Meet Clemson: Q&A with the Tigers beat writer

As Louisville travels to Clemson for a 3:30 p.m. Saturday kickoff, The Courier-Journal exchanged emails with Clemson beat writer Aaron Brenner of the (Charleston, S.C.) Post and Courier to get a better idea of what to expect.

Here's the exchange:

Jeff Greer: Deshaun Watson is a name that anyone who follows college football and recruiting recognized before he even got to Clemson. How has his emergence changed Clemson's offense?

Aaron Brenner: It's amazing how fast time flies in college football. Was it really only two months ago that the persistent storyline was, "What in the world is Clemson gonna do without Tajh Boyd, Sammy Watkins, Brandon Thomas and about five other important names?" And that was when it appeared Cole Stoudt was the new sheriff in town. Stoudt was good, but simply not great, and one costly mistake underthrowing a would-be touchdown at Florida State signaled the dawn of Deshaun.

Whether it's firing an NFL-level pass on his first career drive at Georgia to Charone Peake, floating flawless deep balls into the arms of his receivers, proving to be far slippier in the backfield and scrambling in space than Tajh Boyd, or even leading with an eminently more calm demeanor than his All-American predecessor, Watson's re-energized this entire football team.

Greer: From the outside looking in, people saw the Georgia game and wondered how good Clemson actually is. And then Clemson really tested FSU and absolutely rolled NC State, a team that's looked much better this year. Have you figured out which Clemson team people should expect the rest of the way?

Brenner: The latter. It's unfortunate, and not to be a Clemson apologist, but Dabo Swinney actually ended up being pretty much dead-on when he said throughout summer, "We could be 1-2 and one of the best teams in the country." Because we as observers naturally don't watch every quarter of every single game nationally, the public sort of glossed over the fact that Clemson was toe-to-toe between the hedges for 30 minutes until Todd Gurley took over. And of course, the Tigers got a Jameis Winston reprieve, but like you said, Clemson came thiiiiiiiis close to dethroning the champs.

The Tigers are a top-25 team without a top-25 ranking (for now.) If this upcoming game Saturday were at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium, the discussion would be different because, well, Clemson's shown to be capable on the road but dominant at home. Of course, this game is at Death Valley, and that's why the Tigers are confident they'll hold serve at home.

Greer: Everyone here is wondering what tape Dabo Swinney is watching that would prompt him to say Louisville has an "excellent" offensive line and that it'll be the best one Clemson's seen this year. The O-line has been, by far, the worst group for Louisville, and the statistics back that up. In fact, a lot of people here expect Clemson's defense to really get after Louisville's quarterbacks. Obviously they're talented, but what makes Clemson's pass rushers effective?

Brenner: Can I LOL in one of these things? Because I'm LOLing. Yeah, it's always entertaining when fans are like, "No, really, we insist, that group is terrible." If Garrick McGee doesn't have a good plan to stop the Tigers' front five (four defensive linemen and linebacker-slash-blitzing howitzer Stephone Anthony), it'll be a long night for whoever plays quarterback. The Tigers' D-line has been as good as advertised, and Vic Beasley is again among the national leaders in numbers, due to their unselfishness. Beasley's so good on his own talent, but he's aided by Anthony, bookend Corey Crawford and nose guard Grady Jarrett commanding their own attention, which means double-teaming or chipping Beasley really isn't a viable option.

Greer: It sounds like Clemson's also dealing with some inconsistency on its offensive line. Is there a definitive reason for that?

Brenner: New verse, same as the first. The fans' hope is that incoming recruits are going to finally give Clemson a respectable front five, but for multiple years in the Chad Morris era, the offensive line has been the constant scapegoat due to poor sack numbers and yards-per-carry clips. Clemson's running game has bordered on dreadful this year -- don't be surprised if Watson ends up the leading rusher -- in part because the line is built to hold up end rushers just long enough to get the ball out to those talented receivers.

As if Clemson OL coach Robbie Caldwell needed any more headaches, his unit has been by far the most injury-plagued this fall; the Tigers truly only have six, maybe seven linemen available Saturday who can be trusted.

Greer: Yes -- crowd noise has been sort of the random story of the week. This is my first trip to Death Valley. Prepare me for Saturday.

Brenner:​ It's been said that Clemson and Florida State are the two ACC programs with SEC blood. (Not having been to Virginia Tech yet, I wonder if that's in the discussion, too.) A well-deserved tip of the cap to Louisville for becoming a bona fide glamour program, of course with the help of Petrino in yesteryear and furthered by the Charlie Strong-Teddy Bridgewater successes.

But journeys to Virginia, Syracuse, Temple, UConn, FIU, Southern Miss, etc. aren't comparable to Clemson. Those who have trekked to, say, Auburn or Oklahoma State would find similarities in the passion for the program. In a way, Louisville dodged a bullet with a 3:30 kickoff instead of 7 p.m., because it's even more electric with the lights on. Because the Cardinals are a name brand who have never played Clemson before, the environment was always going to be excellent anyway, but when Petrino needlessly torqued off the fan base Monday, the atmosphere became that much more intriguing for all of us.