Every Football Bowl Subdivision opponent that the Virginia football team has played this season still has a winning record as the calendar turns to November this weekend. The job doesn’t get any easier, though. This week, No. 9 Clemson brings a 7-1 record to Scott Stadium as UVa tries to snap a five-game losing streak. The Wednesday Watch List looks at some of areas to keep an eye in the contest.

Repetition, Repetition, Repetition

Let’s start with some basics. Clemson uses mostly a no-huddle offense and it usually is doing so with tempo, though at times the players stand up and look to the sidelines for changes. The Tigers do use read option and quick passing, including receiver screens. They also use multiple spread formations – 3 wideouts, 4 wideouts, 2 tight ends, diamond formation, and so on. The offense loves Pistol looks a lot of the time; as a reminder, the Pistol puts the quarterback in a shortened shotgun snap position with a running back directly behind him.

With that in mind, one thing that struck me about the Clemson offense is how often it goes with the same look for a string of plays. For example, let’s say the Tigers align in a Pistol formation with 3 receivers split out (2 to the left and 1 to the right) and 1 tight end on the line. They may run three or four plays in a row with that exact personnel in that exact same alignment. They’ll do this especially if it is working. In fact, the Tigers will run the same play from the same formation back to back to back if the defense doesn’t stop it.

With UVa’s recent struggles setting the edge on perimeter plays, this repetition could be a problem for the defense this week.

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