There are a ton of things I want to post about and I am seeing the world in all shades of orange. I must post about the Macho Man Dabo soon. You got to believe, you got greatness in you, Oh yeeeah...Dabo Flair on national television. Waaahooo...I have to shake my head and laugh at what an embarrassment that truly is, I mean act like you've been there before, but I was just as jacked up about winning. Maybe we need a cheerleader who hoots and hollars.
Anyway, I had to quickly comment on Tajh Boyd. In the few times I have written since checking out of writing about Clemson I have been very critical of Tajh. He was pretty much amazing on Saturday. I just read a piece where Dwayne Allen, who also played spectacularly Saturday, said last year Boyd weighed over 240 pounds. As an aside Chad Morris has got some strategery to him--Allen was being saved in the first two games. The gameplan went through Allen, Watkins, and Nuk in the air. A lesser offensive coordinator like Spence wouldn't have been flexible enough to integrate Allen into his system. Chad Morris may save Clemson football single handed.
So Boyd weighed over 240 with Jamie Harper. Who was held accountable for that? Sure the player needs to be, and that shows a lack of dedication and commitment from Boyd but seriously. I guy gains twenty-thirty pounds and starts getting called Fat Boy by teammates and no one on the coaching staff picks up on it or does anything? That is a change in uniform size! This has to be partially on Bateson and Napier but is really a larger problem of not cultivating a culture of responsibility from players, coaches, staff and administrators. Back-ups and scout team players are being groomed to be players and I think red-shirts are often wasted at Clemson. Players get fatter, don't learn the offense or defense well enough and become complacent. Is this the kind of thing a Woody McCorvey type of staff member should be on the look-out for and not let happen?
Boyd wasn't ready to be QB in the Spring because he was too heavy. That hurt his footwork which throws off or changes mechanics. That was why I kind of laughed at the dual-threat talk--I thought he was more a fullback than a QB. I still would like him to drop another ten pounds to add a bit more speed but if its muscle now you can't argue with a little bit of durability. If Boyd gets injured we are in serious trouble. At least our back-up doesn't look like an eighth grader who weighs 170 pounds. If I'm EJ Manuel I am pissed off at Jimbo.
Boyd was great! I didn't think he had that in him. The only bad things were that he forced it a couple of times but when you have receivers with the hands of Nuke and Watkins you can afford to do that. Allen made some amazing grabs as well, so much different from the guy who dropped some easy balls last year. That TD catch was a pleasure to watch. We really picked up the blitzing better and Boyd had plenty of time. Auburn didn't do all that much up front because of their own youth so we will probably take some more lumps here, but it was night and day compared to Wofford. Boyd ran well on some broken plays and showed a positive confidence and Leadership! that I didn't know he had in him. We can't get overconfident but if I had to pick between a lack of confidence with no way to ever find said confidence and overconfidence, its not that bad a problem to have. I am now firmly on the Boyd 'Phat Boy' Bandwagon. Yes I just went there with the 'Ph'.
We need Boyd to stay healthy and in-shape, the latter not being a problem with drillmaster Chad Morris at the helm. I love his attitude of telling his offensive team that they may not like him but they will be better for it (which must be some kind of reference to how Dabo must need that kind of reciprocal love or something, I don't know). I just hope Dabo doesn't start 'coaching' again. Anytime he makes a call, of any kind, it ends with something poorly executed (like the fake), or everyone yelling at each other. I thought Bowden was a bad end game coach but Dabo must be worse--his record in close games certainly is. I am hoping that Morris will be in total control of the offense all of the time and am not too worried about the end game because we already are constantly in a hurry-up offense. Why does Dabo scribble things down?? That is why the invention of tape recorders was a big deal. I think my high school had a group of 'stats girls' who did that job.
Hey its a new paragraph, how about another random tangent--how scary good were Meyer and Speilman breaking down game footage. I was scared that that opposing defensive coordinators would use what they were saying. That was the gold standard for breaking down footage in real-time. I felt like a football guru just by listening to them. But I thought Speilman got one thing wrong--he said in the fourth that he would slow the game down. I think he was dead wrong. That is how you let a team back into the game. The offense is designed to wear down the defense so that they can take it to you in the fourth and add those points to the scoreboard. If you slow it down, they catch their breath and you are two possessions away from defeat. Best to have your foot on the gas until the three or four minute mark--which is what Morris did beautifully.
Its been ten years since we had a competent offensive mind who could make in-game adjustments. FSU looks vulnerable and the game may hinge on the health of EJ Manuel's shoulder. Or it may hinge on the Clemson offense running down the throat of the FSU defense, while Chad Morris simultaneously stomps that same throat with the back heel of his Texas boot. Yes, you heard it here first--our offense is turning into beast mode this Saturday, Woohoo! Woohoo! (Ric Flair sounds) Then Dabo Hogan rips his breakaway shirt, brother. He is one part preacher, another part pro wrestler but 100% salesman cheerleader coach. Go Dabo! Go Tigers!
PS. The Pac-10 used to suck and still does but they potentially get Oklahoma and Texas and we get Pitt and Syracuse?? You know BC isn't exactly working out for us right? Oh and Barker, you genius, thanks for voting for the 20 million dollar exit fee...Which Big East teams are in the top 25--the ones we didn't pick to join the ACC.
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