Meineke Car Care Bowl, South Florida Vs. Clemson: Da’Quan Bowers Ready For Action

The Clemson defense features a terrific pro prospect in Da’Quan Bowers. The defensive end, winner of the Bronko Nagurski Trophy in 2010, is a handful for opponents and has been a disruptive force all year. Whether pressuring the quarterback, bursting into the backfield to stop the run or being an all-around pain to handle, Bowers presents a difficult task for South Florida in the Meineke Car Care Bowl On Dec. 31.

Over at Voodoo Five, SB Nation’s South Florida blog, the focus is on Clemson’s Bowers. Stopping Bowers is keeping the authors, and likely the Bulls’ coaching staff, up at night.

Minimize Da’Quan Bowers’ impact on the game. Slowing Bowers down is really difficult, because on top of his huge numbers, he was incredibly consistent. Bowers led Clemson in solo tackles, he recorded at least half a sack in 10 of 12 games, and he got at least half a TFL in all but one game (against Presbyterian, where the Tigers rolled up a 42-0 halftime lead and he only played 21 snaps). While it’s sometimes hard to get up for a bowl game like this one, I expect motivation will not be a problem for him as he’s making a push to be the #1 pick in the draft.

Shakin The Southland, SB Nation’s Clemson blog, does a terrific job breaking down the matchup in detail. A quick film study on the defensive end revealed a South Florida tendency the authors quickly picked up on.

What we’ve noticed from watching film is that whenever teams show a pro-personnel group (1 TE 2-back or vice versa) then they will usually show an Under front, and they like to drop a Safety in the box. This was particularly true against UConn, but again the Huskies are an almost-entirely I-form offense. Against other formations, USF will go with a variation of Nickel, 3-4 sets (1-gapped), and quite a bit of Over front. They are primarily a Cover 1 Robber defense, but there is a bit of 2 Zone thrown in too.

Stay tuned to this StoryStream right up through game time, as we review key unit matchups, odds, bowl history and more, and connect with Clemson fans at SB Nation’s Shakin’ The Southland and South Florida fans at Voodoo Five. For a complete list of bowl games, browse our 2010 college football postseason schedule.