Be on the lookout

for Aaron Kelly and the Clemson defense. No one knows where they have gone.

Kelly, who caught 88 passes last year for over 1,000 yards, managed 5 catches for 28 yards in the season opener against Alabama. OK, so he played a tough D and the Tide shut the Tigers down. Surely, he would rip off huge numbers against The Citadel.

No. Kelly had 2 catches for 15 yards and was used as a "decoy" per Tommy Bowden by the Tigers in their 45-17 win over the Bulldogs. Are you kidding me? A 6'5, All-ACC receiver used as a decoy against a 1-AA team? What? Huh? Kelly is on pace to catch 42 passes for 258 yards in 2008. Are you kidding me?

The Clemson D, ranked #9 in 2007, played horrible in week 1. In week 2 against the Dogs the D gave up chunks of yardage. Huge chunks. The Citadel had pass plays of 42, 39, 37, and 41 yards (TD). That was before halftime. A 50 yard TD pass with 1:33 remaining rounded out the Dogs 338 yards passing (427 total) and left me scratching my head.

True, 209 of the 338 passing yards came on 5 plays, and the other 20 completions amounted to 129 yards, but the shear volume of large plays has to be a concern. A defense that finished in the top 10 in the country last year and had 8 returning starters, now sits at #93 after two games in 2008. The Tigers have managed 1 sack in two games. Apparently the loss of Rashaad Jackson hurts worse than originally thought.

While the Tigers may make it through September 4-1 and 2-0 in the ACC without huge contributions from Kelly and the defense, it'll be a long year if the same pattern repeats itself over the course of the year.