Thursday, Nov. 13, 2008

Devils identify with Tigers

DURHAM, N.C. — Few people can understand the uncertainty hovering over the Clemson program. Duke’s players are among them.

The Blue Devils went through weeks of rumors last season about the job security of coach Ted Roof before learning he would be fired at season’s end.

They seem settled and have moved in the right direction with new coach David Cutcliffe, but that doesn’t mean they don’t feel a little bit for the Tigers — who have gone through a midseason coaching switch and are playing under an interim coach — heading into Saturday’s game.

“I know what they’re going through and understand what they’re feeling,” senior Tielor Robinson said. “They can’t really worry about who their coach is going to be and what’s going to happen next year. Then you lose the now. And before you know it, the end of the season is here.

“At this level, guys do a pretty good job of not letting it affect them too much. It may affect them when they’re sitting at home thinking about it. But once they put on the pads for two or three hours, it’s football. It’s what they love to do.”

Koenning’s search. Clemson’s defensive player of the week against Florida State? In defensive coordinator Vic Koenning’s opinion: nobody.

Koenning said he and his staff chose not to name a defensive standout after the Tigers gave up a season high in points in the 41-27 loss to the Seminoles. He reviewed the game tape at least four times since Sunday and found his players gave strong effort. However, no one stood out as the Seminoles gained 419 yards.

Only Football Championship Subdivision opponent The Citadel, with 427, put up more yards on the Tigers this season.

Top Seminoles. Florida State’s Graham Gano leads the league in scoring and is first nationally in field goals after making 17 in a row, with five kicks from at least 50 yards. Senior tailback Antone Smith is second in the league in scoring with 14 touchdowns and an average of 9.3 points per game. It is the first time teammates have led the ACC in scoring since Florida State’s Warrick Dunn, Scott Bentley and Andre Cooper finished 1-2-3 in 1995.

Running plan. When Virginia Tech visits Miami tonight with first place in the Coastal Division at stake, the Hokies will bring a run defense that seems at least as good than the unit the Hurricanes saw last season — when they were held to minus-2 yards on 29 carries.

Miami will have to be much better running the ball to have a shot at beating the Hokies and keeping its league title hopes alive.

“You’ve got to be able to run the football,” Miami coach Randy Shannon said. “This late in the season, if you can’t run the football, you won’t be able to make it. We’ve just got to be patient on offense, and the players have to understand that you just can’t abandon the run game early. You have to stick with it.”

In last year’s matchup with the Hokies, not counting sacks, Miami had four carries for negative yardage, seven no-gains and five rushes for 1 yard.

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