Monday September 22, 2008

SC State Review

The SC State Game Review
Clemson came out and took care of business Saturday with its most complete performance of the season. I understand it was an inferior opponent but some things were worked out. Here is a review and future questions:

Sarah Palin
Here are the good looking things I saw Saturday afternoon:

*James Davis-It was nice to see Davis in the end zone again. He had perhaps his best game of the season and I needed to see Clemson have success in short-yardage. Davis provided a spark to the running game and I love to see him have that kind of success.

*Interior Running Game-The Tigers seemed to man block more this week as opposed to zone the blocking scheme. SC State is not great defensive team but Clemson did a nice job of exploiting their advantage in the interior running game.

*Offensive Line-I liked the idea of having this group be a major part of the game plan. Clemson thought it had an advantage here and the offensive line looked like it dominated SC State.

*The Tight Ends-It seemed like we had to wait forever for the light to come on for Durrell Barry but he continues to play well. Michael Palmer looked good on both of his receptions and his downfield blocking.

*Defensive Intensity-Apparently some of the defense got the message from Tommy Bowden last week. The defense seemed to play with more intensity. I also noticed more hard hits from the defense Saturday.

*Dorell Scott-This was the senior’s best performance of the season. I have been waiting for Scott to control the line of scrimmage and be more productive and we got that Saturday.

*Jarvis Jenkins-It seems like each week we see more of Jenkins and we continue to see more productivity.

*Brandon Thompson-The true freshman is making the most of his opportunity. He had another sack against the Bulldogs and now has played his way into more playing time.

*Special Teams-It is nice to open up my e-mail account and not have to read the floods of e-mails that ask about special teams this season. This was the fourth consecutive game where Clemson won the special teams battle.

*Willy Korn-The backup looked impressive once again. His 7-7 performance validated earlier action and the future appears very bright at this position.

*Jamie Harper-The freshman back got a chance to showcase his skills and once again he impressed. Harper is a big back but he has very quick feet.

*Uniforms-I love Orange. It is the primary school color. I know some don’t like purple and will disagree with me but I think Saturday was the best uniform combination. I love the contrast between the orange helmet, the purple jerseys and white pants. It may not for everyone but I loved it.

Nancy Grace
Here are the bad things I saw Saturday:

*Picks and Turnovers-You can’t keep throwing the ball directly to linebackers because it will get you beat against good teams. The tipped pass from Jacoby Ford that resulted in a pick was a bad pass as well. Turnovers don’t hurt against NC State or SC State but they will kill you against good teams.

*Pass Rush-Three sacks is OK but I thought the Tigers should have been able to apply more pressure to Long and the Bulldog passing game. I thought he had too much time too often.

*The Pre-Game Tradition-When you win 54-0, not a lot went wrong on the field so it allows me to be picky on the next three topics but three traditions failed Saturday. Running down the Hill is not hard. It is something we should have perfected considering we have been doing it for 65 years. We have been touching Howard’s Rock and running down the Hill since 1966 or 42 years. It seems like we could perfect it by now. One Clemson Associate Athletic Director told me Saturday, “We have turned it in to most confusing 25 seconds in college football.”

*The Post-Game Tradition-What a joke. Let me get this right…I stopped and counted 99 security guards in the brightest, neon green-yellow shirts on the field getting prepared for the mass chaos that all of these mean Clemson fans had planned. Many had radios. About 20 of them had signs that read something about field access delayed until the visiting team had left the field. On the flip side it read, “WAIT”. Clemson police chief’s Johnson Link’s video played about five times telling people about the new policy. Dale Gilbert, the PA announcer, had to read the announcement about five times throughout the game. I am sure Clemson’s athletic department had to outsource the security and paid a pretty penny for the 99 security guards, their neon shirts, their radios, and those elementary school signs. I am sure this security company tries to turn a profit as well. So how did it go? Embarrassing. The Clemson players bolted for the locker room as I warned on my radio show that they would do. They have family and I don’t blame them for wanting to see their friends and family as soon as they can. The Clemson band could not be heard playing the alma mater because the SC State band was playing theirs. The irony of the entire deal is that State players actually stayed on the field in front of their band while they played their alma mater. The goal was to protect the opposing players and coaches but the majority of players and coaches that were on the field when field when the fans were allowed onto the field were from SC State. An expensive disaster. Why did they just not arrest the two idiots that dropped an F-bomb on Tom O’Brien? BTW-O’Brien did not even complain or make a big deal out of it. The athletic department has been looking for an excuse to end this tradition for years but like I have said many times on the radio, I don’t trust those in charge to make the proper changes in any aspect. They spent hours on the solution and thousands of dollars on a new plan and still failed miserably. This is another example of disconnect between Clemson fans and the athletic department. The athletic department thinks so many fans are so wrong about what they want but their solutions are often times worse.

*The Student Section Tradition-I hate to be someone to bitch and moan about the little things and we are blessed to have won 54-0 so it does give me a chance to touch on something else that has been bothering me. I once viewed the Clemson student section as one of the great traditions at the school. It makes my stomach turn to look in the student section and see hundreds of empty seats. Last week the excuse was so many students had so many exams the following week that many could not come out and support the football team. The NC State game was too hot for some. It was too early for others. This week was another pathetic performance from the student section. Low turnout and student leaving early was once again an issue. Is it wrong to think that when you make it a goal to become a Top 20 (Public) school this is one of the results? Maybe I am totally off base here but would the student section look like the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s if the student body looked more like that. Is it fair to ask if an 1100 SAT student from South Carolina would be a better student fan than a 1500 SAT kid from New Jersey? No disrespect to smart kids or those above the Mason-Dixon line and maybe this is an uneducated question. I know we lost to Alabama but we are ranked in the top 25 and you only have seven home games a year for four years as a student. Maybe a Clemson legacy would be more inclined to get out of the bed in time for a 1:00 home football game that you have free tickets for. Then again, maybe I am way off base. I do know this, the student body at Clemson cannot criticize the football team this year. It would be hypocritical for many to do so.

Rachel Ray
So here are the question marks I still have:

*Injuries-Can Clemson sustain anymore injuries along both lines of scrimmage?

*Close, low scoring field position battle-Can the Tigers win a game against a tough opponent?

*What other Clemson traditions will be sacrificed soon?

864-834-6060

The Brad Hughes All-State Insurance Agency