Link sAUsage: Clemson Game Week Officially Begins

September 5, 2017
Here we are, tired and bleary-eyed after a Sunday and a Monday night with late college football. If you missed it, the SEC somehow came out on top of the ACC as Tennessee rallied against Georgia Tech to win 42-41 in double overtime. We just know that Auburn will somehow win a closer game than that this weekend in Death Valley, and we’ll all lose several years in the process.
As for the team that’ll be playing at Clemson? They did pretty well over the weekend with the win over Georgia Southern, and things are trending in their way early on as we get ready for Saturday.

Auburn now a 5.5-point underdog at Clemson, per Vegas Insider. Clemson opened as 6.5-point favorite.

— Brandon Marcello (@bmarcello) September 5, 2017

People are putting actual dollars on the Tigers to win, and I wouldn’t be surprised if that line gets closer in favor of Auburn as the week progresses...
And if you believe in such statistics having any bearing on the field...

Auburn is 17-5 in AP Top-15 matchups since 2004, the second best win percentage among teams with at least 5 such games.

— Cole Cubelic (@colecubelic) September 4, 2017

A lot of that credit goes to Tuberville, who had a ridiculous record against highly-ranked teams. It was often the middling ones that nipped him, but the point still stands. When Auburn is good, they usually win.
Looking at Clemson, they’ve made a couple of depth chart changes after the opener,

A few changes to Clemson's depth chart for this week against Auburn, including at cornerback and right tackle. http://bit.ly/2gCkflx

— Matt Connolly (@MattatTheState) September 4, 2017

That right tackle spot is interesting, because that’s exactly where either Jeff Holland or Marlon Davidson will be matching up, and if they’ve got someone not up for game speed in there, it’ll be a problem.
For Gus, putting freshmen into his own depth chart wasn’t just guff — plenty of them actually played on Saturday, and played pretty well.

“I think that will do nothing but help us with our depth going forward.” http://bit.ly/2gCo4Hv

— Josh Vitale (@AUBlog) September 4, 2017

And first time starter Prince Tega Wanogho also got his first look at extended game action.

“As soon as the game kept going...I started getting confidence.” @tega441, 4 others, make 1st @AuburnFootball start http://bit.ly/2gC3gA4

— Jeff Shearer (@jeff_shearer) September 3, 2017

When you look at the defensive backs, it was the perfect opportunity for them to get their feet wet, as their responsibilities were largely complementary to the rest of the defense. Play run support, and if they pass, don’t give up the big play. They did well, and it was an easing-in type of game for one guy who hadn’t played in awhile.

Nervous at first, Jamel Dean gains confidence in long awaited Auburn debut http://bit.ly/2eGoXlo http://pic.twitter.com/lRAjSRnr3q

— Tom Green (@Tomas_Verde) September 4, 2017

Couple final notes today, check out this feature on two of our starting linebackers and their hometown. It’s pretty great stuff.

"They were just born to play football."

Watch @Trew30_ and @_Davis_Boy12's full length hometown feature.#WarEagle http://pic.twitter.com/7BUPMhLEjY

— Auburn Football (@AuburnFootball) September 4, 2017

According to CollegeFootballNews, it’ll be a game against the 2nd-ranked Tigers in Death Valley this weekend. They’ve got Auburn at 14, but we’ll see where we fall when the polls are released later today.

CFN Rankings No. 1 to 130: Week 1 http://bit.ly/2gCocXv via @colfootballnews

— CollegeFootballNews (@ColFootballNews) September 5, 2017

from College and Magnolia http://bit.ly/2eGp4xk