Chad Morris Must Stay

So what is the difference in this team compared to last years team some have asked. The difference in the team this year is simple and it is all Chad Morris. Dabo is not an offensive coordinator or a good enough offensive mind to design and call the plays like Morris. Dabo is a great team leader, recruiter, and motivator for the fan base. He also gives a mean interview...

The problem is that Dabo wears thin if you are not winning. When you are not winning your faults are on display and become severely enlarged. That is the microscope the head coach lives under. No one can replace Morris, if he leaves then it is like Brad Scott calling plays for RichRod. Eventually it just isn't up to par.  Who on the staff would you feel comfortable with duplicating Morris's performance up until this point. Pony up whatever money you can Clemson powers that be. Chad has a daughter starting at Daniel High School and he has said he will stay at least until she graduates. Lets make that kind gesture of a father to a daughter a reality.

If we still had Napier this year, what would be our record? Sure we have Watkins but we would have the same inconsistent play at WR where even Dwayne Allen is dropping passes and no one knows how to block. Boyd out of shape, with bad footwork, and no ownership of the team. A team without an identity. I give all the credit in the world to Dabo for making the call to switch to Chad Morris. (Napier is still a good coach, great recruiter, who just had no business being an offensive coordinator) Without him we become a very average team and no amount of speeches or chest bumps can replace attention to detail, true accountability, and an infectious work ethic that was previously lacking with this team.
We were on par in terms of toughness with Virginia Tech--an amazing feat for this team.

Somebody make a shirt with a slogan about how Chad Morris must stay. In Chad We Trust (probably too strong and questions dabo's leadership) or More Morris Please.  Yeah, I am struggling to come up with something. Help, please?

I Don't Have the Stomach For Patience

So Dabo has called for patience from the fans. This is the same guy who was demanding excellence and was going to change the culture--teach us how to get over the hump and win???

No sir, I will not have any patience. The defense is certainly not the problem. Special Teams is directly related to quality of coaching more than any other facet of the game and has less to do with talent (plus we have more scholarship special teamers than almost any other team in the country). The offense was recruited with Billy Napier as recruiting coordinator and Dabo as the main recruiter. One of the main reasons why Dabo was hired was to maintain the continuity and judging by the recruiting rankings--this was the year!! Please don't try to insult me by saying you don't have the players or the talent.

There is plenty of both, you have just mismanaged it. You aren't rebuilding--you are screwing up what was previously built. If you don't have the talent now that must mean you were a bad position coach beforehand and for some reason I am supposed to reward that with patience. I am supposed to somehow feel pity for you?? And please don't say Bowden or Spence had too iron clad a hand and you couldn't get the recruits you wanted.

We should have easily beaten FSU. I am sick of the Spence stalls in the red zone and being a .500 team. Just think if we hadn't played those two powderpuffs at the beginning of the year...

If Dabo can't get us to the ACC Championship game (notice I said we don't even have to win it, just be there) then he should be gone. If we lose to South Carolina three times in a row then he should be gone. Remember Dabo this is that word 'competition' at the highest level so quit your whining and quacking like a duck. If you can't deliver then get out of the way because Clemson deserves better.

At least we beat Wofford (I am relying on Basketball, thats how bad things have gotten), go Brownell...

Ch-ch-ch-changes...

"After each series they come over and sit us down and tell us, ‘This is how they run the ball out of this set, this is where they’re going to run the ball out of that set. They do some stuff to try to confuse you, but when it came down to it, it was just fundamental -- the stuff we’d harped on all week. They didn’t come out with anything special or anything different. We knew the plays that were coming and we played them well."

Luke Kuechly (BC MLB)

You're predictable. You're out of your depth. It's time for change we can believe in.

I don't think I have ever heard a more stinging critique of an Offense. When you line up the opposing teams defense knows from your very formation the plays you will run. I think when Defensive Coordinators prep for our team they step inside the sandbox and feel like its kids stuff. Napier and Dabo have not progressed as Offensive designers. You have to be able to make the right playcalls in-game but first you need to have an offensive philosophy/identity. I often feel like I am watching a Madden offense and I'm sick of it. We have the talent, certainly enough to be doing better than 4-4, and I don't think we have the offensive coaching chops sans CJ Spiller to compete in an average ACC. I was willing to go through the growing pains but if your not going to grow past 5 foot 8 and you fired a guy for being 5 foot 10 then whats the point in holding out for 6 foot 3?? If you find a miracle cure, and find it fast I am all for it but until then I'm thinking--Ch-ch-ch-changes...

Oh and Dabo--calling out the 5% versus the 95% of fans is childish and stupid when you're 4-4.

Surprised?

Alternate title: Long, slow end of the Swinney era, week 4 update

I'm a little confused about the reaction in the Clemson blogosphere. Sure, I was upset after the loss, but after the normal recovery time I can't say I was shocked. I don't really view this as a debacle, at least not on the order of Maryland 2009 when we were beat soundly by a bad, banged up team with no talent that was going through one of Friedgen's inexplicable phases where he doesn't really seem to care much about coaching. No, this was your standard BC team that doesn't feature an NFL-caliber quarterback: sound, fundamental line play highlighted by a stout front 7 on defense and an O-line that can open up holes for the running game. Yeah, they've struggled this year (rotating in potted plants at QB will do that for ya), but they've also improved as the year went along--particularly on defense.

In hindsight, its not surprising Clemson struggled; we rely on the run game to set up whatever pass yards we can scrounge up and BC's defense excels at stopping the run. I'm not sure why everyone was suddenly so confident in the pass game. Sure, Nuke Hopkins is hustling all over the field and generally showing up the entire WR corps, but he's still dropping passes and struggling to get separation (he's bound for good things in this league, but he's still a freshman). By the way, I'm also guilty of buying the "Kyle Parker is going to break out of his rut any game now" line, by now it's clear that Parker's 2009 success was largely the function of the NFL-caliber talent around him (Ford, Spiller, Palmer). He has potential, no doubt, but expecting him to spurn the MLB to save the season Spiller-style was pretty naive in retrospect.

But what of our superior talent, you ask? Its a good question, by all accounts we certainly have the advantage on paper. Here's my reply: remember how we aren't capable of developing talent? As an aside, on some level it must be a good feeling to be a BC fan; you get to watch your players develop into a team that is better than the sum of its parts. They aren't going to win any national championships anytime soon, but hey, you grow to love each and every team with each and every passing game. Not a bad life for a fan. Not a great life, but hey, better than rooting for a team that perpetually underperforms.

After the Miami game, I wrote that we were entering the long, slow end of the Swinney era. Nothing has happened to change my mind. The GT game was a blip, a game against a decent team that we actually matched up well with (our D-line was strong enough to disrupt the option all game long and our O-line was matched up against a small defensive front). We might even beat NCSU (50-50, I'd say) or FSU (bit of a longshot), since our defense should be able to limit the damage from their offenses and we will be able to run the ball at least on occasion. But even wins in these games aren't going to change the fact our talent doesn't develop and we've been consistently outcoached (or coached ourselves into the ground) this season.

I also stand by my previous assessment that Swinney lives to see next year (with fall-guy Napier getting the axe, of course). I just don't sense the anger on the blogs seeping into the mainstream fan's conscious, at least not yet. The real standard for Swinney's departure should probably be this: a currently modest draft class losing commitments and plummeting in value. The football program will then officially be without a single functioning strength. In that case, you can't give Swinney another year to wreck the program for the next five, it's time to cut your losses and move on.

KP and Passing

I read an excellent post on Shakin that you should all check out and read. So we know that the playcalling is unproductively skewed towards passing, or at least the need for balance trumps all. So Ellington will disappear at times from the game plan and in key situations our offense will suck.

If our defense wasn't so dominant against GT then I really believe that the third quarter playcalling would have put the game in serious jeopardy. Note* that would be a good time for a sustained drive that drains the clock and establishes the run, thus giving your defense a chance to rest. You don't have to wait for the 4th Q. Runs for Harper and the predictable passing attack make me shutter as I feel the ghost of Spence lurking. It's just a matter of time before Napier is called the 'mad scientist'.

So why this insistence on balance? I have three possibilities. First the coaching staff is just plain dumb and stupid, either ignorant or prideful and won't philosophically shift their positions to either play to their strengths or attack weaknesses in the opposition. So BC is #4 in rush defense--logically you want to pass a bit more and run a lot of zone read and getting players in space (good to see some effective draw plays this past week). Maryland was stacking the box and had good LB play so I can see the argument for parity in scheme but GT had a horrible rush defense and we could have ran it down their throats all game. So are they stupid and incapable of making adjustments?

The second possibility is stemming from this and involves Dabo inserting himself into the identity of the offense. This is very likely and scary. Dabo was never an OC and saw a lot of Spence. He also wants to be a gadget man/river boat gambler type coach. So whenever I see a drive ending super reverse, flea flicking play it reinforces my perception that Dabo wants the pass and is injecting himself into the decisions. Perhaps a call for balance is the best Napier can do. Too many times this season we've seen a perfectly scripted opening drive that has a run first, mix in some play action second attitude that inexplicably turns into an empty backfield pass happy disaster. Dabo the motivator is also Dabo the play-calling meddler. Slow developing reverses near the red zone--not a good idea...

The third reason is a commitment to player development and recruiting. So even if its in our best interest right now to run the ball to win games, perhaps the staff is trying to stay with the big picture. I don't agree at all but just trying to think like the staff. We have a ton of big time WR talent that is knocking on the door with Bryant, Peake and potentially Sammy Watkins(#1 receiver in the state of Florida) which could be the most pure receiving talent to ever be at Clemson with Hopkins and McNeal, not to mention Dwayne Allen at TE (or possibly Jay Rome with the demise of Georgia!!). So to keep attracting the talent and to build for the future they want to continue passing.

Here is your bonus thought and probably the most intriguing. The staff is committed to balance because of Kyle Parker. KP comes back to play football with the assurance that the staff will do everything they can to make him a legit NFL prospect. That includes passing stats and a certain commitment to the passing game despite the inexperienced receivers. Out of respect and a kind of obligation to Kyle they keep passing the ball more than one normally would.

Now I'm not saying any formal agreement went down but there has to be some unspoken understanding. CJ comes back--he gets the carries, KP comes back and he needs the opportunities. I would do the same thing if I was the coach to reward the player and the loyalty, just in the form of more play-action out of the I or screens and dump offs--not four wide, empty back sets.

Here is another fun nugget I was thinking about. Lets say KP doesn't return and goes to the Rockies. Now you have Tajh Boyd and really bad WR's. The coaching staff would be forced to at least be a 60/40 run to pass offense. With the emphasis on the run would our record be different? I'm thinking it would be the exact same record with more of a chance to beat NC. I guess thats the sorry state of our first half of the season. Anyway, I'm still ecstatic we have KP back(of course-any chatter about a Tajh controversy is silly) and I trust him to be the difference against NC State and hopefully Fla St.

Where We Stand

So what constitutes a winning football program? I'm going to take a quick stab at it and say its like this:

• 1/3 Recruiting
• 1/3 Player Development
• 1/3 Gameday Planning/Schemes

I'm sure we could add more or flesh out these categories but I think this gives us three frames of reference to measure our team.

Recruiting

Right now we have done a good job in recruiting. Well let me re-phrase that, we currently have more star power and talent than at perhaps any other time in our recent history. This was supposed to be the year when you think about it. Our stellar Junior class is finally of age to compliment a strong senior class of talent. The cracks come from a weak sophomore class and the desire to give too many walk-ons scholarships. We don't over-recruit like most top programs who factor in kids transferring and not panning out. Every year I think we should be taking 3-5 more decent players than we are. If you want to see why we are suffering at WR--look at NC who snatched up players like Boyd, Little, and Jones.

Anyway, the point is that we have the talent to be successful. LB is the only place where we have consistently been out-recruited. This year we are in the running for about 4-5 top LBs and one by one they have put us down further on their lists. Now we have two 2*recruits committed. Steele and the staff need to make it a priority. This years class can still be good but we need to right the ship and have a respectable record to remain competitive. If Bowers and others stick around we will have the talent still but after next year the program will be depleted in this area.

Player Development

When I first heard Jamie Harper say that he and Ellington just decided between each other who should be out there I cringed. I was going to write about it but stupidly rationalized to myself that they could act like interchangeable parts and it would work out. But I also thought--isn't that the whole reason for a position coach?? Sure players can pull themselves out of games but isn't leaving it completely up to players a lack of coaching? No--its the absence of coaching...

Our players have not developed over 4 years like they should. No LB's have stepped up (although we are seeing some baby steps), WR's spend 4 years learning new ways to drop balls, we don't bother to develop enough TE's, and our CB's and secondary take a step back despite a second year in the program. We can't find a decent kicker and we have no return game. This area is a total drag on the program. Unfortunately, I think this is where Dabo is lost on how to manage an entire team. Powell should never have been allowed to 'coach' like that and the buck ultimately stops with Dabo to oversee his coaching staff.

Schemes and Things

Our schemes currently just aren't working out. On offense we have no identity. We can run the ball this year but chose to go away from it. We do throw, we have a QB with a canon but lacks some accuracy and WR's who can't catch. On a fourth down everyone in the stadium knows the play call--its not really a bad one but its to the short side of the field and comes up just short despite a good effort. Thats our offense right now. Napier isn't bad he just is young and often slow to react, predictable, and can't stay ahead. Plus Dabo undoubtedly makes boneheaded 'adjustments' and playcalls.

Defense keeps missing assignments. Those cost you points and its frustrating. I think Steele isn't a bad gameday coach and makes some needed adjustments but getting beat by Yates?? Its just not acceptable.

Right now we are at like 60/40 and propped up by our talent. That equates to a 7-5 season and a wasted season in my opinion. If we have a losing season I would like to see Napier become the QB/RB coach and take back recruiting duties (or play a heavy role there) and hire an experienced OC. Powell gone and both Scott's on the thinnest of ice depending on their units play down the stretch. Defense I'm not ready to make any changes yet but its coming...

Schedule notes: FSU looked real good and we need them to trip up against BC but its looking like we need NC State or NC to beat them and we need to win out. I think a loss to Maryland and we effectively end our ACC season. Can you believe this team was one pass through the fingers away from beating Auburn??

Lets move from All In to All Win...(see I'm qualified to be a coach Terry Don!)

Defending Billy Napier

I'm going to swim against the current a bit here and try to explain why I don't think Billy Napier should be thrown to the wolves. That's not a particularly bold defense, I know, but this also isn't a contrarian post for the sake of being contrarian. (As an aside, I can't stand those kinds of posts, don't make a case unless you're being sincere.)

Let me start with the irrational stuff that I can't defend with numbers but more with the experience bought with each soul-crushing Clemson loss I endure. I like having the youngest offensive coordinator in the ACC. I like walking up to a fan from another team and saying, "Our offensive attack just torched your team and, oh by the way, our offensive coordinator is 30 years old." I like that Clemson and Swinney have the guts to hire a 30 year old in a league dominated by experience-laden coordinators. There's something brash and brassy about that, and it contributes just a hint to the swagger in my Clemson fandom. I largely like how Napier carries himself with the media, there's less of the Bowden-esque tendency (too often shared by Swinney) to frame disappointments as resulting from events beyond his control, there's a measure of accountability in his words.

But it doesn't stop here, there are actual areas of his job performance that I like, too. He has demonstrated, not always but reasonably often, the ability to identify weaknesses in an opposing team and develop a concerted plan of attack at the start of the game to exploit those weaknesses. It isn't always spectacularly successful, but it can put points on the board. He also seems capable of stockpiling a pool of plays often consisting of slight tweaks to existing designs that he judiciously and sometimes appropriately sprinkles into his play calling. On occasion, he strings together series of plays in-game that in retrospect seem inspired.

There are of course counter-arguments, good counter-arguments, to the above (for example, given a playbook and an infinite number of offensive series a moderately trained monkey will seem inspired over the course of 6-7 plays at least once or twice) and then there are counters to the counter-arguments (for example, there is still some question over how often Dabo overrides Napier during the course of a game). But these belabor the real point: Napier has shortcomings. In my mind, they are as follows: 1) while he has designed some reasonably effective plays, it doesn't balance the shit variants he also develops and employs in a game. He needs an playcall editor to blow up his more ridiculous notions, preferably this would involve a cannon of some kind. 2) He falls in love with the passing game far too often. 3) Finally, and this is the most problematic, he cannot identify quickly enough, and thus cannot counter the adjustments made by opposing defenses.

The third point above can be overcome with years of experience, but forgiveness for this defect is not granted in BCS-caliber conferences. Therein lies the conundrum, while I think Billy Napier has a future coordinating offenses in the NCAA, he is not a boy-genius that can think circles around men twice his age. He requires what 99% of all coordinators require: experience forged in the leagues at the fringes of the BCS or during dedicated study at the feet of a master playcaller. Laugh at the imagery, but this is still very much a "trade" in the classical sense.

Billy Napier is not a fool and I am not a fool. If this season goes south quickly, and with a looming loss at UNC on Saturday this could happen much sooner than I'd like to entertain, someone will take a fall. Maybe its Swinney, but more probably Swinney is forced into deciding who takes the fall. And Napier is the fall guy Swinney built into his agreement to take the reins, the guy who was set up the second the university "busted the budget" (note the quotations, they didn't really bust the budget) to sign Kevin Steele. Napier will in all likelihood be vanquished to the fringes. In that event I sincerely hope is he finds his experience, and he takes Jeff Scott with him.

Auburn Predictions and Ramblings

So we are finally beginning the season. Gameday. First I love Brent Musburger--he loves Clemson and the Esso Club and coined the now infamous phrase the 25 most exciting seconds in ALL of college football. A bold statement by any announcer but Musburger exudes class. He also does his homework and is very competent.

I guess I should really start over--if we win, we are beginning the season(and should pass South Caroline). If we lose the season starts with ACC play. Ha.

Another thing--South Carolina has beaten Southern Miss and then a substandard Georgia team and we are crowning them Natl Champs. Its pathetic. Sure, give credit where it is due--you beat Georgia, pat yourself on the back but the ESPN/SEC bias gets nauseating when its talked about incessantly and the Cocks shoot up to #13?? Its insane. Then I start seeing pictures of Marcus Lattimore everywhere and even a blurb about him as a Heisman contender. Really media, are we that starved for content?? Georgia had a horrible run D last year--give me a break. Now they play Furman. Where is all the crying about the powderpuff schedule?? huh?

So lets talk Auburn before I throw up even more in my mouth. Auburn is one of the cooler programs in the SEC--good people, they hate Alabama and Georgia. They have unreal expectations (just like us!) and fired Tuberville and got Chizik who was hired over Gill Turner. Seems like its been working out pretty good so far. They got some limo's for recruiting. Challenged the UT Wildboys for the biggest recruiting stunts and hauled in a good class. Even got a top RB in Dyer.

First Auburn has Cam Newton who is just ginormous. It really is Daquan Bowers at QB. He has a rocket arm but hasn't been tested in terms of accuracy but led his Jr College to the Jr College Champs so its not his first rodeo. I guess I'm saying that this guy isn't just a hyped athlete who hasn't learned to play QB. Runs like a gazelle mixed with a freight train, if that helps.

Since we made Chris Turner of Maryland look like an athlete last year--pretty much any QB can run on us. We have also historically sucked against misdirection. We all like the same gap assignment--what can I say...

So for RB they have Dyer (protypical back) and McCalebb (explosive guy) who aren't proven as everydown backs yet but have the talent. Our LB's are beat up with Maye coming off injury and Tig hurting his elbow so I have no confidence there(I am actually really disappointed with the LB play thus far--thought Corico would take that proverbial 'next step') and our D-Line can sometimes disappear in big games. We need our safeties to step up and CB's not to blow coverage.

So Auburn will score points but we need to create turnovers on defense. We need to have a Miami game where we give up yards and points but we also make some big plays that give us a chance.

On Offense we know what we get out of KP and hopefully what we get out of our RB's. We need no turnovers and we need the Offensive Line to be able to get some push at the point of attack. They have a veteran defensive group with top notch LB's who are All-SEC, no glaring weaknesses. But they have given up a lot of points in the past and DC Ted Roof won't be doing all that much blitzing. We have a chance to put up points but if WR's don't catch balls it will be a long day. I am interested to see what Napier has in store--his progression as a play caller is perhaps the most important thing of all.

I keep hearing how Clemson has the advantage in special teams and I have to scratch my head. Auburn has a preseason Groza candidate and we have a freshman kicker. Sure he can make XP's and made a 47 yarder (all great things, don't get me wrong) but the Cat Man is going on the road to a hostile environment with plenty of pressure. It is just another animal altogether. Their punter averages 40 yards a kick, ours does too minus one 70 yarder. Gilchrist has been solid fielding kicks but hasn't proven that he has the top end speed to take it to the house.

If I take the orange colored glasses that are glued to my head off for a minute I say Auburn by 4. But since that won't happen I am going Clemson 28 Auburn 27.

Got to love Recruiting

So here is where Dabo and company prove their metal. I always thought one of the major bonuses about hiring Dabo was that he was going to be a solid recruiter. If you can recruit then at least you have the talent to compete every year. I thought we did an adequate job salvaging the recruits last season but nothing spectacular. But after a year in place, I want to see some home runs this year.

Dabo has a staff that has a proven track record of recruiting talent. Napier was an excellent recruiting coordinator. Fat Brad for all his flaws does have good connections in-state but I'm not sure how important that really is in modern college football. Its important but not paramount. His son is the recruiting coordinator and so far I have not been particularly impressed.

We have failed on a lot of in-state backyard talent this year and that never sits well with me. Byrnes has been a disaster and we are paying for screwing up Lattimore's recruitment. Somebody made somebody angry, blah blah blah. We lost Miller, Willis, and Lattimore. So Davis needs to prove himself to me somewhat and land some big fish. Steele, Brooks, and Harbison are all solid if not special recruiters who take the job seriously so I am expecting big things. I am interested to see how Pearman does, he is in charge of recruiting some O-Line talent we desperately need.

Right now it seems like we are going to hold on to our 18 commits so far which is very good news. We have battled back against Georgia to secure Crawford and Beasley which is big. Darius Robinson is still flirting with Auburn but we should be able to hold out. This is good news because in recent years we have been subject to a great deal of poaching from other teams.

South Carolina is putting together another solid class unfortunately. We really want Mack to go somewhere else and Quarles almost jumped ship. If Lattimore goes somewhere else then I'm not too worried. Still cant believe we lost Gilmore and Holloman last year.

Our big battles now are with stealing Max Garcia away from Maryland despite a better journalism school?? Max--journalism is dead...come to Clemson. Also the battle for Justin Parker continues to rage, we led but not so much anymore...We need a big time LB and I dont want to wait another year. We have a shot with RB White and maybe Ethan Farmer (cross your fingers). Im hoping Dabo can be an insane closer for us and we can turn in a stellar class to get some momentum back in the program.

If not I think we need some hostesses. This is scary but really pure genius. Employing girls to shadow players on facebook, texting, go to some games and then leave them high and dry after they commit. Thats a UT Wild boy for yah...

Some of My Current Heroes

First is Michael Palmer. What a guy, he doesnt even let go of the ball when he is knocked unconscious. After Spiller and maybe Ford he is the best player on the Offense.

David Smith--well lets congratulate the entire offensive line. We have our guys in place for the remainder of the season it seems. Starting Freeman and allowing Cloy to spell Austin, Freeman, and McClain keeps everyone a little fresher. Smith really has come on and played well in his time at RT. Its only been a month or so since he has been put over there but it sure is nice not to see Lambert getting beat all the time. We had a few breakdowns here and there, to be expected against a tenacious, quick Miami D, but they gave KP the time he needed especially in key situations. Its about time someone on the O Line exceeded expectations. Pearman--you earned your paycheck. Brad--finally one of your moves works out, so thanks (its about time something worked). Dalton Freeman has been awesome starting.

DQ Bowers--he had been contained all game but came up huge on the second down in OT that stoned Miami RB Cooper. Thats with a slight concussion...

Richard Jackson--you blew a 41 yarder but didnt lose your cool and you made the one that counted.

Billy Napier--if your are reading this thank you for going to the TE screen, and even throwing to the fullback. Keep the I formation coming, I still dont believe that everything in Dabo and Napier land was a slice of heaven but I'm glad you two came to some agreements in a non Whipple/Shannon fashion.

Marcus Gilchrist-Of course McDaniel is the man too and we need to start talking him out of going to the NFL next season but Gilchrist has just kept getting better each game. Remember that this is his first year starting?? Its hard to remember that we replaced 2 safety positions this year and I hope we can find two CBs next year that can do what our 2 safeties have done filling in this year. Rashard Hall has been probably the biggest contributing surprise, so far for me this season. Not highly recruited (Spencer Adams was the big 4* recruit, hope he and his knee can find it) but just a solid player so far.

Lots of praise to go around right now but lots of things to still fix. I like our chances though with FSU at home but would love it if BC took a stumble against another team. Also if we lose to FSU watch out for them to be the Darkhorse to win out and save Bobby B. Yeah its silly to talk about it since really anything is possible in the Atlantic. But I am encouraged that the team can see the finish line and know that if we win out that we go to the ACC Champs.

Last note, I love how the players call on Spiller to go make a play for them. Just win the game for us CJ. Reminds me of Bowdens coaching (especially his great adjustment in the Alabama debacle), telling players that someone needed to go and make a play. I understand motivation and all but usually coaching is definitionally telling a player how to make X and O play, not just telling them it should be done.

CJ for Heisman!! Believe It!!

Miami Recap

First of all, in terms of pure entertainment value, this was the kind of game that hooks people on college football (and football in general) for their entire lives. And because we won, I still have a big stupid smile on my face that probably won't disappear for at least a couple of days. That smile really comes mostly from the effort and investment the players and coaches put into the game (with the rest coming from the many gifts the Miami team imparted to us).

That being said, there's a lot to not like about the game. Way too many miscues and too many rookie coaching calls. Luckily for us, there were just as many, if not more, coming from the other side of the ball and the other sideline.

Defense
I'll start with defense, 'cause I know there's going to be a lot of questions about our performance. For me, the biggest difference between this game and most of the others this season was the tackling, particularly in the second level. Miami's rushers were making people miss, shedding tacklers, and then dragging the pile for yards at a time. Some credit, perhaps more than will ultimately be allotted, has to go to Miami. The three backs they featured are outstanding talents, and they are certainly going to make defenders from all over the country miss and they have the lower body strength to keep going long after the first hit. The problem comes with "shedding" part. Clemson looked like the defense of years past in not being able to wrap up. But even some of this can be attributed to the Miami backs, so I'm not going to get too concerned--yet. We'll see how they look in the coming weeks.

The commentators were saying the the D-line was being stifled most of the night, but I didn't see it that way. I thought they did a pretty good job pressuring Harris when they needed to, particularly when everyone in the stands knew it was a passing down. The difference between this and last week was that by establishing the run early, Miami was able to keep the D-line back a little, particularly in the 2nd and 3rd quarters. We also didn't see Harris on any designed rollouts, and I have to think this was due to the speed of our ends. It doesn't show up in the playcalling or in the stats, but it might be another way the D-line affected the game: taking away a couple of pages from the playbook. All in all, I was pretty happy. And how about that push by Bowers on the 2nd and goal in overtime? I thought Miami had the corner of the endzone when the play began.

The coverage went about as well as I thought it would. Clemson was burned once with the long ball, that's gonna happen once in a while in college with a QB like Harris. Other than that, though, they kept pretty much everything in front of them. The LBs could have been a little more aware on some of the crossing routes--I'm specifically thinking of the TD pass on 2nd and goal from the 5 that put Miami up 17-14. But I was much more upset with the run defense in the second level: bad angles and bad tackling form.

Some troubling aspects, to be sure, but I'm willing to pass part of this off as resulting from the excellent Miami talent and a novel and effective coaching scheme that Clemson probably won't have to worry about the rest of the way.

Offense
First of all, let's get this out of the way now: no, Kyle Parker did not "grow up right before our very eyes" Saturday afternoon. That's got to be the broadcaster cliche I despise the most when it comes to describing QB performance. I do think Kyle Parker showed improvement in one area Saturday relative to earlier in the season: I think he's gotten better at managing the two-minute drill (up until the last 20 seconds of the game, I suppose). (Also, it helps to have your timeouts that weren't wasted by the coaching staff earlier in the half). Also, a couple of times he did a really good job selling the playaction, something I hadn't noticed earlier in the season. If anything, though, this performance was something of a step back. He made poor decisions throwing the ball. He struggled with pressure in the pocket. He missed the lanes on the QB draws (I thought he left more than a few yard on the field). His downfield passes were rarely accurate; its miraculous no Miami defender caught up with the duck thrown to Spiller, and the Ellington pass...ugh. Finally, he's still telegraphing his throws. Its gotten to the point where it looks like he's being coached to look one way first and even fake a throw before looking at his primary receiver. If that's true, kudos to you Billy Napier, its better than nothing. Its getting to the point where I'm really interested in seeing what Boyd can show the coaches in the spring.

Credit due where credit is due, however: Parker did throw good medium-range passes over the middle of the field including the game-winner to Ford. This is how he likes to reminds us that he's a better option than Korn. He really does have a live arm when he gets the chance to plant and throw.

I thought the O-line play was at least adequate, and perhaps the nicest surprise of the day. Still too many -2 to +2 running plays, but by and large they gave Parker time to throw, looked halfway decent getting downfield for some blocks on screens, and even opened a hole or two for the backs.

From a overall perspective, its clear that Clemson is still practicing offense by big play. But I give credit to Napier, he managed to call enough good plays to string together quite a few first downs and keep drives alive long enough to give us a chance to break the big play. And yeah, he kept going back to the RB and TE screens but hey, if Miami refuses to adjust why not go back to the well? Its actually refreshing to have an offensive coordinator who sticks with something that is working. Yeah, that's yet another not-so-subtle dig at Spence.

• Michael Palmer. What can you say? Even if his season is done today (I really hope not), I give him the Offensive MVP, non-CJ Spiller category.
• Jaime Harper finally showed some of that highly-touted strength today. Those were some key carries late in the game with Spiller about to collapse on the sidelines.

Special Teams
Worst game of the season, and we still got a kickoff return for a touchdown. That's what it's like rooting for a team with CJ Spiller. This is running long so I'll go to the bullet points:

• The poor tackling showed up in kick coverage.
• I can't understand what happened to Spiller on the Miami kickoff from their own fifteen. Looked like everyone just kind of hesitated there--no way we shouldn't bring it back to at least the 35, but it was a high kick.
• Credit Bosher, who turned out to be way more of a kicker than I gave credit for in preview.
• Also, Zimmerman takes a lot of heat from this blog, but I give him a lot of credit for hanging in on that terrible snap and getting off a great punt.
• The return team has to open its ears and eyes. Third week in a row we nearly touch a punt on the return and give the ball back. I think opposing coaches are telling the teams to punt the ball high and short and let Clemson do the rest

Major coaching decisions
Both sides of the ball had some problems. For Miami, it was more a problem with blowing timeouts at rather inane moments in the game, costing them from a strategic standpoint late in the game. Also, the poor clock management at the end of the first half, which Clemson managed to duplicate in the last twenty seconds of the game. But the worst call of the game was the pass on third & goal from the five. The last thing you want is Kyle Parker locking on a receiver in a fifteen yard short field. You want to put Parker in motion on a rollout, try a swing pass, or even a fade route to Jones and see how high he can really jump? That's fine. But don't let Parker stand there and rifle it into a crowd. On top of everything, this play was called during a timeout. I don't get it.

Two calls I loved, though: 1) fourth and one to Jaime Harper. That's the Harper from the high school highlight clips. 2) the inside hand-off to Harper on what ended up being the last play before the kick that sent the game to overtime. Big eight yards for Jackson, who put a late, knuckling slice on that last kick but because of the run there was more than enough margin for error. Now, the lost 12 seconds after the run were disappointing but hey, can't fault the initial idea.

I'm gonna wrap this up 'cause its gone on way too long, but I'm still pretty excited about the game. I can't imagine what it must have been like in the heat and humidity to play such a long game with so much emotional and physical investment for the players--I know just watching the game left me physically and emotionally drained. Against the odds and for the first time in a long time, though, the players saw their investment pay off. Now they just need to sustain the same level of investment and they could end up with the division title. Luckily, our second bye week is up. I mean the Coastal Carolina game. Should give us some time to rest.

Wake Forest Preview

Wake Forest vs. Clemson, Oct. 17, 12:00pm, Death Valley

Tigermax:

I don't see this as a make-or-break "playoff" game or whatever. Unless you're talking about making-or-breaking your chances for a bowl birth; I'll buy that one. We've got to win an evenly-matched game somewhere along the line if it's gonna happen.

At any rate, after the miserable loss 2 weeks ago at the hands of Maryland and the intervening bye week with kind of sorta some drama, on paper things actually shape up pretty nicely for Billy Napier & Co. Wake Forest has struggled a bit on defense this year and the extra week has given Clemson lots of time to prep for Jim Grobe's team and work on execution. I'm hoping for some points on scripted drives in the first quarter; then I'll be looking for smoother playcalling and elimination of the personnel confusion that has cropped up now and then this year. I'll also be watching to see what they've done with Parker over the last two weeks. Hopefully we see him tucking the ball and running on occasion to keep the WF defense honest.

On the flip side, Wake Forest is a well-coached team: they know their fundamentals. Which means we probably can't rely on CJ Spiller or Jacoby Ford to make space for themselves. They are going to need to the help of, you know, their teammates. Not just 9 other guys out on the field, mind you, but teammates executing well--opening up holes along the offensive line, not telegraphing passes, and the like.

For Wake, Rilo Kiley Riley Skinner is the story (I haven't been able to keep that straight for four years now). Skinner has always been the consummate Grobe game-manager, but as Paul Strelow already pointed out, he's been throwing downfield more often this year. "Evolving," I guess. Should be an interesting test for our secondary, which has looked shaky at times this year. If Skinner is able to open up the field with his improved passing, the defense could be on the field for quite some time. Grobe has called Skinner's number on the ground in the past vs. Clemson, and you can bet we'll see more of it this year after he sees the tapes from our last two games. We'll see if/how Steele adjusts.

All in all, as I said earlier in the week, I gotta think Wake has the edge. I don't expect to see improvement in the offense, but I'm holding out hope that we don't look worse. Our best shot is to put up a couple of early scores and tack on the occasional field goal while our defense holds on for dear life.

Clemben:

I am slightly more optimistic because the game is at Death Valley. Grobe has a 3-5 record against Clemson but all of those wins have come at Wake. Skinner when given time has looked real good this year but he also has had some poor decision making when pressured. I am afraid of him running more than passing to be honest. Mobile QB's have killed us--even when they are the son of the drummer of RATT they run all over us. How many yards could Turner have gotten if he had any athleticism. Boggles the mind...

So it will be close because we cant score, if we lose again without scoring a fourth quarter TD I call the season close to over. Giving Wake the tiebreaker would be hard to overcome and would force us to win out being 1-3 in conference play. 2-2 is a different beast, I really think the winner of the division is going to be 4-4. Lots of football to be played though, lets just hope our brand involves more touchdowns and I-formations with Diehl blocking.

Go Tigers!!

The Perfect Weekend, Almost

Well I was going to write out a post where I highlighted each Atlantic teams record and what games they had left to play but Tigernet beat me to it. So I am just extending off of what I said in my last post.

Clemson had the perfect weekend. Other than South Carolina winning, everything went right. In terms of recruiting Georgia lost and even Vandy lost. DL Corey Crawford went down to FSU but I cant see that performance stealing him away. On the recruiting front kids are getting shaky and we need a marquee win to get everyone "all in" again.

The key to the season is beating Wake. If we beat Wake we hold the tiebreaker against the top teams BC and Wake. BC has the easiest schedule but will likely lose one more. Look bottom line is the Coastal can beat anyone in the Atlantic. Virginia isnt going to be a pushover bc they have the spread starting to evolve and Duke!! VT isnt going to lose and this all works in our favor. Our schedule couldnt be better--we have 2 weeks to prepare for Wake and then go to Miami to try to beat an overrated top ten team that would give us some momentum. FSU and NC State are tanking but at this point would be hard pressed to make a complete comeback, so a win over Wake gives us the tiebreakers. We will need them. I think we can go 4-4 but 5-3 will be tough. I dont see Maryland stringing together four wins either.

These are just bubbles but what I really want to say is that winning the Atlantic has never been easier. Never!! Its time to salvage the season, get on the same page offensively and start fighting...

Well I didnt mean that literally. Lots has been swirling about the altercation between Napier and Swinney at practice. Dabo thinks he knows how to run an offense, thats why Napier was made the OC--so Dabo could control him to a certain degree. We knew that and thought it wouldnt be that bad a thing for a rookie OC. We didnt know that Dabo would do such a poor job of it. All those three and four WR sets can be attributed to Dabo...lots of offensive line protection mishaps, Dabo too...

Dabo you arent an offensive genius, its ok. Let your ego go, and let Napier call some plays. I have really liked the first couple of drives in the past few games--its the end of the half play calling, the end of game play calling that has been awful and as it turns out, that has been largely Dabo. Run more I formation. Let go of that part of Spence thats still in you, its not good stuff...

If Napier gets canned after the season at least we will have to get a real OC that Dabo cant push around. I'm glad Napier is standing up for himself and its time for Dabo to man up and put his ego in check. We are 2-3 bc of you Dabo...accept it and lets please all move on...

Taking Dabo Swinney's Temperature as We Enter this Fine Bye Week

Let me preface this by saying I'm not advocating for Dabo Swinney's removal. Its too early to start that kind of talk. Why? For starters, the offense still has time to get better, and even make substantial improvements in-season. DrB and Ryan Bartow's revelations about the Swinney overriding Napier 1-2 times a series suggests there's room for improvement by simply avoiding unnecessary confusion. (By the way, I think I speak for ClemBen when I say that if this pans out, we'll be more than happy to shift the majority of the blame to whoever is most responsible for the baffling playcalling.) A lot of the other issues with this offense are also fixable, but will likely require the offseason and at least some personnel changes.

Moreover, it's too early because in the name of program stability most coaches gets a decent amount of time to turn things around as long as they aren't finishing 2-10 or 3-9. This is probably particularly true with an inexperienced guy like Dabo Swinney, after all, we knew there would be growing pains when he was hired. I generally think stability is overrated--as soon as you realize your coach is an anchor, its best to cut ties as soon as possible and get the rebuilding process started. The real problem comes when trying to ascertain when the coach has officially become the proverbial "anchor" on the program. That's something I'll try and look into over the bye weekend, but for now I think that while he weirdly has the "inexperienced" label actually working in his favor at this point, there are two points that work against Swinney in determining how long he will last at Clemson.

First, contract. While the man's not being paid peanuts (~$800,000 in guaranteed money), he's not as expensive to cut ties with as other coaches would be around the country. I'm sure this was part of Phillips' plan from the outset--if things blow up in the program's face we can just cut ties without breaking the bank.

Second, and probably more importantly, one of the most widely-cited reasons for retaining Swinney as head coach was his ability to keep the recruiting pipeline going, arguably the brightest spot of the Bowden years. But as the program continues to struggle, the strength of recruiting classes will inevitably dive and Swinney will end up losing possibly his best selling point.

There are still quite a few things in Swinney's favor at this point. And ultimately what will play the biggest role in deciding the length of his tenure is the number of wins versus the number of losses. But the two reasons I mentioned can only make it easier for Phillips (or whoever) to pull the trigger when the time comes.

Maryland Recap

Time to comment on the debacle that was last Saturday. In some ways, I'm reminded of Tommy Bowden's 2006 VT debacle. Both games on the road that reminded us that even with excellent talent at skill positions, without adequate coaching it doesn't matter. And those friggin' all-white jerseys. The comparison falls apart after anything more than a cursory inspection, mainly because VT was a good team, and Maryland, not so much.

Let's lay this out right now: the season is over. We can now officially start looking forward to destroying USuCk in Columbia and maybe, just maybe, losing to another perennially-underperforming program in some middling bowl game that's too embarrassing to mention to your non-Clemson rooting friends. But, but, you say everyone else lost last week, too. Everything is still up for grabs, you say. To which I respond: we still need to finish 5-0 in ACC play to ensure capturing the ACC championship. 4-1 gets you in the conversation, if you're lucky and the only loss is to Miami. After last Wednesday, though, does anyone honestly think we can finish 4-1? ...3-2, even? Before you answer, remind yourself that we just got pushed around by Maryland. I'd say 2-3 is the more realistic scenario, with wins against Virginia and one of either Wake, NC State, of FSU.

On the plus side, what this loss does is to divorce me from the all-consuming fan-based passion that comes when I watch the games. I can now sit back and view them with a more rational mind, almost like I was watching any other old team on a Saturday afternoon. I suspect this is because its become too painful to watch as a real fan.

Defense
The redeeming value of watching this team. I was a little bit upset that Steele hadn't adjusted for the slant routes (although in fairness, Clemson did manage to at least try and jump the routes a couple of times) or the QB keeper. Because Maryland sure scouted the TCU game and decided to alter its playbook to take advantage of weaknesses. I know people are singing Ralph Friedgen's praises up in College Park this last weekend, but really, its nothing special. Its called watching the tapes and making adjustments. Its also called "coaching" in some regions. What's the exact opposite of singing praises? "Screaming damnations", maybe? (Hey, good name for an indie metal band!) That's what should be going on because we weren't ready for Maryland to do the same thing TCU pulled on us. Yeah, we looked better in the second half, but I think that had more to do with Friedgen going super-conservative on offense after the midpoint of the third quarter (ridiculous 4th-down call notwithstanding). Sure, we managed to shut them down but its not hard for our defense when the playcalling is as follows: run up the middle, run up the middle, swing pass or run up the middle.

Special Teams
Coverage was strong, except for that one that Zimmerman managed to crush 20 yards or whatever. I put that one on the punter, the ball has to at least go in the vicinity of where the coverage is going. As for the returns, what can you say about CJ Spiller? That was a jaw-dropping run that's currently making the rounds on pro team blogs already planning for a top ten pick in next years draft. Jackson missed the field goals when it counted, staving off the Treadwell comparisons, perhaps for good. But as has been hashed out here and elsewhere, if you're going to run a set of plays that basically concedes any chance at positive yardage to the other team, the least you can do is gradually move the ball to the middle of the field.(**Unless, of course, Jackson tells the coaches he prefers it on the right hash, then this is a stupid and under-informed criticism).

Finally, hats off to Friedgen for finding a punter at the back of the bench who could kick the ball away from Spiller. This is what all coaches should be doing, but luckily these kind of punters aren't that frequent at the college level.

Offense
Here's a snap-shot of Napier's general playcalling decision tree:

1st: Run ---> 2nd: Pass (WR screen unless you want to do one on third down) ----> 3rd: Pass (WR screen unless it was done in 2nd down. Can't be too predictable here.)

Notice how the decision tree doesn't branch at all. That's a problem.

Anyways: Ugh. Why should I put in any effort here when the coaches apparently aren't bothering either? Instead, let me quote from a post last week:

In all meaningful games we've played to date, our offense (and I mean that in terms of offensive output, not offensive design) has consisted almost entirely of CJ Spiller or Jacoby Ford getting the ball in space and using their superior athletic abilities to gobble up large chunks of yardage.

This was meant as something of a hyperbole, but after last Saturday, can this be questioned? Okay, it does short-shrift Michael Palmer, god bless his TE-receiving ways, but what does it say that our TE is the only other viable option on offense after Spiller and Ford? I think it says we've had terrible coaching on the line, the WR position, the playcalling, and even now we can start worrying about the QB position as Kyle Parker continues to struggle with telegraphed passes and throwing off his back foot. The most troubling aspect of it all, as DrB has been stressing since Saturday, is that there is no improvement week-to-week. Zero. There may really be something to this ridiculously drummed up Spiller-for-Heisman thing. Without Spiller, we'd probably be 1-4 or maybe 0-5, looking at a 2-9 or 3-8 season. When one player is worth 2-4 wins all on his own, that's insanely valuable.

Major Coaching Decisions
Where did that timeout on the two-minute conversion come from? Sure, it ended up working out for the Tigers, but that's a terrible call in my book every time. Take the five yard penalty and kick the extra point. Unless of course, Swinney has about as much faith in the offense as I do.

Final bullet-point thoughts that didn't fit anywhere above:

• Terrible call on the Maryland TD before the half, but yeah...who cares?
• 2-minute drill killed us, both Maryland's execution and our complete lack of one. Sure, we looked okay for at least a couple of plays at the end of the game, but that struck me as some improvised good fortune for the most part.
• it looks like they are in some kind of maximum protect on offense, which stifled our D-line. That puts a lot of pressure on our secondary and LBs since we key off the line play so much. Could be a template for coaches in the weeks to come. Lord knows they won't have to worry about us adjusting.
• Tall, athletic receivers are seeing some success against our CBs
• Willy Korn finally showed a flash of what people must have liked so much about him. Nice ~10 yard run. It's a small sample size, but one knock on him coming out of high school was a lack of pocket presence. He's no Will Proctor back there, but this looks like one area where Parker has a small edge.
• Not-so-daring prediction: now we really will start seeing more of Korn with the season effectively over.
• I've liked some of the last few Clemson "come to our school" ads, but I don't get the new one. Why is Clemson one of the best public universities? I guess the answer is essentially old guys at graduation ceremonies and athletics.
• Don't think I've ever heard a more unprepared announcing duo than the guys on ESPNU last Saturday. The only background they brought into the game was Friedgen's new diet.

Napier's head should roll

That was absolutely pathetic. I'm sure Billy Napier is a great guy and he has a bright future, I just dont think its now...

Parker was just awful, that was like a watching Procter again. It was painful. I dont know whats going on, seems to me a combination of things--when they werent blitzing though Parker had all day...I mean ten seconds--as much time as he needed. But he didnt run for positive yards, he either threw it out of bounds every play or he started to move and then lost all of his mechanics. When he moves the passes become ugly. I know the WR's dont do a good job getting separation but Parker must be having trouble simply reading defenses...

Napier is in over his head with a freshman QB. Steele and the D had a pathetic second quarter but they made the adjustments and shut down the terps--plus they had the added bonus of a couple of terps going down. How many chances to move the ball were we given. How do you have an oline giving you time for once--and the acc all purpose yards leader in your backfield and you cant get it into field goal range when you start at the thirty?? Dabo is going to fail if he doesnt do something--all his believe slogans and mantras dont equate into results...you cant put it on your kicker like that...he should have made one of them but get it in the middle of the field for him.

Actually I think we still have a chance in the atlantic division just because everyone else is so pathetic. Maryland wont be a team in contention at the end so if we found a way to win out then we could still do it but this is pathetic. This is mediocre at best. We should have hired Bud Foster. I want TDP to go down first before Dabo though, it was his hire and he has a bad track record as far as I am concerned. This is depressing, so much wasted talent...

TCU Recap

Well, I've calmed down sufficiently to write something. But now I'm mired in the depression that always follows a loss, so we'll see how far I get. Who am I kidding? I've always got a reserve of deep-seated frustration to tap for these kind of posts.

Defense
Strong outing. Lost in all the post-game commentary is that TCU actually has a decent offense. Yes, TCU's passing game was hindered by the bad weather, lots of balls that probably should have been caught by TCU receivers (TCU more than made up for this with the lucky TD reception off the tipped ball and the once-in-a-lifetime catch made by Hicks on the second TD reception.) But the secondary looked good for the most part, I wish someone would have stepped up and and jumped a slant at some point, but for the most part they seemed content to play a little more conservatively, probably not a bad decision with the poor conditions. There's been lots of grumbling over the inability of the defense to adjust to the QB keeper, but looked to me like Clemson was focused on coverage and also wanted to keep the ball out of the running back's hands. The result was Dalton being left free on a few occasions to chew up some yardage, but TCU has a lot of weapons and if you're going to give them one, letting the slow QB carry the ball now and then isn't a bad idea.

Tackling watch: Not bad. I thought the defense looked a little tired at the end of the third quarter/beginning of the fourth quarter and it showed up in some lax tackling, the second level was getting dragged along for several extra yards at a time. Hard to blame them, though, since they were out on the field fo so long with our offense unable to muster a first down.

Offense
I'm gonna differ from most of the blogosphere here, and also ClemBen--I thought the playcalling was baffling at best. The scripted first drive was fine, but after that we were putting ourselves into too many third and longs. This resulted from: 1) too many pass plays and 2) too much running east to west and not north to south. Given the skill player strengths and experience in the offense, we should be calling at least a 55/45 run/pass ratio, particularly if we have the lead or its tied. After conditions worsened I wouldn't mind running this up to 65/35. Instead we were probably running the opposite (35/65 run to pass) to start the second half. Bizarre.

The good news is TCU has a good defense. Boston College has a good defense. The question becomes, what level of defensive crappiness is necessary for us to score regularly? If the answer is Middle Tennessee State, well, we should be able to score against Maryland, Virginia, and Coastal Carolina. If the answer is somewhere in between, we'll have a fighting chance against Miami, FSU, and NC State, as well. I should say the USuCk scares me at this point, but hey, Chicken Curse. I remain as confident as I am every year that we will stomp them into the ground. Mercilessly.

I already covered the red zone offense in the post below. As long as our offense struggles to move the ball anywhere on the field, I can't honestly think of why we should be expecting the offense to score once they get inside the magical twenty yard line. Its a fundamental problem with execution and inconsistent playcalling, not some failure to be "mentally tough enough" or some other garbage to score inside some arbitrarily-defined region of the field.

Special Teams
Good outing. I think we came back to earth a little after the last few great weeks, but we still got some solid returns and looked phenomenal in coverage. Can't ask for much more. Zimmerman's bad boot cost us at the end, but TCU's offense was able to move the ball enough at the end to put our backs against the end zone. And while Zimmerman had a great game up to that point, I think everyone in the stadium knew we were playing with house money on that last punt.

Major Coaching Decisions
Would have kicked the field goal. With the current state of our offense, we had a better chance at getting close enough to score two field goals then to suddenly gain the ability to catch a lob in the endzone. I'm not sure what makes Napier/Swinney think we had a chance to score a touchdown all of a sudden. I hope, hope, hope that Napier isn't on the sideline thinking, "Well, we've had so many chances up 'til now...somebody's gotta step up and make a big play sometime. Might as well be on 4th and 13 at the 16 yard line". Unfortunately, I haven't seen much of anything to indicate otherwise. Kick the field goal, take your three timeouts and entrust them to your better units, special teams and defense.

Can't wait to vicariously take out some frustration on Maryland this weekend.

Deep Thought

The Napier hiring is looking worse and worse each game.

Georgia Tech Recap

As I mentioned before, I have to force myself to take a couple of days off after tough losses before posting anything on the blog. Mostly to calm down, but it also allows a little perspective to seep in.

Anyways, the hilariously display of inept coaching and poor play for all units in the first quarter just about left me in a blind rage. That's why it was so unusual, even in crushing, last-minute defeat, to feel so calm and even cautiously optimistic after it was over. There were lots of things to like in the last three quarters.

Defense
I halfway expected to give up a big play or two early in the game. When you play Paul Johnson's offense, I think it takes a few series to really get into flow of the defensive attack. No matter how much you practice, come game time there's going to be an adjustment period. Its a shame that led to the long TD run, but there you have it. After the first quarter though, watching the defense was just a thing of beauty. The DEs where pressuring the outside, the secondary was covering, and even the linebackers were doing a decent job of wrapping up (still too many "hits" instead of tackles, particularly in that first quarter, but its still an improvement). And what can you say about the guard play in the middle of the D-line. It seems the last 2-4 years that if we didn't get penetration into the backfield on a run, the opposing team was picking up an automatic 5-6 yards. We just couldn't stuff power runs. What I saw in those last three quarters brought back memories of defenses long past. Not that I had much doubt, but this year's defense is going to be just fine.

Offense
Terrible, terrible first half--MTSU redux, with the Spiller reception filling in for the long Ford reception. I was all but typing my screeds pointed at Napier and Swinney, but then two things happened that I haven't seen in some time: 1) we actually started pushing around another ACC team's D-line with regularity, and 2) we started executing plays on every down of the drive. The second point is relieving because we have so much youth at the skill positions, but its the first point that separates this 2-quarter run of success from the Rob Spence era. We were running the ball with authority, and the offense was keyed off the run game. I loved it. Add in the explosive Spiller and Ford and you have a recipe for putting some points on the board.

Unfortunately, its time to throw some water on the optimism. GT isn't exactly known for its defense (probably around ACC average) and the D-line is undersized, albeit athletic and quick. Before I get excited, I want to see if they can replicate point #1 against a better defense. Coincidentally enough, the criminally underrated Boston College is coming to town this week, sporting a preseason projected third-best defense in Division I (or FBS or whatever they're calling it) according to FEI.

Also, we have no two-minute drill. In the three drives that were operating under the guise of two-minute drill (2 at the end of the first half and the final drive of the game), we managed to net 5 yards. And we didn't look like we had any idea of what we were doing.

Special Teams
53 yard FG!!!!!!! I think this amped me up as much as any play in the game.

Implications
I mentioned last week that this game didn't mean all that much, provided we beat an underrated Boston College this week. I also said that if we play a close game against GT, win or lose, we would be in contention for the Division title. I'd like to punt that last prediction down the road one more week, because no matter how good we look if we lost to BC the season is effectively over. Unless you plan on Clemson going 5-1 the rest of the ACC season.

Putting Down the Orange-Tinted Glasses (this year, anyway)

Around this time of year I've always managed to convince myself, no matter the circumstances surrounding the team, that this is the year Clemson once again captures the national title. Not just the ACC title or a BCS birth, but the national title. I've been pondering over the last couple of weeks why this year is different.

I think its the combination of several factors creating a perfect storm-type of situation. First, while Clemson football has always been my first rooting interest in any sport at any level of competition, Clemson basketball is a close second. The success of the basketball team and the promise of the season ahead has definitely occupied some of the time I would normally spend gauging the football teams chances.

Second, the uncertainty of having Swinney at the head. I haven't commented on this much before but when he was hired, I wouldn't say I was upset but I wasn't particularly excited, either. My reasoning: I wasn't sure the Clemson AD could/would have made a better hire in Swinney's stead, and I was attracted to the argument that he represented a smooth transition for our scouting, arguably the best part of the Bowden years (feels good to say "the Bowden years", doesn't it?). But then he hired Billy Napier as the offensive coordinator, which absolutely shocked me--our offense is currently led by two guys with little experience ever leading one. Experience is generally overrated, but you know whats not overrated in an offensive coach? Having previously implemented an offensive scheme of your own design. Now, every step Swinney has made since then has been reassuring, including turning a potentially mediocre recruiting class into an average one, the emphasis on aggressiveness, and most recently the revelation that the offensive playbook has been pared down significantly. But still, I can't shake the feeling that we have a head coach that got his job by selling himself on unquantifiable coaching tropes like "natural leader", "knows how to connect with players", "knows how to rally the troops", "inspires by example", etc. etc. While his predecessor certainly seemed to lack these qualities, I still maintain that the better perceived team play after Bowden's departure had more to do with a healthy and more synergistic offensive line than Swinney's magical hold on the team and, in fact, if Bowden stays on the results probably wouldn't have been that different. (As an aside, let me be clear that I'm glad Bowden is finally gone. What a whiner.)

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, while the overall talent on the field isn't appreciably worse than last year, it certainly isn't better. I don't see a fix to the major problems that have plagued us most of the last few years--linebackers that are athletic and can hit but can't tackle (I don't care how bad TCU's defense is, if Clemson hasn't improved its tackling they'll run up 30 points on our defense--Mountain West teams know how to get into the second level) and the offensive line is a question mark (maybe not as much as last year, I'll grant you). Add to this a starting redshirt freshman at QB and the baffling problems our talented defensive line had last year getting upfield, I see us as a 6-8 win team on talent.

All of that being said, there's reason for hope: parity in the Atlantic division. Win a couple of close games over the right teams and we could be in the ACC title game with a 5-3 or even 4-4 conference record.

One last point--while I haven't managed to convince myself this is "the year", that doesn't mean I'm not ready to watch some football. GO TIGERS!!