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FSU Game Review
I think one word can summarize the trip to Tallahassee—DEMORALIZING.

It was demoralizing to see an FSU squad that has not been able to run the football on Clemson in several years, rack up 266 yards on the ground.

If you can’t block and you can’t tackle then you can’t win. I don’t care who coaches the Tigers next season if the blocking and tackling efforts continue along these trends.

Saturday’s problems on offense started after Chris Hairston left with a concussion and the Tigers had a hard time protecting for the rest of the contest. I usually don’t question coaching but why not help Corey Lambert with a tight end and/or a back to help chip Everett Brown?

It hurts because Clemson’s big names played poorly Saturday. I am a fan of the Clemson running backs but if they want to play in the NFL he will have to come up with better pass protection efforts than we saw Saturday. The quarterback is not the reason Clemson lost but it would be nice to see him not throw the ball directly to the opponent so often and so deep in his own territory.

The Bandit end has talked about going pro early but he will have to become a much better player and more consistent at the next level. Usually safeties are consistent but Saturday will go on their highlight films.

It is hard to imagine Linebacker U having a game where the linebackers were less of a factor than what we saw Saturday. Is it just me or are Clemson’s blitz packages completely ineffective? I just see blitzers just running into offensive linemen.

If I see another Clemson defensive end get sucked inside and lose containment on a reverse then I may lose it. The turning point of the Maryland game was Darius Heyward-Bey’s 76-yard reverse and you knew FSU would try to exploit the Tigers’ aggressiveness. There were several other times throughout the game where Clemson lost containment which is another example of missed assignments.

Tackling has nothing to do with assignments but it is another example of lack of fundamentals. Clemson could put together an entire tape of poor tackling techniques from Saturday.

Another major disappointment from the road trip was the effort and energy. I am not sure why the Tigers lacked emotion or energy. This was another big game and FSU provided some atmosphere. This Clemson team looked like it was playing at Wallace Wade Stadium instead of Doak Campbell.

The better team won Saturday and Florida State is improving but this is still not a great team. I would have felt different if this offense that put up 41 points had Chris Weinke or Charlie Ward. It would not have hurt this bad if Tamarick Vanover, Warrick Dunn or even Walter Jones would have been lined up opposite of the Tigers. The FSU defense is improving but I still don’t see Boulware, Wilson, Brooks, Jones, Sanders or Wadsworth out there.

Clemson was an underdog Saturday and rightfully so. I was not expecting to win Saturday but I also was not expecting such a demoralizing loss.

Saturday’s loss was a lot like the opener to Alabama. It was not quite as demoralizing as that affair but it was another example of a team with more of a sense of urgency and a more physical football team whipping the Tigers.

The lack of a sense of urgency is a concern. This team is fighting for its coach in order to get him a chance at the job and it is fighting to stay alive in the ACC and bowl contention. If there was no sense of urgency Saturday then when will we see it?

We knew Clemson’s offensive line was going to be an issue in the pre-season and when you lose Chris Hairston then the issue is a greater concern. The linebackers were anther issue that we had fair warning on. We knew this team has issues about other teams being more physical. However we did not know they would have such chemistry issues.

I thought the Boston College win would have injected some confidence into the program and the Tigers would have come out swinging in Tallahassee. They did early but had no answer when adversity struck.

That is another issue. When adversity strikes, this team panics. I don’t want to say they quit but they do panic. They panicked when Alabama hit them in the mouth from the opening drive. They panicked when Maryland mounted some second half momentum.

It would be nice to see some mental toughness but this team has shown time and time again that when adversity strikes most of the time they have no answer.

Whoever the coach at Clemson is next season, he will have to make some staff changes. He will also have to improve fundamentals. However, his biggest challenge is to make the 2009 Clemson Tigers a much tougher team physically and mentally.

The Brad Hughes All-State Insurance Agency

Comments:

I think you hit the nail on the head. It still has the Tommy Bowden personality of panicking if things dont go just right.

I was disappointed in our defense. The defense that was hitting people and so physical at BC last week never showed up at FSU. If they had the game still could have been won even with the boneheaded QB play.

Posted by drock4484 on November 10, 2008 at 12:33 PM EST #

It's hard to believe that we sit where we sit right now with 3 games left and all 3 must wins in order to be bowl eligible. Can we win out? - yes. Will we win out? - that is in the hands of our lines, both offensive and defensive. They've got to dig deep.

Posted by hunter61 on November 10, 2008 at 12:56 PM EST #

Great evaluations. What hope we had of somewhat of a comeback after the BC game has been overshadowed by this demoralizing loss. I would like very much for Dabo to get the HC job, but Saturday did not help for any of them on the staff. The pure lack of football fundamentals may mean a complete regime change. If we are going to play like that, let Korn play out the rest of the season. Can it be worst? Let's face it, we may not even beat Duke this weekend! That definitely will be the icing on the cake.

Posted by El_Tigre95 on November 10, 2008 at 01:04 PM EST #

mickey,
enough already. forget about the sense of urgency for this staff. this staff was poor under bowden and they're poor under dabo. they're not going to be back next year.

you act like this is a new team and staff. dabo's name wasn't mentioned in your blog today, where's the blame for him?

the oline is still coached poorly, we can't even execute the basics, and we see the results on a weekly basis. nothing has changed, we need to start over with the entire staff.

and like i said in my comment friday. we're not attractive to any top coords under dabo. he will be on the hot seat from day one if he's hired. not many coaches are going to quit a stable position for immediate hot seat talk.

bowden lost this team after the maryland game. they never recovered. dabo got them motivated for a game or so, and then fell flat.

Posted by sregitog 1 on November 10, 2008 at 01:14 PM EST #

With all the cruddy play, it was amazing that we were only a TD down after our last score.

Posted by Willmo on November 10, 2008 at 01:23 PM EST #

T. Bowden loss this team in Atlanta and it showed whenever advesity struck while he was still on board. The loss to Alabama was probably the worst [and most trend setting loss] in the past 15 or more years.
When Clemson is getting outplayed physically, some of the coaching staff and recruiters need to be called out by name. This year's staff has not gotten improved play in all or most facets. We have talented skill players but either lazy or inept as well as soft big guys.
I don't blame Dabo but he has non-erformers on this staff and it is obvious.

Posted by bbrown cren on November 10, 2008 at 02:13 PM EST #

The next HC must change the mindset of Clemson, away from the "spread" offense to a "smash-mouth" run-first offense like we used to be back in the 80's. I am not calling for Danny Ford, either, though he was super. We need the O-Line to be the most talented players on our squad & great RB's, so we can impose our will on others, rather than "take what they give us". Our recent style depends too much on the talent/skill of the QB/WR's and we have too many 3-and-outs. That puts too much pressure on the D with little rest between series. Why can't Clemson specialize in the 8-minute drive, like we used to? In that style, you eat up the clock, and allow the D to be fresh. Add to that a great kicking game, and you are hard to beat. Do you remember when Clemson QB's were of "average" talent and yet we won game after game? That's Clemson football! Remember us being behind in the last 2 minutes, and we were able to move the ball for a FG running the ball on draw plays and stuff like that?

Posted by EGTiger83 on November 10, 2008 at 02:29 PM EST #

I've said it before, but now maybe more of you will agree... NO ONE on this staff needs to be retained. You don't coach with CTB that long and not take on some of the personality, bad habits, and shortcomings. This team's problems are just that, TEAM problems, not a bunch of individual problems. Blocking is a TEAM problem. Motivation is a TEAM problem. Physical play is a TEAM issue. Last I checked, coaches are the team leaders. Time to let them all go and start over. Bye bye Dabo, Brad, Vic and anyone else with conditioning, motivation and/or basic football technique responsibilities. So long! Wish you well!

Posted by RU4GOD2 on November 10, 2008 at 03:52 PM EST #

If Dabo is kept he better fire Scott, West, Powell, Koenning, Blackwell and maybe Rumph too.

The lack of development and fundamentals on this team in the span of the last four years is astounding.

Effin' laughing stock.

Posted by OldTiger05 on November 10, 2008 at 04:25 PM EST #

I have tried to stay positive all season, and held out hope until last weekend. Now I can honestly say that I have never been as dissapointed in a season as I have been with this one. The players and coaches have my full support, and I feel worse for them than anyone else, but we really need some big changes once the season is over.

Posted by Locotiger on November 10, 2008 at 04:27 PM EST #

Ouch!!! Can't disagree with anything you said. My question is does TDP have the wisdom to hire the right coach to turn this around. I can't get excited about any of the names being mentioned. Where are the tough coaches like Ford, Bobby Ross, Dick Sheridan, Barry Switzer, Vince Dooley? I'm sick of these "Johnny Come Lately" coaches that are all about flashy offenses that score 60 points and no defense or special teams. Butch Davis seems to be about the best overall coach around right now and I don't see him leaving UNC for another ACC school. Stoops at Oklahoma seems to be ok as well but can't see him leaving either. One thing is for sure, I don't envy TDP. He is in a tough position.

Posted by TigerEast on November 10, 2008 at 04:30 PM EST #

Our o-line would not be much worse if we only trotted 3 guys out there. Not only are we playing 3rd stringers and graduate assistants, but they are playing out of position on top of that. They look slow. They look confused. They do not look athletic. They look like they have thumbtacks in their shoes.
And you are absolutely correct about our (lack of) blitzes. I can't tell you how many times I've watched one of our LB's run smack into a 300 pound lineman. As soon as that happens our secondary is toast.
It is critical that we hire the right guy as TB's replacement. I cannot imagine that many recruits would consider Clemson after watching some of our performances this year.

Posted by GoodFella on November 10, 2008 at 05:02 PM EST #

The biggest problem for the olinemen is that they are fat. Then comes the footwork and hand placement, which they seem to be pretty bad at. We also turn to many ankles in my opinion. That or we can't mentally tough it out.

Posted by OldTiger05 on November 10, 2008 at 05:20 PM EST #

Mickey...3 words,"GET OVER IT"...with Dabo.Hes doing well with what he has,but the school MUSTTTTT move on!Bottom line.The Dabo stuff has gotton alittle old.You have great insight & opinion,but you gotta get past this dude.Otherwise,you're doing a fine job.
Other than Dabo,who would ya like?
#21

Posted by Prime T.+Tiger on November 10, 2008 at 05:35 PM EST #

Am I the only one that will be Very Happy when this season is OVER?

Posted by CUTIGER3 on November 10, 2008 at 06:58 PM EST #

I can't wait until football season starts.

Posted by Razzmatazz on November 10, 2008 at 07:16 PM EST #

Sorry to see you so negative. You'll win lots of friends in the gloom and doom fire everyone and start over crowd though. Personally, I saw a lot to be encouraged about even in defeat. Dabo coached to the end and we were in the game to the very last. Expecting more at this point in the season seems a bit unrealistic to me.

Posted by Airport4 on November 11, 2008 at 04:26 PM EST #

mickey,
please pull some strings and get a new prediction guy on this site.

it's one thing to be a homer, it's another to just be silly.

"""But there is no way under Howard’s Rock I would trade Napier for Fisher """

Posted by sregitog 1 on November 11, 2008 at 04:29 PM EST #