-If the Tigers best players were all to cut the 5 pounds of dreads on the top of their head they would be at least .1 faster in their 40 time and even more lethal.
-I was hoping the Cocks were going to go into Athens and lay an egg like they always do as soon as expectations get high. Well, they didn't. They have a ton of play makers on both sides of the ball. If they can handle Auburn at home in a few weeks, they could go into Starkville 6-0 and like #5 in the nation. Yikes.
-Remember Troy's QB Corey Robinson. The guy is a great quarterback and only a Soph. Well, Troy is the only D-I to offer him. He had 91 TDs his senior year in KY. I know he probably was playing a bunch of tiny schools, but 91 TDs is 91 TDs. We get caught up in projecting a kid and don't just look at his production. I as a recruiter am guilty of that, but try to fight it.
-If you want a laugh go to . You may remember Tribble was a fourth string quarterback at Clemson and he was on the TV show Sweet Home Alabama. Please take time to read his resume where he puts "ping pong" and "can drive automatic and manual" under special skills. Under achievements he lists his brilliant spring game performances: Completed 12-18 passes for 122 yards in the three spring scrimmages in 2007.
ACC Observations
-Another bad weekend. BC gets slaughtered by UCF 30-3. Remember that when the Eagles come to Clemson on Oct. 8. If they stay within two touchdowns any of you reading this who are there should storm the field and demand Dabo's resignation from him immediately.
-UNC squeaks by Rutgers at home and Virginia goes on the road to beat Indiana. Neither impressive, but it's a start.
-Duke stomped by Stanford. Not at all suprising.
-Va. Tech and Clemson both play squeakers to much lesser opponents.
-Writer's picked NC St. to finish 3rd in Atlantic division, but the loss of their QB and injuries have made it look like it will be a long year in Raleigh. Wake handled them at home.
-Huge weekend for the ACC. Four teams host ranked out of conference opponents and all four are winnable, and of course losable (is that a word?). Clemson hosts Auburn, FSU hosts Okl., Miami hosts Ohio St and Maryland hosts WV. Amazingly Vegas has all four as favorites right now. That is funny, because I would be happen with a split in those four, of course very happy if Clemson is the victor in one.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Monday, September 12, 2011
Clemson v. Wofford observations
Positives
-Tahj Boyd looks very good throwing a deep ball. He is also a little more athletic than we were told. Not blazing fast, but is a load.
-Sammy Watkins IS SPECIAL. He is at full speed on his second step and cuts at full speed.
-Ellington almost looks back. Don't know if he had the wrong cleats, but if he would have stayed up on a couple cuts he would have had an amazing day.
-Andre Branch is stepping up on defense.
-Quandon Christian is a LB who actually makes a lot of plays.
-O Line is opening up running lanes and is usually okay if defense only sends four
-Martavis Bryant is fast, very fast
-Chad Morris seems to have no desire to share the ball. 90% of play calls are for Ellington, Watkins, Bryant or Brown.
Negatives
-The whole freaking game. Closest I-AA game in the 25 Clemson has ever played
-Clemson defense cannot play assignment football. Every big play was because someone was trying to do someone else's job. Triple option- Tackles and Mid LB take dive, defensive ends hit QB every play and OLB and corners take pitch man. With the safeties helping to clean up all over the field. This worries me if the youngins on D will figure that out by GT game.
-The O-line cannot pick up a blitz to save its life. This is also magnified by the fact the backfield is empty so often, leavaing no one to pick up a blitzer.
-I thought Tahj either looked great on some throws or very shaky on others. He threw 3 balls that would have been picked by a better secondary and one would have been housed if caught. More inaccurate than week one and a ton of bubble screen completions to pad his stats. The bubble screen will not beat the next three opponents.
-Dabo finally ran his first fake. Pretty sure it is his first, please comment if you remember him ever faking a punt/kick. Well, I would be happy for him, but it was the WORST TIME EVER. Late in the game against a slow plodding option attack he had a chance to go up 11 with a chip shot FG. I really like the guy and hope he survives cause he recruits as well as anyone, but he scares me sometimes.
The Funny
-Same two announcers for the broadcast the first two weeks. Both games the play by play guy said, "no better atmosphere for college football." at least five times. He also called Dabo, DAYbo the first time and then was reminded by someone that his name is not DAYbo. DAYbo would be ridiculous. Dabo is an awesome name to be respected.
-Warrick Dunn, yes that Warrick Dunn, as the color man said, "This triple option really gives the offense a lot of options." Wow, Warrick, that's probably why they don't call it the Lack of Options offense.
-Tahj Boyd looks very good throwing a deep ball. He is also a little more athletic than we were told. Not blazing fast, but is a load.
-Sammy Watkins IS SPECIAL. He is at full speed on his second step and cuts at full speed.
-Ellington almost looks back. Don't know if he had the wrong cleats, but if he would have stayed up on a couple cuts he would have had an amazing day.
-Andre Branch is stepping up on defense.
-Quandon Christian is a LB who actually makes a lot of plays.
-O Line is opening up running lanes and is usually okay if defense only sends four
-Martavis Bryant is fast, very fast
-Chad Morris seems to have no desire to share the ball. 90% of play calls are for Ellington, Watkins, Bryant or Brown.
Negatives
-The whole freaking game. Closest I-AA game in the 25 Clemson has ever played
-Clemson defense cannot play assignment football. Every big play was because someone was trying to do someone else's job. Triple option- Tackles and Mid LB take dive, defensive ends hit QB every play and OLB and corners take pitch man. With the safeties helping to clean up all over the field. This worries me if the youngins on D will figure that out by GT game.
-The O-line cannot pick up a blitz to save its life. This is also magnified by the fact the backfield is empty so often, leavaing no one to pick up a blitzer.
-I thought Tahj either looked great on some throws or very shaky on others. He threw 3 balls that would have been picked by a better secondary and one would have been housed if caught. More inaccurate than week one and a ton of bubble screen completions to pad his stats. The bubble screen will not beat the next three opponents.
-Dabo finally ran his first fake. Pretty sure it is his first, please comment if you remember him ever faking a punt/kick. Well, I would be happy for him, but it was the WORST TIME EVER. Late in the game against a slow plodding option attack he had a chance to go up 11 with a chip shot FG. I really like the guy and hope he survives cause he recruits as well as anyone, but he scares me sometimes.
The Funny
-Same two announcers for the broadcast the first two weeks. Both games the play by play guy said, "no better atmosphere for college football." at least five times. He also called Dabo, DAYbo the first time and then was reminded by someone that his name is not DAYbo. DAYbo would be ridiculous. Dabo is an awesome name to be respected.
-Warrick Dunn, yes that Warrick Dunn, as the color man said, "This triple option really gives the offense a lot of options." Wow, Warrick, that's probably why they don't call it the Lack of Options offense.
Friday, September 9, 2011
Military Appreciation Day
So it will be Sept. 10th, 2011 on Saturday. Ten years since my classmates and I were hanging out at 1201 Berkeley Place. Having the time of our lives, except of course Sept. 11th, 2001 was not a good day. Not shockingly, my "where were you" story is a little funny. It was a Tuesday I think and only my second day at my co-op. My first experience with a full-time job not cutting chickens. So at 9am on the second day everyone in the machine shop I was working in shuts down their machines and starts grouping around the radio. Then one guy brings in his little 9 inch TV he has in his truck. I'm like, "What? We shut down the plant every time anything news worthy happens." So, I am continuing to work or at least look like I am working since it is my second day. Then I hear from a co-worker that a plane hit the towers. I don't know if I was naive or just not thinking, but my first instinct was it had to be an accident. At that point I hadn't been to NYC in a while, so I figured those towers were so big and with the three airports nearby planes were buzzing near the towers all the time. Anyway, not a good day. I also hate to admit that I sat in line for gas that night. I was pretty sure the whole "gas will be impossible to get soon" was a crock, but I figured why chance it.
I just remember being so angry. Part of it was an arrogance of how dare they mess with the US and part was just the anger you should have when faced with pure evil. I've been to ground zero twice, but nothing compared to when I took the subway in from Jersey and just saw this giant crater of earth open up in front of me. That was way more powerful than seeing it from the edges. It was neat to see the country come together after that day. The saddest part is even after Giuliana and Bush Jr. said they would make sure the skyline was made whole, ten years later only one 52 story building has been built. Others are on the way, but it only took 3 years to build the first set of twin towers!! Politically fighting and lack of backbone to get something done are the main culprits.
Sorry, couldn't find one without PROOF written on it. Deal with it.Anyway, back to more uplifting stuff. I hate missing Military Appreciation Day at Clemson. Clemson was a military school until 1955, so there is a strong military tradition in those hills. The band's playing of each service's song and the F-14 flyovers are the best part. As for the game, I don't see this one being remotely close. There are some I-AA programs that would scare me, but Wofford isn't one of them. The fact we have seen Ga Tech's triple option three times over the last two years will help. Now that we have speed at the skill positions, we should more easily put away lesser opponents. Good news that safety Rashard Hall could play, but they will probably hold him out until Auburn unless we are in a dog fight. The O-line needs to step up and of course Tahj Boyd needs to keep improving and learning with every snap. Clemson 48, Wofford 17.
By the way, the 10 day forecast for all those heading to the Auburn game has a Saturday high of 78. How awesome would that be? I've never been to a September Clemson game that wasn't boiling heat.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Stay in ACC vs. go to SEC
If you are Virginia Tech, FSU, Ga Tech or Clemson your small window of opportunity is closing. UNC and Miami probably blew it with all their scandals. As a Clemson fan it makes you frustrated we have had 20 years of "upper mediocrity." If Clemson football was where it could be, like in the 80s with perrenial ten win seasons than the SEC would be beating down the ADs door to join their conference. As it is they might have interest. If I were the SEC I would take FSU first, then Clemson, then Va Tech, then Georgia Tech. Only putting Clemson ahead because I think once Beamer leaves Va Tech will become a decent but not great program. Of course the real gems for football would be Oklahoma, Ok. St. and/or Texas.
But, the real question is should those schools want to leave?
Advantages of staying in the ACC:
Better chance of winning a conference championship.
Better chance of going undefeated in a season.
More geographical rivals, which is not a huge advantage. We would trade Ga Tech and the NC schools for renewing the rivalry with GA and adding Tennessee and Florida.
Much better basketball.
Advantages of leaving for the SEC:
5 million reasons per year, just on the TV deal alone, not to mention which home schedule sells more tickets? This years conference slate of BC, Wake, UNC and FSU OR SC, Florida, Tennessee, Georgia every other year, with a Alabama, LSU, Auburn and Arkansas sprinkled in most years. Ummmm. Tough call.
Much better bowl affiliations.
Improved recruiting in football.
A one loss season could still easily put you in the national championship game.
If you are able to win the SEC, you are so battle tested you are probably going to win the national championship game (See last 5 in a row)
No longer dealing with an ACC conference whose commissioner used to work for UNC.
My answer:
I say you have to push to get into the SEC if you can. I do think that means you will win a lot less conference championships, but Clemson isn't winning any right now. Would you rather be a middle of the road unranked ACC team or a middle of the road #22 ranked SEC team. With the extra money and exposure in the ACC Clemson should be able to compete. The end all dream is a national championship. We did it once in the ACC, but recent history shows your odds are MUCH better winning it if you are in the SEC. But, with our administration thinking that big time football and big time academics cannot happen on the same campus we are probably staying put. I guess they don't notice how good of a school Florida is both academically and athletically.
But, the real question is should those schools want to leave?
Advantages of staying in the ACC:
Better chance of winning a conference championship.
Better chance of going undefeated in a season.
More geographical rivals, which is not a huge advantage. We would trade Ga Tech and the NC schools for renewing the rivalry with GA and adding Tennessee and Florida.
Much better basketball.
Advantages of leaving for the SEC:
5 million reasons per year, just on the TV deal alone, not to mention which home schedule sells more tickets? This years conference slate of BC, Wake, UNC and FSU OR SC, Florida, Tennessee, Georgia every other year, with a Alabama, LSU, Auburn and Arkansas sprinkled in most years. Ummmm. Tough call.
Much better bowl affiliations.
Improved recruiting in football.
A one loss season could still easily put you in the national championship game.
If you are able to win the SEC, you are so battle tested you are probably going to win the national championship game (See last 5 in a row)
No longer dealing with an ACC conference whose commissioner used to work for UNC.
My answer:
I say you have to push to get into the SEC if you can. I do think that means you will win a lot less conference championships, but Clemson isn't winning any right now. Would you rather be a middle of the road unranked ACC team or a middle of the road #22 ranked SEC team. With the extra money and exposure in the ACC Clemson should be able to compete. The end all dream is a national championship. We did it once in the ACC, but recent history shows your odds are MUCH better winning it if you are in the SEC. But, with our administration thinking that big time football and big time academics cannot happen on the same campus we are probably staying put. I guess they don't notice how good of a school Florida is both academically and athletically.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
ACC Observations
Wow, this league is awful. Take out Virginia Tech and there isn't a single consistently good program in the Atlantic Crap Conference. I am not even sold on the FSU resurgence yet, while I still think they win their division but not the league.
Let's review.
BC gets beat at home by Northwestern and their back-up quarterback, Wake can't beat a terrible Syracuse team and Duke loses to the Richmond Spiders. I know the ACC would never hang its hat on Duke football, but it seemed Cutcliffe had Duke to the point where they could at least beat a I-AA opponent (and yes its I-AA). I don't know what the hell FBS or BS or BSF stands for and I don't care. I would call Richmond winning, but they beat Duke in '09. Didn't play them last year, so that is a two game winning streak!! Unbelievable. In the last 2+ years a I-AA team has beaten a BCS conf. I-A team only 8 times and 4 of those were ACC defeats.
Now, to the more positive observations. I think Va. Tech goes 8-1 in the ACC, with their eighth win in the title game. The Hokie defense is better than last years. The only reason I am giving them one loss is because their young QB will botch up one game.
On Va. Tech's side of the league you have UNC and Miami in shambles due to their cheating and Duke is just plain terrible. Virginia is only mediocre, so that only leaves Ga Tech to compete for the division. Tech does not have the horses for that race.
On the other side, as much as I can't stand BC even being in the league, they are a pain in the butt. They have very little talent, but they play so disciplined and have an All-American caliber middle linebacker who makes plays all over the field. Wake isn't very good and Clemson is a huge wild card. NC State will be interesting, but they are so injury plagued this year it will be hard to compete for a division title. That leaves FSU and the suprising Maryland Terrapins. Maryland's QB was rookie of the year last year, so they should be okay, but probably not enough to beat FSU.
The ACC needs a good next few weeks in out of conference to restore a tiny bit of faith in its ability to play football at a big boy level.
Let's review.
BC gets beat at home by Northwestern and their back-up quarterback, Wake can't beat a terrible Syracuse team and Duke loses to the Richmond Spiders. I know the ACC would never hang its hat on Duke football, but it seemed Cutcliffe had Duke to the point where they could at least beat a I-AA opponent (and yes its I-AA). I don't know what the hell FBS or BS or BSF stands for and I don't care. I would call Richmond winning, but they beat Duke in '09. Didn't play them last year, so that is a two game winning streak!! Unbelievable. In the last 2+ years a I-AA team has beaten a BCS conf. I-A team only 8 times and 4 of those were ACC defeats.
Now, to the more positive observations. I think Va. Tech goes 8-1 in the ACC, with their eighth win in the title game. The Hokie defense is better than last years. The only reason I am giving them one loss is because their young QB will botch up one game.
On Va. Tech's side of the league you have UNC and Miami in shambles due to their cheating and Duke is just plain terrible. Virginia is only mediocre, so that only leaves Ga Tech to compete for the division. Tech does not have the horses for that race.
On the other side, as much as I can't stand BC even being in the league, they are a pain in the butt. They have very little talent, but they play so disciplined and have an All-American caliber middle linebacker who makes plays all over the field. Wake isn't very good and Clemson is a huge wild card. NC State will be interesting, but they are so injury plagued this year it will be hard to compete for a division title. That leaves FSU and the suprising Maryland Terrapins. Maryland's QB was rookie of the year last year, so they should be okay, but probably not enough to beat FSU.
The ACC needs a good next few weeks in out of conference to restore a tiny bit of faith in its ability to play football at a big boy level.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Clemson v. Troy Observations
Observation for the Day
Was headed to the dumpster and offered to take a students very small bag of trash for him. He said, "I'm heading that way anyway, let me take yours." Awesome example of Kharma in action
Clemson Observations
This is sadly coming from someone who did not watch the game, so I will stick to things I can comment on. Like how does a kicker go 3 for 3 from beyond 45 yards and miss an extra point. But, the Cat Man is 9 of his last 10 going back to last year.
Dabo said they didn't panic at halftime. The way they played in the second half it sure looked like they didn't panic. But, you know there had to be a moment when he was by himself when he thought, "Sh*#, if this team of a*#holes, doesn't wake the hell up, I'm gonna be back selling houses in the middle of a recession!!" I wouldn't say I panicked, but it wasn't the most fun halftime of my life.
Dabo also progressed past relaying signals. In the last few years, he could be seen waving his arms and making weird gestures, while at the same time mouthing the play to the point where my father could predict our play by watching Dabo. Leo would say he just mouthed, "strong right jet sweep." And sure enough we would line up strong right and run a jet sweep. Okay, it wasn't that bad, but Leo could predict Napier's plays with 90% accuracy just based on formation. Hopefully the new OC Chad Morris could mix it up enough to fool a high school coach who only watches every other Clemson game, and only every other drive due to sporadic napping.
Lets not panic too much cause Troy hung with us. They would probably beat BC, Wake, Duke and maybe Virginia on a nuetral field.
Kickoff specialist Spencer Benton added another two tackles for his career. This is not a good thing, you would rather a kicker never make a tackle, but he is making them at the 27 and 31, respectively. That is awesome! He is just starting his junior year and already has the most tackles by any kicker in Clemson history.
While I still feel 2011 is a rough one, with the chance to at least be decent, 2012 could be really good. Of the 70 guys that played on Saturday, 24 are freshman (12 true and 12 red-shirt), including future all-american?? Sammy Watkins with 8 catches and (this is a quote from the Clemson SID office) "scored his first career touchdown on his first career reception on his first career drive in his first career game." Watkins scored 26 seconds into his career, which might be a record that is never broken. It isn't the quickest into a season a Tiger has scored, since Spiller took the opening kickoff in '09 to the house.
Speaking with some other fans, it should be a solid defense, but it might lack the studs of the last few years who were counted on to make big plays. Rashard Hall isn't as talent as the stars Clemson has had on defense, but he seems to always be around the football. Maybe he can be that guy? The key is will one of the defensive lineman require a double team. Really great defenses are ones who can really pressure the quarterback while only rushing four. Don't know if this team is going to be able to do that.
Dabo said they didn't panic at halftime. The way they played in the second half it sure looked like they didn't panic. But, you know there had to be a moment when he was by himself when he thought, "Sh*#, if this team of a*#holes, doesn't wake the hell up, I'm gonna be back selling houses in the middle of a recession!!" I wouldn't say I panicked, but it wasn't the most fun halftime of my life.
Dabo also progressed past relaying signals. In the last few years, he could be seen waving his arms and making weird gestures, while at the same time mouthing the play to the point where my father could predict our play by watching Dabo. Leo would say he just mouthed, "strong right jet sweep." And sure enough we would line up strong right and run a jet sweep. Okay, it wasn't that bad, but Leo could predict Napier's plays with 90% accuracy just based on formation. Hopefully the new OC Chad Morris could mix it up enough to fool a high school coach who only watches every other Clemson game, and only every other drive due to sporadic napping.
Went back to a more classic looking uniform pants. Like them much better than the new age Nike crap. Wish Nike would think enough of us to make something as hideous as the power rangers uniforms they made for Georgia or the overly sleek Boise look OR the amazing things the Maryland boys wore last night. From the left they looked like the Steelers on crack and from the right they looked like they were on a crusade.
WE MUST ATTACK THE HOLY LAND!! GOD WILLS IT!!
I guess it is like the crusades. A group of guys fighting evil, in this case the evil is the University of Miami.
Was headed to the dumpster and offered to take a students very small bag of trash for him. He said, "I'm heading that way anyway, let me take yours." Awesome example of Kharma in action
Clemson Observations
This is sadly coming from someone who did not watch the game, so I will stick to things I can comment on. Like how does a kicker go 3 for 3 from beyond 45 yards and miss an extra point. But, the Cat Man is 9 of his last 10 going back to last year.
Dabo said they didn't panic at halftime. The way they played in the second half it sure looked like they didn't panic. But, you know there had to be a moment when he was by himself when he thought, "Sh*#, if this team of a*#holes, doesn't wake the hell up, I'm gonna be back selling houses in the middle of a recession!!" I wouldn't say I panicked, but it wasn't the most fun halftime of my life.
Dabo also progressed past relaying signals. In the last few years, he could be seen waving his arms and making weird gestures, while at the same time mouthing the play to the point where my father could predict our play by watching Dabo. Leo would say he just mouthed, "strong right jet sweep." And sure enough we would line up strong right and run a jet sweep. Okay, it wasn't that bad, but Leo could predict Napier's plays with 90% accuracy just based on formation. Hopefully the new OC Chad Morris could mix it up enough to fool a high school coach who only watches every other Clemson game, and only every other drive due to sporadic napping.
Lets not panic too much cause Troy hung with us. They would probably beat BC, Wake, Duke and maybe Virginia on a nuetral field.
Kickoff specialist Spencer Benton added another two tackles for his career. This is not a good thing, you would rather a kicker never make a tackle, but he is making them at the 27 and 31, respectively. That is awesome! He is just starting his junior year and already has the most tackles by any kicker in Clemson history.
While I still feel 2011 is a rough one, with the chance to at least be decent, 2012 could be really good. Of the 70 guys that played on Saturday, 24 are freshman (12 true and 12 red-shirt), including future all-american?? Sammy Watkins with 8 catches and (this is a quote from the Clemson SID office) "scored his first career touchdown on his first career reception on his first career drive in his first career game." Watkins scored 26 seconds into his career, which might be a record that is never broken. It isn't the quickest into a season a Tiger has scored, since Spiller took the opening kickoff in '09 to the house.
Speaking with some other fans, it should be a solid defense, but it might lack the studs of the last few years who were counted on to make big plays. Rashard Hall isn't as talent as the stars Clemson has had on defense, but he seems to always be around the football. Maybe he can be that guy? The key is will one of the defensive lineman require a double team. Really great defenses are ones who can really pressure the quarterback while only rushing four. Don't know if this team is going to be able to do that.
Dabo said they didn't panic at halftime. The way they played in the second half it sure looked like they didn't panic. But, you know there had to be a moment when he was by himself when he thought, "Sh*#, if this team of a*#holes, doesn't wake the hell up, I'm gonna be back selling houses in the middle of a recession!!" I wouldn't say I panicked, but it wasn't the most fun halftime of my life.
Dabo also progressed past relaying signals. In the last few years, he could be seen waving his arms and making weird gestures, while at the same time mouthing the play to the point where my father could predict our play by watching Dabo. Leo would say he just mouthed, "strong right jet sweep." And sure enough we would line up strong right and run a jet sweep. Okay, it wasn't that bad, but Leo could predict Napier's plays with 90% accuracy just based on formation. Hopefully the new OC Chad Morris could mix it up enough to fool a high school coach who only watches every other Clemson game, and only every other drive due to sporadic napping.
Went back to a more classic looking uniform pants. Like them much better than the new age Nike crap. Wish Nike would think enough of us to make something as hideous as the power rangers uniforms they made for Georgia or the overly sleek Boise look OR the amazing things the Maryland boys wore last night. From the left they looked like the Steelers on crack and from the right they looked like they were on a crusade.
WE MUST ATTACK THE HOLY LAND!! GOD WILLS IT!!I guess it is like the crusades. A group of guys fighting evil, in this case the evil is the University of Miami.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
ACC PREVIEW 2011
Okay, even though I am a terrible blogger and blog about once every six months I am keeping up the tradition. Year three of the ACC preview. In year one, I was one game off of Clemson’s record and correctly predicted an Atlantic Division crown. Last year I was a whopping 3 games off and falsely predicted another Atlantic Division crown. I thought having Kyle Parker back was a huge blessing, but in retrospect all he thought about was not getting hit so as to protect his body for his multi-million dollar baseball career. He had a great three quarters against Auburn until he had his sternum nearly separated from his body and was never the same. Hard to blame him, but painful to watch. Also, once Andre Ellington went down, there was as many playmakers on that offense as there are competent politicians in D.C. WR Nuke Hopkins being the only one. Last year I had the Atlantic Division race all fudged up, but did go six for six on predicting the coastal. Not that it’s hard. Virginia Tech is the only team in the league with a proven head coach who doesn’t get busted for cheating every other year.
CLEMSON PREVIEW –
DEFENSE - All spring while I should have worried about wedding preparations I was instead fretting Clemson could have its first consecutive losing season since 1976! The loss of a DOMINANT defensive player like Da’Quan Bowers (spelled his name right without a google search, except for the apostrophe) is irreplaceable. Lot of good players from the secondary now playing on Sundays, but a lot of good ones remain. Depth isn’t as good this year, but if this unit can stay healthy it has a chance to be almost as good as last year’s defense. Lost in the sh#@iness of our offense was the fact our defense was 1st in the ACC (11th nationally) in scoring defense and 3rd in yards per game (23rd nationally). Doesn’t sound like a 6-7 team does it? Well, being 86th in the nation in takeaways meant our offense rarely had the short field they needed to even have a chance to score. This was surprising with our great pass rush and excellent secondary. That said, the only thing keeping last year’s defense from being a top five dominant unit was the awful linebacker play. Due to the dominance of the defensive lineman, no linebacker had to deal with a block all season and still couldn’t make plays. The only reason I have improved my outlook is it seems our recruiting class isn’t just great on paper, but a few of these LBs are ready to play immediately. If this unit can just stay almost as good as last year’s the Tigers would be looking at a winning season.
OFFENSE –I think Andre Ellington is special. Like, really special. If he gets enough touches, I think he could even crack 1500 all purpose yards. The offensive line should be pretty good and Dwayne Allen at TE is a future NFL player. Hopkins at WR is proven and should have a solid Soph. season. Can Sammy Watkins live up to all the hype at the other receiver spot? And the huge wildcard, what will red-shirt Sophomore Tajh Boyd look like at QB? Will Chad Morris (only one season removed from high school coaching) and his high paced no-huddle offense make a difference in year one. It did at Tulsa, but Tulsa didn’t play Auburn, FSU and Virginia Tech.
SPECIAL TEAMS – Other than the actual kicker, our return and coverage units have been great the last few years. I hope the loss of Andre Powell (who apparently was worthless otherwise, but seemed to keep our special teams in order) will not mean we will go back to the days of letting Virginia Tech and FSU run back at least one kick each time we play them. Not even going to discuss the kicker Cat Man as he could be great or terrible, who freaking knows with kickers.
OVERALL
So, sadly I am going with 7-5, losing to Auburn, FSU, Virginia Tech, Maryland and tragically South Carolina for the third straight year. The South Carolina loss alone will keep Dabo on the hot seat one more year. Hope I am wrong, but there are just too many question marks. I think this program has a chance to be really, really good in 2012 and even an 8-4 and 9-3 2011 would really keep the recruiting momentum going. All this being said, like any other year if the Tigers stay healthy and finally catch or make a few breaks 10-2 is not inconceivable. It’s college football. The national championship team started the year unranked coming off a 6-5 season and played Wofford. I am NOT predicting a national title, but I am just saying anything is possible and long overdue in Tiger Town.
Atlantic
1. FSU
2. Maryland
3. Clemson
4. NC ST
5. BC
6. Wake
Coastal
1. Virginia Tech
2. Georgia Tech
3. Miami
4. Virginia
5. North Carolina
6. Duke
CLEMSON PREVIEW –
DEFENSE - All spring while I should have worried about wedding preparations I was instead fretting Clemson could have its first consecutive losing season since 1976! The loss of a DOMINANT defensive player like Da’Quan Bowers (spelled his name right without a google search, except for the apostrophe) is irreplaceable. Lot of good players from the secondary now playing on Sundays, but a lot of good ones remain. Depth isn’t as good this year, but if this unit can stay healthy it has a chance to be almost as good as last year’s defense. Lost in the sh#@iness of our offense was the fact our defense was 1st in the ACC (11th nationally) in scoring defense and 3rd in yards per game (23rd nationally). Doesn’t sound like a 6-7 team does it? Well, being 86th in the nation in takeaways meant our offense rarely had the short field they needed to even have a chance to score. This was surprising with our great pass rush and excellent secondary. That said, the only thing keeping last year’s defense from being a top five dominant unit was the awful linebacker play. Due to the dominance of the defensive lineman, no linebacker had to deal with a block all season and still couldn’t make plays. The only reason I have improved my outlook is it seems our recruiting class isn’t just great on paper, but a few of these LBs are ready to play immediately. If this unit can just stay almost as good as last year’s the Tigers would be looking at a winning season.
OFFENSE –I think Andre Ellington is special. Like, really special. If he gets enough touches, I think he could even crack 1500 all purpose yards. The offensive line should be pretty good and Dwayne Allen at TE is a future NFL player. Hopkins at WR is proven and should have a solid Soph. season. Can Sammy Watkins live up to all the hype at the other receiver spot? And the huge wildcard, what will red-shirt Sophomore Tajh Boyd look like at QB? Will Chad Morris (only one season removed from high school coaching) and his high paced no-huddle offense make a difference in year one. It did at Tulsa, but Tulsa didn’t play Auburn, FSU and Virginia Tech.
SPECIAL TEAMS – Other than the actual kicker, our return and coverage units have been great the last few years. I hope the loss of Andre Powell (who apparently was worthless otherwise, but seemed to keep our special teams in order) will not mean we will go back to the days of letting Virginia Tech and FSU run back at least one kick each time we play them. Not even going to discuss the kicker Cat Man as he could be great or terrible, who freaking knows with kickers.
OVERALL
So, sadly I am going with 7-5, losing to Auburn, FSU, Virginia Tech, Maryland and tragically South Carolina for the third straight year. The South Carolina loss alone will keep Dabo on the hot seat one more year. Hope I am wrong, but there are just too many question marks. I think this program has a chance to be really, really good in 2012 and even an 8-4 and 9-3 2011 would really keep the recruiting momentum going. All this being said, like any other year if the Tigers stay healthy and finally catch or make a few breaks 10-2 is not inconceivable. It’s college football. The national championship team started the year unranked coming off a 6-5 season and played Wofford. I am NOT predicting a national title, but I am just saying anything is possible and long overdue in Tiger Town.
Atlantic
1. FSU
2. Maryland
3. Clemson
4. NC ST
5. BC
6. Wake
Coastal
1. Virginia Tech
2. Georgia Tech
3. Miami
4. Virginia
5. North Carolina
6. Duke
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