Why are Clemson fans in a state of 'Shock' after 34-10 loss to Alabama?

Big T Blog
Sept. 3, 2008

For months, since it was announced that Clemson would oppose Alabama on Aug. 30, in Atlanta, there has been excitement. And that would have been the case with any major BCS program.
And the fervor grew as more and more pre-season college football publications gushed about the amount of talent that Clemson Head Coach Tommy Bowden has assembled. The longstanding boasts and promises that Bowden has made to IPTAY (Clemson’s athletic donors) about his recruiting prowess were finally making an impact with the regional, and eventually, the national media.
Despite the loss of linebackers Nick Watkins and Tremaine Billie from 2007, Clemson fans were under the belief the team would be stronger. Even the loss of another linebacker, the troubled Courtney Vincent, did not phase exuberant Clemson fans. The eventual banning of the academically struggling Vincent, who was allowed by Bowden to play in the Tigers’ loss in the Chick-Fil-A Bowl in Atlanta in 2007, was exacerbated by the decision of defensive end Phillip Merling to go to the National Football League. And that was just the defensive losses. The Tigers lost four its five starters on the offensive line.
How can you project such lofty heights for a team that lost so many standout starters? And that is not all. Clemson is a squad that mustered only a third-place finish in 2007 in the inept Atlantic Coast Conference? But don’t blame Clemson fans only for the traditional off-season euphoria that always seems to envelope Tigertown. Pollsters voted Clemson as the ninth-best team in college football.
Despite the weak logic of expecting so much with so little reason, TigerNation is shocked that Alabama kicked the team up and down the field, beating Clemson 34-10.
Bowden was so clueless as to what happened that he called colleagues in the coaching world, including Nick Saban, Alabama’s coach who drubbed his team, to ask what he did wrong.
While Bowden admitted he called to ask for help, he did not give many details regarding the answers. But famed South Carolina Head Coach Steve Spurrier may give a little insight into what happened. In his weekly coach’s call-in show on Sept. 2, Spurrier said he read where members of the Clemson program were in "shock." The Head Ball Coach then talked about his Gamecocks’ 2007 loss to underdog Vanderbilt. He said people thought the Gamecocks were good because they had won a couple games. Spurrier then said his team lost because they were not a good team.In effect, he said the Gamecocks lost because the team was supposed to lose. And that goes right to the point with Clemson’s loss to Alabama.It should be no surprise the Tigers lost. Sure many pundits, and the Clemson friendly venues (like The State newspaper, Columbia, SC) told us Clemson is a primetime program, and would win big.But there are also those in this state who know Bowden and they have seen the work he has done at Clemson. Bowden has a marginal record versus the ACC, but there was no reason to believe Clemson would beat Alabama, if the Tide had improved any from its 6-6 campaign of 2007. In 10 years, Bowden’s teams have embarrassing losses that range from blowouts at the hands of Georgia, Virginia Tech and Texas Tech to inexplicable implosions to teams including Duke, Georgia Tech and Wake Forest.Versus Alabama, Clemson lost, and lost big, because that is where the program is. And what's more: regardless of this year's record, which will be greatly padded by many of the weakest opponents in college football, Clemson will get no better.
Under Bowden, Clemson is a mediocre program, not likely to ever win a game versus a top quality opponent, as long as Bowden is the coach.
If you believe otherwise, prepare to be shocked.