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ACC schedule quick take: Clemson

Conference: Home --- Boston College, Florida State, North Carolina, Wake Forest; Road --- Florida State, Georgia Tech, Maryland, Virginia Tech

Nonconference: Home --- Auburn, Troy, Wofford; Road --- South Carolina

Bye: Week 10

Don’t play: Duke, Miami, Virginia

Must-see: It's tempting to pick out the matchup with defending national champ Auburn, but how about a Bowden-free date with Florida State the next week? Clemson will probably be 2-1 at that point, and the Seminoles' visit to Death Valley will go a long way to determing the tenor of the season.

A favorable setup: This really isn't the friendliest schedule. But at least the Tigers get a bye in early November, which should provide a chance to regroup and attempt to invoke their usual Clemsonliness to make a late-season charge.

And not so much: There's no Duke or Virginia, the only Atlantic Division team that doesn't get to face either the Blue Devils or the Cavaliers. That's simply the course of the schedule rotation (Boston College, Florida State and N.C. State get their turns with that, too), but it probably isn't what Clemson would like to see as it breaks in a new quarterback and tries to replace the top defensive player in the ACC (Da'Quan Bowers).

The full schedule:

Sept. 3: Troy
Sept. 10: Wofford
Sept. 17: Auburn
Sept. 24: Florida State

Oct. 1: at Virginia Tech
Oct. 8: Boston College
Oct. 15: at Maryland
Oct. 22: North Carolina
Oct. 29: at Georgia Tech

Nov. 12: Wake Forest
Nov. 19: at N.C. State
Nov. 26: at South Carolina

A random thought on Clemson

Strange but true: Clemson, with its defeat of Boston College on Tuesday, matched its best 10-game start in conference play under Oliver Purnell.

This, of course, is Brad Brownell's first season --- one in which expectations were depressed in Tigertown after Trevor Booker's departure. A choppy 5-4 start didn't help matters. And while Clemson just got its best victory tonight, it does still have opportunities to beat Duke (granted, in Durham) and North Carolina.

Also interesting: Clemson has made it to the 10-game mark with a winning record in league play for each of the last five years. The rundown of the 10-game starts in ACC play during the Purnell years plus this season:

2004: 2-8
2005: 2-8
2006: 3-7
2007: 5-5
2008: 6-4
2009: 6-4
2010: 5-5
2011: 6-4

Virginia-Clemson make push for ACC shot clock era "record"

As Duke began to pull away from Maryland last night in Comcast Center, there was a minor distraction (at least for one person with an Internet connection sitting in the media section).

Down in Charlottesville, Virginia was busy fending off Clemson for a 49-47 victory in a game no one would likely deem a work of art.

It was the first game between ACC teams to end without either team scoring at least 50 points since 1997.

It was the fourth game between ACC schools in the shot clock era to end without a team in the 50s, and just the second in the 35-second clock era (remember, the clock was 45 seconds when introduced in the mid-1980s).

It was the first game (including nonconference play) involving an ACC team without a team scoring 50 points in more than five years (Wake Forest's memorable 47-40 barnburner against Richmond just before Christmas in 2005).

So, yeah, last night's festivities at John Paul Jones Arena were rare. But no records were broken, even if Clemson and Virginia gave it a good go.

For those wondering, the ACC coach with the most games in the shot clock era that didn't escape the 40s is, somewhat predictably, Herb Sendek with four. He was also involved in the only game with an ACC team that didn't even make it into the 40s with a shot clock, losing 38-36 to Princeton early in his second season.

The full rundown by school:

BOSTON COLLEGE (1)

2/26/2000: at Providence (L, 45-40)

CLEMSON (4)

1/25/1986: at Wake Forest (W, 46-43)
3/15/1990: vs. Brigham Young (W, 49-47)
11/30/1996: vs. Missouri (W, 47-45)
2/2/2011: at Virginia (L, 49-47)

DUKE (0)

FLORIDA STATE (1)

12/20/2003: vs. Chicago State (W, 47-42)

GEORGIA TECH (1)

11/30/1985: vs. Michigan (L, 49-44)

MARYLAND (1)

12/5/1985: at West Virginia (W, 42-41)

MIAMI (2)

1/13/1992: St. John's (W, 45-42)
2/16/2000: Providence (L, 47-45)

NORTH CAROLINA (1)

2/12/1997: at N.C. State (W, 45-44)

N.C. STATE (5)

1/18/1986: at Wake Forest (W, 45-44)
11/24/1996: Penn State (W, 44-41)
2/12/1997: North Carolina (L, 45-44)
11/12/1997: vs. Princeton  (L, 38-36)
11/30/2005: at Iowa (L, 45-42)

VIRGINIA (2)

12/1/2004: at Northwestern (W, 48-44)
2/2/2011: Clemson (W, 49-47)

VIRGINIA TECH (3)

2/4/1997: George Washington (W, 45-43)
2/18/1997: Temple (L, 45-41)
1/29/2000: Massachusetts (L, 49-41)

WAKE FOREST (3)

1/18/1986: N.C. State (L, 45-44)
1/25/1986: Clemson (L, 46-43)
12/22/2005: at Richmond (W, 47-40)

Weirdness at both ends caps Maryland's defeat of Clemson

Maryland escaped Comcast Center --- and got its bounceback victory --- on Saturday against Clemson.

The final five seconds of the proceedings, though, were flat-out odd.

Matters at Maryland's end were bizarre more the sheer physics involved than anything. Cliff Tucker made a free throw with 1.6 seconds left to give Maryland a 79-77 lead. Tucker was then ordered to miss the second, which he did.

Except it bounced off the rim, then caromed over the end line, effectively nullifying the fact Clemson was out of timeouts.

"I've never seen that in my life," coach Gary Williams said. "That's like 1,200 games. I never saw that. I don't know how it got out of bounds at the angle it got out of bounds. It was just like 'Oh, no, here we go.'"

He's not the only one.

"That's the first time in my life I've seen that," forward Dino Gregory said. "When it was going out of bounds, I said 'Is this real?'"

It was. Clemson had to set up its final play quickly, and Demontez Stitt just missed a shot from midcourt that would have clinched the victory for the Tigers.

Naturally, that sequence came up during Williams' press conference.

"The deal is if you make that it would have put us up three, so now they have a chance with 1.6 seconds," Williams said. "Everybody has a play you run in that situation. What you're hoping for on the miss is they grab the rebound and by the time they come down and make one pass, they're throwing it from 85 feet. Unfortunately, the ball rolled out of bounds and they got it to halfcourt and they got a look. ... Those players were smart. The natural reaction  is to o for that rebound. Cliff did a great job. He didn't hit it too hard and he got the rim. That's all you have to do in that situation."

But it was preceded by another oddity.

Clemson trailed 78-75 after Sean Mosley's two free throws with 12.2 seconds remaining. The Tigers dawdled, eventually tossing a shot into the paint for a Devin Booker dunk with 2.1 seconds left --- which didn't do much.

"We were trying to run a screen to screen for Andre [Young] to hit a 3-pointer, and they switched out which messed up our guys," Clemson coach Brad Brownell said. "If that was 4.8 seconds  instead of 2.8, then I think it would have been a much different scenario."

Report: Clemson likely to start Narcisse for injured Smith

An update of interest pointed out to me by Greg Wallace, the Clemson beat writer for the Anderson Independent: Bryan Narcisse is expected to make his first start of the season and third of his career in place of injured guard Tanner Smith when the Tigers visit Maryland on Saturday.

Smith suffered a sprained knee Tuesday against North Carolina. He is one of two Tigers to start each of their 18 games, and ranks third on the teams in minutes per game (30.3) and fifth in scoring  (8.6).

Meanwhile, Narcisse is averaging 3.3 points in 10.4 minutes. He matched a career-high with 10 points against North Carolina.

Clemson will have only nine scholarship players at its disposal against Maryland, including one (Zavier Anderson) who began the season as a walk-on. The Tigers also had two guards (Donte Hill and Noel Johnson) transfer since October.

Maryland gets first look at Clemson under Brownell

Clemson, which plays its first and only regular season game against Maryland on Saturday, has a new look under first-year coach Brad Brownell but is producing a reasonable facsimile of the success the Tigers enjoyed during the latter half of Oliver Purnell's tenure.

Purnell favors an up-tempo approach. Brownell's teams at UNC Wilmington and Wright State employed a motion offense.

Clemson (13-5, 2-2 ACC) won eight straight until a 75-65 loss to North Carolina on Tuesday, adjusting well to Brownell's system along the way.

"He's always had that style of play," Maryland coach Gary Williams said. "It's a good style of play. What it takes to play that style of play, the players have to run everything hard. You have to spread the court with that motion because you have to react to the ball because it's not exactly a set play or anything like that. They move really well, and it's a tough challenge for the defense to play at the pace."

Both Demontez Stitt and Andre Young are averaging double figures in the backcourt, while Clemson's limited depth in the backcourt (particularly with Tanner Smith injured and out Saturday) is limited to a pair of sub-6-foot players (Zavier Anderson and Cory Stanton) and football wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins.

Meanwhile, both Jerai Grant and Devin Booker have progressed as well.

"He's taking advantage he has two guards like Young and Stitt, and then he's got two little guards he can bring in," Williams said. "The more you spread the court with those guys, the better it is for those guys, too. He's got two good post-up guys, Grant and Booker. That's why they've been successful."

Grant, the son of former NBA player Harvey Grant, had 10 straight games in double figures before a two-point effort against North Carolina. He's averaging 12.3 points, up from 7.2 a year ago.

"You remember watching his father play?" Williams said. "He's got that move now --- he looks like his dad --- he's got that move where he faces and he takes that little drop step and takes that jump shot. I saw that many times watching games on television. He's gotten better. He's definitely gotten better."

Flipping through history: Current Terps vs. Clemson

A little rundown of the history Maryland's current roster enjoys with Clemson, which rolls into Comcast Center on Saturday for the teams' lone meeting of the regular season ...

ADRIAN BOWIE (14.3 mpg, 6.0 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 2.3 apg, 1.0 tpg, 0.5 spg, 0.3 bpg, 10/19 FG, 0/1 3FG, 4/8 FT)

2008 (H): 12 minutes, 12 points, 1 rebound, 1 steal, 6/6 FG, 0/1 FT
2009 (A): 23 minutes, 8 points, 2 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 turnovers, 3/7 FG, 0/1 3FG, 2/5 FT
2010 (A): 17 minutes, 2 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists, 1 turnover, 1 steal, 1 block, 0/4 FG, 2/2 FT
2010 (H): 5 minutes, 2 points, 2 rebounds, 1 turnover, 1/2 FG

DINO GREGORY (15.3 mpg, 1.3 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 1.0 tpg, 0.3 spg, 0.3 bpg, 2/8 FG, 0/2 FT)

2009 (A): 8 minutes, 0 points, 3 rebounds, 1 steal, 0/1 FG, 0/2 FT
2010 (A): 12 minutes, 4 points, 4 rebounds, 3 turnovers, 1 block, 2/4 FG
2010 (H): 26 minutes, 0 points, 5 rebounds, 0/3 FG

CLIFF TUCKER (14.3 mpg, 4.0 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 1.0 apg, 1.3 tpg, 0.8 spg, 6/18 FG, 1/4 3FG, 1/4 FT)

2008 (H): 12 minutes, 0 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 turnovers, 1 steal, 0/1 FG, 0/2 FT
2009 (A): 14 minutes, 4 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists, 1 turnover, 1 steal, 2/6 FG, 0/1 3FG
2010 (A): 13 minutes, 2 points, 2 rebounds, 1/5 FG, 0/2 3FG
2010 (H): 18 minutes, 8 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 2 turnovers, 1 steal, 3/6 FG, 1/1 3FG, 1/2 FT

SEAN MOSLEY (26.0 mpg, 11.0 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 2.0 apg, 2.3 tpg, 2.3 spg, 0.3 bpg, 10/23 FG, 2/3 3FG, 11/13 FT)

2009 (A): 21 minutes, 5 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 turnovers, 1 steal, 1/7 FG, 0/1 3FG, 3/4 FT
2010 (A): 28 minutes, 8 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 turnovers, 4 steals, 1 block, 3/8 FG, 2/2 FT
2010 (H): 29 minutes, 20 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 turnovers, 2 steals, 6/8 FG, 2/3 3FG, 6/7 FT

JAMES PADGETT (6 minutes, 2 points, 3 rebounds, 1 block, 1/1 FG)

2010 (H): 6 minutes, 2 points, 3 rebounds, 1 block, 1/1 FG

JORDAN WILLIAMS (31.0 mpg, 15.5 ppg, 9.0 rpg, 0.5 apg, 2.0 tpg, 1.5 spg, 1.5 bpg, 12/17 FG, 7/11 FT)

2010 (A): 34 minutes, 13 points, 13 rebounds, 1 assist, 4 turnovers, 2 steals, 2 blocks, 4/5 FG, 5/6 FT
2010 (H): 28 minutes, 18 points, 5 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block, 8/12 FG, 2/5 FT

All 128 ACC Atlantic Division scenarios in one place

With four teams and seven games still relevant to the ACC's Atlantic Division race, there are 128 scenarios that could come out of the division.

(For those without much of a stats background, that number comes from taking two --- the number of outcomes possible --- to the seventh power, i.e. 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2).

Anyway, this was a quirky project for a flight from Fort Lauderdale to Baltimore on the way back from the Maryland-Miami game. Needless to say, three pages of my notebook now look like Kryptonian symbols.

Of the 128 scenarios, Florida State wins in 38 of them, N.C. State in 33, Maryland in 31 and Clemson in 25.

And then there's the trainwreck scenario. That's the fun one.

Suppose Florida State loses to Clemson but beats Maryland. And the Terrapins upend Virginia and N.C. State. Oh, and the Wolfpack has to beat Wake Forest and North Carolina. Finally --- and perhaps least likely --- Clemson has to lose at Wake Forest. Then again, it's Clemson, so nothing should be counted out.

That creates a three-way tie at 5-3 between Florida State, Maryland and N.C. State. The group would be 1-1 against each other, and all three teams would have the same division record, losses to Clemson, wins against Boston College and Wake Forest and no common games against non-division teams.

That takes things down to step No. 7 on the eight-step tiebreaker list, which is the team with the highest ranking in the BCS standings at the end of the conference regular season --- unless the teams are within five spots of each other. Seeing as how none of the three are in the top 25 of this week's BCS standings, hilarity could ensue.

Step No. 8, by the way, is "the representative shall be chosen by a draw." Fun times.

So one of the 128 scenarios falls under "unknown" --- an amusing potential outcome to say the least. As for the other 127. Read on after the jump.

Reviewing the Clemson game day predictions

Looking back on today's game-day predictions ...

1. Torrey Smith will set the ACC career kickoff return record.

INCORRECT. Smith needed 86 yards to pass Brandon Tate. Instead, he wound up splitting the kickoff return duties with Trenton Hughes and had two returns for 37 yards.

2. Andre Ellington will have more touches in the first half than he did all game a week ago.

INCORRECT. Ellington had 13 touches last week, and wound up with 11 in the first half today (nine carries, two kickoff returns). Ellington finished with 18 touches for the day.

3. There will be a Jamarr Robinson sighting.

CORRECT. Robinson was in on four snaps --- one incomplete pass, and three running plays for a total of 12 yards.

4. The D1scourse over/under on punts is 13 --- and taking the over isn't a bad idea.

CORRECT. Both teams had seven punts, for a total of 14. A good call here. Maryland and Clemson combined to go 8-for-30 on third down.

5. Clemson will win ... but no one should be surprised by any outcome other than a full-fledged Maryland rout.

CORRECT. Chances were good Clemson was more likely to win in a rout than in a tight one. It worked out that way.

Clemson: 3-for-5
Season: 17.5-for-30

End Q2: Clemson 17, Maryland 7

CLEMSON, S.C. --- Maryland's formula for success this season is a combination of forcing turnovers, making red zone stops and thriving on special teams.

In the first half against Clemson, the Terrapins have no takeaways, allowed Clemson 10 points in two red zone trips and effectively gave away a 10-point swing on special teams.

The Tigers' Andre Ellington answered Maryland's lone touchdown with an 87-yard return for a score. And Travis Baltz badly missed a 33-yard field goal to the right.

This is actually a game that, based on the numbers, Maryland should at least be tied in --- pretty much the reverse of some of the games the Terps have done well in despite statistical disadvantages. They'll get the ball to start the second half, and might just need a statement drive after giving up a 1-yard touchdown plunge by Jamie Harper on fourth-and-goal in the last minute of the second quarter.

As for other developments, Jamarr Robinson played two snaps in the first half, thus effectively answering the quarterback question. Which brings us to ...

THREE STARS

1. Danny O'Brien. The redshirt freshman has completed 13 of 18 passes for 159 yards and also caught a 4-yard pass from Da'Rel Scott for a score. For a first start on the road, he has played exceptionally well.

2. Will Yeatman. The senior tight end had three catches for 41 yards during Maryland's touchdown drive. It was Yeatman's first three receptions of the season.

3. Antwine Perez. The senior safety broke up a sure touchdown on Clemson's first drive, effectively saving the Terps four points.