California HC Tosh Lupoi Breaks Down Clemson's Offense, Praises Tait Reynolds Ahead of Friday Matchup

Just two days remain until Clemson's Week 4 matchup at California, where the Tigers will face first-year head coach Tosh Lupoi.

Dabo Swinney said this week that he and the Tigers have "studied Oregon a lot" to prepare, since Lupoi spent the past three years as the Ducks' defensive coordinator.

Similarly, Lupoi has done plenty of homework of his own.

On Tuesday, he broke down Clemson's offense in detail, starting with true freshman quarterback Tait Reynolds, who he says has brought "regenerated energy" to that side of the ball.

"I always dive in and start with the personnel. I think they've got a new regenerated energy rockin' with Tait Reynolds, No. 2, their quarterback," he began. "He has a 10'1" broad jump, 525-pound squat, 37-inch vertical, you know, [an] impressive athlete."

"He's a true freshman, but they've had three lightning delays in a row, so I have faith in the lord…I don't anticipate any lightning here for this game."

Reynolds is fresh off the first start of his young career, in which he excelled for the most part. The dual-threat quarterback led a 28-20 comeback win over North Carolina, completing 69% of his passes for 215 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

Heading into his second start, it's clear that Lupoi and his team know what he can do with his physical gifts, which Swinney recently compared to those of Tim Tebow, but the biggest question is what the Golden Bears will do to contain them through both the air and on the ground.

Lupoi also glossed over backup Christopher Vizzina, who began the year as the starter, mentioning his accuracy and experience as an established quarterback, calling him and Reynolds a "good 1-2 punch."

Of course, he then pivoted to the Tigers' impressive wide receiver corps, name-dropping Bryant Wesco Jr. and T.J. Moore both as players who stick out on tape.

"Bryant Wesco, No. 12. I mean, he's as good a receiver as we've faced this season. Doing some really strong things out there," he continued. "No. 1, T.J. Moore, very polished, you know, NFL size."

Interestingly enough, Lupoi also mentioned fifth-year Tristan Smith, who has had a tough time getting on the field this year due to a poor fall camp showing.

Then he turned to the backfield, comparing the Tigers' sophomore running back, Gideon Davidson, to Cal's Adam Mohammed, one of the opposing players we highlighted yesterday.

While Mohammed is a more experienced player at the collegiate level, having spent the past two years at Washington before transferring to Cal, both are described by Lupoi as strong runners through contact. He also noted SMU transfer Chris Johnson Jr. as a standout.

"The backfield, No. 8, Gideon, I think there's a really good [comparison] of him and Adam Mohammed, you know, to get a feel of what he's capable of. Strong runner through contact," he stated. "And then they got No. 16, Chris Johnson. He's, on record, a 10-2 back. You know, he's got major juice."

Lupoi rounded out the segment by speaking on the offensive line, highlighting sophomore left tackle Brayden Jacobs as an NFL-caliber talent.

While the position group has struggled in weeks past, they played their best half of football to finish last weekend's contest and could very well be an x-factor entering Week 4.

"And then they got two returning starters on the offensive line. They got a left tackle, No. 74 Brayden Jacobs, that's got NFL grades," he finished. "So it's an impressive offense."

Lupoi clearly knows what he's up against, and his scouting report is thorough. But Swinney's staff has done its own homework on the Ducks' former defensive coordinator, and Saturday will show which team's preparation pays off. Kickoff is set for Friday at 10:30 p.m. EDT and will be broadcast on ESPN.

Enjoy our content? Make ClemsonOnSI a preferred source to see more stories from us on Google by clicking here.

Add us as a preferred source on Google