Boston College at Clemson: 5 Big Questions

2. What can Boston College’s defense do to try to limit Tajh Boyd and Sammy Watkins in particular, and the whole Clemson offense in general?

Is there anything they can do? Boston College has been down this road before and it wasn’t pretty, and they should know that the Tigers are going to be slinging it all day long and having Boyd run it when they don’t. Realistically, it will be a matter of slowing them down more than stopping them, because the latter will probably be beyond the Eagles’ abilities.

So, how do you slow down a team that’s scoring over 40 points per game? Especially one that already does not need a great deal of time of possession to score big? One way will be to stop Clemson on third downs if they get that far. The Tigers are excellent in that department, so any third down stops will be helpful. It would be swell if those were long-yardage third downs as well to make it easier but we’re not picky here.