Preview: Clemson

Clemson brings back 13 starters from last year's 9-5 Music City Bowl winning team. Third year coach Dabo Swinney will try to get his team back into the ACC Championship Game, a year after they lost to Georgia Tech in the title game.

Offense - The question since the end of last season has been 'What will Clemson do without C.J. Spiller?' However, up until last week, a bigger problem may have been coming around, as starting quarterback Kyle Parker was struggling with the decision of signing with the Colorado Rockies, who made him a first-round draft pick in the MLB draft, or come back and play another season of college football. July 20th, he decided...to come back to Clemson.

Parker had quite the debut last year as he threw for 2,526 yards and 20 touchdowns. He also ended up as the fourth highest rusher with 135 yards and a touchdown. All the passing stats are freshman records at Clemson. However, the quarterbacks behind him are very inexperienced. Parker's backup is set to be redshirt freshman Tajh Boyd, who came to the Tigers as a highly touted prospect. Third string will be handled by Mike Wade, who will also see time at safety.

Set to replace Spiller will be the two-headed tandem of Andre Ellington and Jamie Harper. The redshirt sophomore Ellington is the returning rusher after running for 491 yards and an average of 7.22 yards per carry. He also had four touchdowns. Harper, on the other hand, rushed for 418 yards and had four touchdowns as well. His 69-yard touchdown scamper was the longest rush by any Clemson rusher in the 2009 season.

The Tigers lose their top three receivers from last year and little experience returns. The next six receivers combined for 67 catches amongst them. Senior Xavier Dye is the leading pass catcher after hauling 14 passes for 236 yards and three touchdowns. Terrence Ashe hopes to become the starter opposite Dye after catching 11 passes for 124 yards. Last year, the tight end position was more prominent in the Clemson offense and there is no sign that trend will be reversed. Dwayne Allen returns after starting six games at the tight end position. He finished the year with 10 catches, 108 yards and three touchdowns.

Defense - The defense returns six starters from last year's squad that gave up only 20.4 points per game. They forced 30 turnovers, including 21 interceptions.

The leader of the the strength of the defense, the secondary, will be DeAndre McDaniel, who may have had one of the best seasons by a defensive back in school history. McDaniel ended the season with 102 tackles, five tackles for loss, two sacks and eight interceptions, one of which he brought back for a touchdown. His interception total led the ACC, was tied for third in the nation and tied for the most in school history. Joining him in the defensive backfield will be senior strong safety Marcus Gilchrist. He finished the season second in tackles with 107and two tackles for loss. Sophomore Rashard Hall comes back after having a strong freshman season. He finished with 63 tackles and six interceptions, second on the team behind McDaniel.

The defensive line will also be a strong point of the defense this year. Defensive tackles Jarvis Jenkins and Brandon Thompson return for their third season starting together. Jenkins led defensive linemen with 69 tackles, including 11 for loss. Thompson had 50 tackles. Da'Quan Bowers returns as a defensive end starter. He had 58 tackles in 12 games, including 11 for loss and three sacks. Two more talented defensive ends with experience return as well. Mallicah Goodman was a freshman All-ACC performer who had 31 tackles, five for loss and two sacks. Andre Branch had 46 tackles, eight for loss and two sacks.

Brandon Maye, like in 2009, leads the linebacker corps this season. His 103 tackles were third on the team and added seven tackles for loss and three sacks. After Maye, no linebacker comes back after seeing extensive playing time. Scotty Cooper had 16 tackles last season and has seen action in 37 games over three seasons, including six starts.

Recruiting - This year's class brings in 23 student-athletes, the highest since 2008 when the team signed 25. It consists of six defensive backs, four offensive linemen, three wide receivers and two defensive tackles, linebackers, running backs tight ends and defensive ends each.

Two of the top three recruits, Martavis Bryant and DeAndre Hopkins, are wide receivers. Bryant was ranked as the No. 10 wide receiver and No. 84 overall player in the nation by rivals.com. He finished with 70 receptions for 722 yards and 11 touchdowns as a senior. Hopkins was ranked just two spots lower in the wide receiver rankings by rivals.com. He had seven receiving touchdowns, two INT touchdown returns, three punt return touchdowns, one o a kickoff return and one on a fumble recovery as well. Justin Parker comes in as the highest rayed defensive player after being ranked as the No. 13 middle linebacker in the nation by scout.com. He had 140 tackles, 12 tackles for loss and seven sacks as a senior.

Schedule - In 2010, Clemson plays seven teams that played in bowl games last year. The Tigers open the season with two home games against North Texas and Presbyterian. It is the first time facing North Texas and first time since 1957 against Presbyterian. They next go on the road to face Auburn, the first regular season matchup since 1971. After a bye week, the team plays eight consecutive conference games, starting with a home date against Miami, a team the Tigers defeated last year. Clemson then travels to North Carolina to face the Tar Heels, in their first trip to Chapel Hill in eight years. Next comes back-to-back home games against Maryland and Georgia Tech before traveling to Boston College. A home date against N.C. State precedes consecutive road games at Florida State and Wake Forest. The team then ends the season with their annual game against in-state rival South Carolina.