CLEMSON, S.C. -- When Clemson came back from its national championship loss to Alabama, coach Dabo Swinney showed his Tigers a handful of plays that could have changed the result.And none of them, Swinney said, were in special teams.Most remember that Clemsons fortunes in the 45-40 loss to the Crimson Tide turned on two special team plays -- a dramatic onside kick in a tie game and Kenyan Drakes kickoff return touchdown soon after that gave Alabama an 11-point lead the Tigers could not overcome.Swinney says his team will shore up special teams areas. More troubling were the mental busts that led Alabama tight end O.J. Howard to two, long touchdowns -- little mistakes, Swinney said, with big consequences.Swinney wants his team prepared should that national championship chance come around again.I think for the past several years weve been good enough and I think were good enough again this year, Swinney said. But every year is a grind. There are no free passes.The Tigers have an offense, led by top Heisman Trophy hopeful Deshaun Watson, that could render any defensive questions -- Clemson lost eight starters from last year -- moot. Watson became the first Bowl Subdivision player to throw for more than 4,000 yards and rush for more than 1,000. More so than his ability is the juniors poise and knack for making the right decision.Watson has added about 16 pounds (hes 218) since January and says he is just as fast and nimble. I think it makes me better, Watson said.Watsons hardest choices this fall might be wondering where to go with the football. Also back are tailback Wayne Gallman, who set Clemsons single-season rushing mark last year; tight end Jordan Leggett, who had 40 catches and eight touchdowns; and Mike Williams, the 1,000-yard receiver who missed most of last season with a neck injury.For Watson, its about achieving the goal the team fell short of last season.We want to do everything we can and as top-notch as we can, Watson said. We want to finish the drill.Other things to watch this season:DEFENSIVE ISSUESClemson lost two starting defensive ends, two starting safeties and a starting cornerback as early entrants to the NFL draft. Sound hard to replace? Perhaps not. Sophomore defensive linemen Christian Wilkins and Austin Bryant are primed to fill roles left by Shaq Lawson and Kevin Dodd. Cordrea Tankersley is the lone holdover in a secondary where the Tigers have stockpiled talented prospects the past three seasons. Ben Boulware should take over the linebacker role left by last years top tackler, B.J. Goodson.And there are few better in the game at drawing out the best than defensive coordinator Brent Venables, who reshaped last years defense after losing all four defensive linemen from 2014.KEY GAMESThe Tigers will get a test right out of the blocks when they open at Auburn on Sept. 3. The ACC Atlantic and probably the league title should get decided at Florida State on Oct. 29. It seems unlikely Clemson will be pushed by anyone else on its schedule.SEASON OPENERClemson starts at Auburn, where it last played in 2010 and dropped an overtime game to the eventual national champions and Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton. This time, its Clemson that is loaded.PREDICTIONIts hard to envision, after a close win in Tallahassee, Florida, not going 12-0 and rolling back into the College Football Playoff. Marvin Bagley III Jersey . Rob Manfred, baseballs chief operating officer, testified last week during the grievance filed by the players union to overturn Rodriguezs 211-game suspension. 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DeMarcus Cousins Jersey .C. at the helm of the top team in the Eastern Conference. His tenure as the GM in Vancouver was all too brief. Though he led the Canucks to what was then a franchise record-shattering campaign in just his second season, Nonis was gone and replaced one year later. Miami and Florida are still set to host football games on Saturday as Hurricane Matthew marched toward Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas late Wednesday.The 10th-ranked?Hurricanes?have not made a decision to cancel or postpone Saturday nights home game against No. 23?Florida State?on ABC.Matthew was a dangerous and life-threatening Category 3 storm with sustained winds of 120 mph as it passed through the Bahamas on Wednesday, and it was expected to be very near Floridas Atlantic coast by Thursday evening. It is expected to make its way up the East Coast.?At least 16 deaths in the Caribbean have been blamed on the storm, with heavy damage reported in Haiti.I dont know what well do, to be honest with you, Miami coach Mark Richt said. Just keep everybody safe first. Well do the best we can.Florida State is scheduled to fly in Thursday night for the Miami game, though forecasters say Thursday could be the day when the Miami area absorbs the worst of Matthews wind.Weve looked through every scenario known to man and well figure it out here when it gets there, and well fly down when they tell us to fly down and play when they tell us to play, Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher said.As of Wednesday afternoon, the game is still on. Miamis athletic director Blake James said in a statement, We are monitoring Hurricane Matthew, and are in constant contact with stadium personnel. We are hopeful that the impact of Hurricane Matthew will be minimal and the game between the Hurricanes and Seminoles will be played as planned.University of Florida officials said Saturdays Southeastern Conference game between the?Gators?and?LSU?will not be moved?from?Gainesville.A final decision on the start time of the game will be made by 1 p.m. on Thursday as we continue to monitor the storm, the school said in a statement Wednesday. The games scheduled start time is noon at?Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.UF officials said they are working closely with local and state officials, as well as the SEC office, to monitor the hurricanes progress and its potential impact on campus and the safety of the fans.South Carolina officials said the?Gamecocks game against?Georgia?this weekend will be played in Columbia, although?they?acknowledged the date and time could change because of impending impact of the hurricane.The school said in a statement the USC vs. UGA game will be played in Columbia.Officials said they are monitoring Matthews track and will most likely make a decision on any changes Thursday. The school said it was communicating with the National Weather Service, the SEC and state and local authorities.Gov. Nikki Haley said the school was told Wednesday the state would not be able to spare personnel to help with a football game. Dozens of state troopers routinely help with traffic at Williams-Brice Stadium, which seats about 80,000.South Carolina senior associate athletic director Charles Bloom told Columbia radio station 107.5 WNKT-FM its possible the game could be played Sunday or Monday if necessary, with safety being the primary concern at this point.Were not going to risk peoples lives, and take emergency people away from people who really needd them, in order to host a football game, Bloom said.ddddddddddddMeanwhile, football games elsewhere in Florida were postponed, other events were canceled and contingency plans were being made. On Wednesday, the UCF Knights?decided to postpone their game against Tulane?until Nov. 5. The contest was scheduled to be played Friday night in Orlando.Taking into account all the latest projections for Hurricane Matthew, we have to keep the safety of everyone involved in these events at the forefront of our decision-making, UCF athletic director Danny White said in a statement. We appreciate our friends at Tulane and Houston understanding and working with us through this situation.Saturdays game between Florida Atlantic and Charlotte in Boca Raton will not be played Saturday and has tentatively been moved to Sunday, pending further assessments.Schools in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina have either postponed or canceled some soccer, volleyball and other college contests scheduled for the next few days.Two other college football games -- Albany State at Charleston Southern and Bethune-Cookman at South Carolina State -- have already been postponed.The Miami Heat, who arrived home Tuesday night after a 106-95 victory over the Washington Wizards in their preseason opener, decided to fly to Houston on Wednesday night to resume preseason workouts, according to a team spokesman.The Heat will use the Houston Rockets practice facilities before Saturdays preseason game against the?Minnesota Timberwolves in Kansas City. The Rockets are traveling to China for two preseason games.The?Tampa Bay Lightnings preseason game against the?Florida Panthers, which was scheduled for Thursday, has been canceled at?BB&T Center. The arena, which is outside of Miami, is under hurricane watch. The Panthers are scheduled to fly to West Point, New York, on Friday,?but if winds close airports in the Miami area, those plans would be affected.The Miami Dolphins are scheduled to host the Tennessee Titans on Sunday, and officials are keeping a close watch. The Dolphins, who already had planned not to practice Thursday, will close their team offices to give players and coaches extra time to prepare for the storm.Were watching the weather with the hurricane thats going on down there, Titans coach Mike Mularkey said Tuesday on his radio show. There may be some weather issues. Theres a very slight chance that game could be moved up here. Theres been some discussion because of it.The ACC, which could have at least five Saturday football games directly affected by the storm, said it was monitoring Matthew closely and hoped games would be played as scheduled.Other Saturday ACC games that figure to be affected include Army at Duke, Virginia Tech at North Carolina, Syracuse at Wake Forest?and Notre Dame at NC State.Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said pushing his teams game back to Sunday was possible if events warranted.Everything is on the table right now, Kelly said.The Associated Press contributed to this report. ' ' '