On Saturday at 4:00 PM PT on ESPN, Stanford football will take on No. 17 Clemson on the road. Both teams come in at 2-1 overall and 1-0 in the ACC.
VIDEO: Stanford Football Weekly Press Conference | Clemson Week
Last time out: Stanford defeated Syracuse on Friday, September 20th by a final score of 26-24. Stanford kicker Emmet Kenney went 4-4 on his field goals including the game winner.
RECAP: Stanford stuns Syracuse at The Dome
On Clemson: Clemson is coming off a 59-35 home victory against NC State, so they’re coming in with a bit of momentum. They also defeated Appalachian State 66-20 for their first win of the season. Their lone loss was at No. 2 Georgia by a final score of 34-3, so they really got destroyed.
The Tigers are led by junior quarterback Cade Klubnik, who has thrown for 729 yards, eight touchdowns, and one interception while completing 73.4% of his passes. Klubnik’s favorite receiving targets are sophomore wide receiver Antonio Williams and senior tight end Jake Briningstool. Williams has 12 receptions for 159 yards and three touchdowns while Briningstool has 12 receptions for 155 yards and two touchdowns.
On the ground, graduate student running back Phil Mafah has rushed for 284 yards and two touchdowns for an average of 8.6 yards per carry with a long of 83 yards. He’s by far and away the top rushing option for Clemson. Klubnik is also a solid rusher for a quarterback with three rushing touchdowns for an average of 5.8 yards per carry with a long of 55 yards.
Leading the team in tackles is junior linebacker Wade Woodaz, who has 20 total tackles (15 solo) to go along with two tackles for loss. Right behind him is freshman linebacker Sammy Brown, who has 19 total tackles (17 solo) and 3.5 tackles for loss. Leading the team in sacks is sophomore defensive end T.J. Parker, who has two sacks to go along with 11 total tackles (7 solo). As for interceptions, freshman cornerback Ashton Hampton has one interception that was returned 53 yards for a touchdown. So there’s some ball hawking skills on this Clemson team.
To touch quickly on special teams, freshman kicker Nolan Hauser is 3-3 on his field goals with a long of 36 yards. He hasn’t really been tested this year, but to his credit he’s perfect on his kicks so far.
Keys to the game: The first thing Stanford needs to do is keep up their defensive intensity. Through three games, their defense has been solid, doing a nice job of getting stops and forcing turnovers. If Stanford can apply some pressure on the Clemson offense and force them to turn the ball over and work for all their points, maybe Stanford makes this interesting.
The second thing Stanford needs to do is play much cleaner on offense. Specifically up front. They had too many holding penalties and flags at Syracuse. If they have the same amount/level of penalties, I just can’t see them winning this game. Stanford has to play the cleaner game if they are to have any shot of winning.
Finally, Stanford just needs to play loose and relaxed. Nobody expects them to win. If they just go out there and let loose all while playing clean, maybe they shock the world. If Stanford gets tight and doesn’t do the little things needed to win, they’re not going to come out on top. Quarterback Ashton Daniels will need to be a big part of that. He’s gotta play smart and make good decisions.
Prediction: I didn’t have Stanford winning at Syracuse last week, so in that sense, Stanford shouldn’t take much stock in what I say. That said, if I had to make a prediction, I think Clemson wins 38-21. That seems to be the most reasonable prediction to make, but once again, I was wrong last week. It should be fun to see how the game unfolds.
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