Clemson vs. Penn State: Everything You Need to Know
Photo Credit: Tanner Dodd All Rights Reserved
If you were just looking at this matchup on a screen and thought, “hmmm… Clemson vs. Penn State at Yankee Stadium sounds huge,” you wouldn’t exactly be wrong. This Pinstripe Bowl is a bit different, though. With two historic CFP-era powerhouses involved, it ultimately comes down to who is left on each roster, who is ready to play, and who can adapt to a wintry mix in the Bronx.
The History
Clemson and Penn State don’t play often – in fact this is only their second meeting ever. The previous meeting came in 1988 in the Citrus Bowl with Clemson coming out victorious, there really is not rivalry here which makes it difficult to figure out exactly what these teams will be playing for.
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How We Got Here
The context really does matter here. Clemson entered the season as a projected College Football Playoff contender, potentially National Championship contenders not to sell them short. Penn State came in as a top 10 team with high hopes that they could finally take the big 10 throne. Instead, both teams find themselves in the Pinstripe bowl – satisfactory but unlikely to be up to standards for these programs. Now you would think that’s exactly why this game wouldn’t matter, you would be wrong. This is exactly the kind of game BOTH of these programs need, something to boost those off season hopes and get a glimpse of next season or go home frustrated.
The Clemson Game Plan
The opt outs for Clemson are impossible to ignore. With over 25 scholarship players opting out of playing this game, the most notable pop up at the top of the list:
- Peter Woods (DT)
- T.J. Parker (DE)
- DeMonte Capehart (DT)
- Avieon Terrell (CB)
- Antonio Williams (WR) (Shoulder Injury)
The losses to the defense tell a different story. The defensive line allowed Clemson to keep their aggression up front erasing those mistakes made in the secondary and killing offensive momentum that teams look for. Without them, Clemson has to play more “reactive”. This worries me against a Penn State team that is looking to control the game tempo and likely lean on the run here.
Avieon Terrell opting out also will change how Clemson is going to run their secondary. With him, Clemson had a trust fund on one side of the field, when everything broke down you could almost always count on Avieon, brother of NFL player A.J. Terrell to hold it down. With him being out I’m looking to expect more zone coverage which is going to put pressure on the communication of this defense and the true tackling ability.
On the offensive end, Antonio Williams being out with injury will tighten up their margin for error. Like Avieon, you could trust Antonio to make a play when the team really needed one, now Clemson must stay on their toes, avoid those pesky 3rd downs the team has struggled with all season and not stall out their drives killing their momentum.
The Penn State Gameplan
The opt outs for Penn State on the other hand don’t really change the game. The most notable being:
- Nick Singleton (RB)
- Zane Durant (DT)
- Zakee Wheatley (S)
- Vega Ioane (OL)
With Singleton being out, there definitely be a lack of explosiveness on the offense, so don’t expect those home run plays. What you can expect is a pretty full offense from Penn State filled with patience. Penn State can win this game 3-4 yards at a time and be fully content with it. With this Clemson defensive line having so many holes it would only make sense for Penn State to try and exploit the run game.
Zane Durant being out gives Clemson a nice opening in that interior line. If Clemson can run the ball efficiently with Adam Randall and avoid those long-yardage 3rd downs, they flip the game from a ground and pound to a quicker paced game stretching out the defense.
Matchup Outcomes
This is the kind of game that is won in the little moments, not the ones everyone might see on TV. Penn State will quickly find out Clemson has depth, possibly more than they expected. Clemson MUST stay on schedule on offense, plan their drives and make sure they don’t kill their own momentum. We should see a lot of work from the special teams whether that will be pinning the opponent deep with a beautiful punt or nailing a kick from deep as we all know both teams can do. It will be interesting to see how this cold weather will affect this Clemson team who is used to the mild South Carolina temperatures especially with a slight wintery mix being on the radar for this one.
Conclusion
In this game I truly can’t see a shootout between these two teams. I think this will be a physical battle won in the trenches where both teams will struggle to find an offensive rhythm throughout the game. Penn States ability to control the tempo is impressive but the offense of Clemson should have enough running success to keep this game close. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is a 1 score game deep into the 4th quarter. It might not be the prettiest game – but it’ll be a competitive one no doubt. For a bowl game that is so influenced by opt outs honestly that’s all that we can ask for at the end of the day.