Yeah, South Carolina lost a game to Vandy that it really needed. But from week 2 to week 3, the Gamecocks showed a lot of improvement. It looks like the Gamecocks' offensive line seemed to get a little cohesiveness in the second half of the Georgia game, and the team's offense found some of its identity in the pass.
South Carolina, and quarterback Chris Smelley (23 of 39 for 271 yards,) had struggled to find receivers to catch the ball other than Jared Cook and Kenny McKinley(injured.) But by the end of the game versus Georgia, wide receivers Mo Brown, Freddie Brown and Dion Lecorn had all made contributions. It seems Smelley was learning to look all over the field and WRs were getting open versus a good Bulldog defense. If that continues, the Gamecocks will be able to make up for the Vandy loss by taking a win over a team it will not be favored to beat. It's the SEC, which means a murderer's row and it will not be easy. But the Gamecocks showed they had heart - and a defense that has strength and talent - against Georgia. The Gamecocks also introduced freshman QB Stephen Garcia. With him in the mix, used in special situations, SC will only be more versatile as an offense.
If the Gamecocks learn and grow - and keeps its head up - the team will move in the right direction.
At Clemson, the Tigers have played an SEC foe and one from the ACC. The results have to be scary for the ever-hopeful Clemson fans, who talk of conference championships and BCS contention every off-season, only to be slammed into reality when the talk stops and the actual games begin.
What looks like a fair-to-middling Alabama squad, thoroughly dismantled a Tiger team, 34-10, that was penciled into the national picture by a slew of fawning, now egg-faced, pundits.
The bally-hooed backfield of James Davis and C.J. Spiller (0 yards rushing versus Bama) are constantly referred to as the top RB tandem in college football. What most leave out, is that "Thunder and Lightening" are not as effective as most teams' single back formations. And while Tiger QB Cullen Harper has been praised ad nauseam, he looks very average, even versus the poor teams that annually make up the bulk of Clemson's schedule.
Aside from the national embarrassment delivered to Tiger Head Coach Tommy Bowden by the Crimson Tide, Clemson returned to its usual band of weak sisters in week two. Padding its record, as is its custom, with a win over the Citadel, but the tigers did not look sharp.
A week later, it took Clemson three quarters to finally shake an N.C. State team that is clearly in the rebuilding stage.
The fact that the Tigers play in a very weak conference usually covers the sad truth that it is one of the weakest BCS schools in the country. And 2008 seems to be no different.
You can look for the tigers to feast on the down-trodden, but stumble against any opposition with half a heart and a few players.
The good news for Tiger fans, there are not many teams on Clemson's schedule with the resources and personnel a big school like Clemson can attract. In other words: Clemson's schedule is so weak, the Tigers can win most weeks just by showing up.
And for those looking to late November: if SC sustains the type of injuries it had in 07, the Tigers will have a chance to add it it win total versus SC. But if the Gamecocks can remain even relatively healthy, their team is a good bit ahead of Clemson, as far a college football on a major stage is concerned. And lucky for the Gamecocks, it gets to live like Clemson for the next two weeks, with games versus ACC-level opponents in Wofford and Alabama-Birmingham.
But if the Tigers and Gamecocks were to tee it up Sept. 20, I think we could assure that the Gamecocks would walk away with a convincing win.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
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.
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.
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