs 4.5 forty yds
Running Back	Andre Ellington Soph. 5’10” 180 lbs   4.5 forty yds	Mario Fannin Sr. 5’11” 227 lbs 4.5 forty yds
	Jamie Harper Jr. 6’0” 230 lbs 4.5 forty yds	Onterio McCalebb Soph 5’10” 165 lbs Sub 4.5 forty yds
	Roderick McDowell RS Fr. 5’9” 180 lbs Sub 4.5 forty yds	Dontae Aycock RS Fresh 5’10” 218 lbs. 4.5 forty yds.
Wide Receiver	Terrance Ashe Sr. 6’2” 190 lbs 4.6 forty yds	Darvin Adams Jr. 6’3” 192 lbs 4.5 forty yds
	Marquan Jones Jr. 6’0” 195 lbs 4.5 forty yds	Terrell Zachery Sr. 6’1” 211 lbs Sub 4.5 forty yds
	Jaron Brown Soph. 6’2” 195 lbs 4.7 forty yds	DeAngelo Benton Soph 6’2” 205 lbs Sub 4.5 forty yds
	Bryce McNeil RS Fr. 6’1” 170 lbs 4.5 forty yds	Emory Blake Soph 6’2” 194 lbs Sub 4.5 forty yds
	Xavier Dye Sr. 6’4” 210 lbs 4.5 forty yds	Quindarius Carr Jr. 6’1” 184 lbs Sub 4.5 forty yds
	Brandon Clear Jr. 6’5” 210 lbs. 4.5 forty yds.	Kodi Burns Sr. 6’2” 207 lbs. 4.6 forty yds.
Tight End	Dewayne Allen Soph. 6’4” 255 lbs 4.7 forty yds	Philip Lutzenkirchen Soph 6’4” 246 lbs 4.7 forty yds
	Drew Traylor  Jr. 6’4” 245 lbs 4.7 forty yds	Eric Smith Jr. H-Back 5’10” 239 lbs 4.6 forty yds
Left Tackle	Chris Hairston Sr. 6”7” 325 lbs.	Lee Ziemba Sr 6’8” 320 lbs.
Right Tackle	Landon Walker Jr. 6’6” 305 lbs	Roszell Gayden Jr. 6’6” 321 lbs
		Brandon Mosley Jr. 6’6” 294 lbs
Left Guard	David Smith Jr. 6’5” 290 lbs	Mike Berry Sr. 6’3” 323 lbs
Right Guard	Antoine McLain Jr. 6’6” 320 lbs	Byron Isom Sr. 6’3” 310 lbs
Center	Dalton Freeman Soph. 6’5” 280 lbs	Ryan Pugh Sr. 6’4” 293 lbs
Position Defense		Auburn
Defensive Tackle	Brandon Thompson Jr. 6’3” 305 lbs 4.9 forty yds	Nick Fairley  SR 6’5” 314 lbs 4.9 forty yds
	Jarvis Jenkins Sr. 6’4” 310 lbs 4.9 forty yds	Mike Blanc  SR 6’4” 290 lbs 4.9 40 yds
	Jamie Cumbie Sr. 6’7 290 lbs 4.8 forty yds	Zach Clayton  SR 6’3” 293 lbs 4.8 forty yds
	Miguel Chavis Sr. 6’5” 285 lbs 4.9 forty yds	Derrick Lykes  Soph 6’2” 281 lbs 4.7 forty yds
Defensive End	Da'Quan Bowers Jr. 6’4” 280 lbs 4.8 forty yds	Antoine Carter  SR 6’4” 260 lbs 4.9 40 yds
	Andre Branch Jr. 6’5” 265 lbs 4.7 forty yds	Michael Goggins  SR 6’3” 261 lbs 4.63 forty yds
	Malliciah Goodman Soph. 6’4” 265 lbs 4.6 forty yds	Dee Ford  SOPH 6’4” 233 lbs 4.46 forty yds
	Kortnei Brown Jr. 6’5” 240 lbs. 4.6 forty yds	Nosa Eguae  RS FR 6’2” 249 lbs 4.9 forty yds
Linebacker	Brandon Maye Jr. 6’3” 230 lbs. 4.7 forty yds	Josh Bynes  SR 6’2” 240 lbs 4.7 forty yds
	Scotty Cooper Sr. 6’1” 220 lbs 4.5 forty yds	Craig Stevens  SR 6’3” 224 lbs 4.5 forty yds
	Corico Hawkins Soph. 5’11” 230 lbs 4.6 forty yds	Jonathan Evans  Soph 5’11” 216 LBS 4.5 forty yds
		ElToro Freeman  JR 5’11” 223 lbs 4.5 forty yds
		Daren Bates  Soph 5’11” 202 lbs 4.5  forty yds  Safety/Linebacker Hybrid
Safety	DeAndre McDaniel Sr. 6’1” 210 lbs 4.5 forty yds	Aairon Savage  SR 5’11” 200 lbs 4.5 forty yds
	Rashard Hall Soph. 6’2” 195 lbs 4.5 forty yds	Mike McNeil  SR 6’2” 210 lbs 4.5 forty yds
		Zac Etheridge  SR 6’0” 210 lbs 4.5 forty yds
Corner	Marcus Gilchrist Sr. 5’11” 190 lbs 4.4 forty yds	Demond Washington SR 5’9” 183 lbs 4.4 40 yds
	Byron Maxwell Sr. 6’1” 200 lbs 4.4 forty yds	Neiko Thorpe  JR 6’2” 192 lbs 4.4 forty yds