Jason Priester All Clemson
Clemson DL Serves as 'Good Measuring Stick' for Louisiana Tech OL
Louisiana Tech travels to Clemson this week for a primetime matchup with the No. 5 Tigers.
The Bulldogs come into the game as massive underdogs. However, head coach Sonny Cumbie thinks this matchup presents a rather unique opportunity for his Louisiana Tech program.
"If you're not excited to play this week, then I don't know if you can if you have a pulse for it, if this is the right locker room for you to be in," Cumbie told reporters Wednesday. "This is a great opportunity for all of us as coaches and our players to go on the road against a great opponent."
While Cumbie has never met Dabo Swinney, he has tremendous respect for not only what the head coach has done during his tenure at Clemson, but also how he's gone about doing it.
"I've never been on the inside of it and I don't know many coaches there at Clemson, but how can you not admire that success, it's great," Cumbie said. "But just from the outside looking in, I think just how he runs the program, the type of person he is, the type of character that he has, and his faith and how it leads him, and how he coaches and leads that program, is something that I think is very admirable."
On the field, one of the biggest challenges facing the Bulldogs is how to have success against the talented Clemson defensive front. Cumbie noted that this game will be an extremely good test for his offensive line.
"I think that their defensive front makes everybody else better and they've got good players behind them as well," Cumbie said. "So, for us, it's gonna be important that we get the ball out, we identify in the pass protection in terms of where they're coming in terms of the pressure, which they are a pretty aggressive defensive front. So it'll be a big challenge for our offensive line and a good measuring stick."
On the other side of the ball, the Bulldogs will be tasked with slowing down a Clemson offense that seems to be getting more confident by the week. Starting quarterback DJ Uiagalelei has gotten off to a pretty solid start this season, barely resembling the quarterback seen a season ago.
Cumbie insists that his team must be fundamentally sound at all three levels on the defensive side if they are to have any shot at pulling off the upset.
He's very talented. I think running the football their quarterback run game, it presents some problems," Cumbie said. "We got to do a great job of tackling, we've got to do a great job of running to the football and wrapping up. And then just a powerful arm. I think that the more that he plays this year, the more he's going to get into a rhythm with his receivers."
"From that standpoint, it's a big challenge for our defense in terms of when they take shots down the field from a secondary standpoint to be in the right position to be able to make a play on it and then we have to do a great job of rallying whenever the pocket breaks down and we're able to get him outside of the pocket of really running to the football and making sure we're there and sure tacklers."
The No. 5 Tigers opened as a 32.5-point favorite with a point total of 54.5, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.
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