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We Were All Wrong About 2008
Due to my lower back issues I did not have an e-mail bag on Friday but wanted to touch on a question from last week from a good friend. His 10-year old son asked him, “Who had a better senior year-Cullen Harper or Will Proctor?”

Great question. The perception among a lot of Clemson fans is that Will Proctor had a poor senior season. Cullen Harper was the ACC pre-season player of the year but he did not perform last season.

As a senior Will Proctor completed 183 of his 304 passes for 2,353 yards for 16 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He had a 60.2% completion percentage.

In his senior season Cullen Harper completed 221 of 360 passes for 2,601 yards with 13 touchdowns and 14 picks.

Proctor was 8-5 as the starter that season and Harper was 7-5 as the starter (he did not start the Georgia Tech game).

Their senior seasons were so different in so many ways. Proctor’s team did not have huge expectations but he helped lead his squad to a 7-1 start and a top ten ranking. Harper’s team started the season in the top ten.

One thing both teams had in common was the fact that both collapsed after reaching the top 10.

Proctor had a better offensive line and a better running game but he was also not the focus of the offense. However, Proctor also did not have any experience unlike Harper who had a phenomenal junior season.

I personally think Proctor’s senior season was a little better. The team won more games. He threw more touchdowns and fewer interceptions. And I guess I still have a bad taste in my mouth about some of the comments Harper made about his coach and his teammates.

So, yes we were wrong about the 2008 football season. We were all wrong. The pre-season magazines were wrong (Phil Steele’s magazine had Clemson at number five), the coaches were wrong and the fans were wrong.

Here is what we did not account for:
*We knew the weaknesses we the offensive line and the linebackers. What we did not know is that both units would be exploited the way they were early. Alabama gave the rest of the schedule a blueprint of how to exploit those weaknesses.

*We were wrong about the running game. James Davis and C.J. Spiller had huge expectations in the running game but the Tigers running game was pathetic at times. How do you have Davis and Spiller and average 112 yards rushing for the season?

*We did not know the Tigers would give up 34 sacks. The quarterback held the ball too long and took too many sacks that stopped too many drives.

*In the end the biggest disappointment though was the quarterback play. In his junior season Harper threw 27 touchdowns and only six interceptions. How could anyone have seen a 13 touchdown and 14 interception senior campaign?

ACC Hoops
Monday was the last day for college basketball players to withdraw from the NBA draft and the news was mixed for several of the conference’s schools.

Maryland and Georgia Tech have not lived up to expectations since their Final Four appearances but both got good news yesterday. Grevais Vasquez will return to school for Gary Williams and the Terps while Tech got similar news from Gani Lawal.

Williams and Tech head coach Paul Hewitt needed their best to return and both may get off of the hot seat with better seasons in 09-10. I think Tech will be among the most talented teams in the league with Lawal, Lewis Clinch and Iman Shumpert being joined by freshman superstar Derrick Favors.

The news was not as good for the rest of the league. Wake Forest will lose James Johnson and Jeff Teague early to the draft. The only other school to lose two underclassmen was North Carolina who lost Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington.

Duke will certainly miss Gerald Henderson. You could make a case that the Blue Devils will miss Henderson as much as any underclassmen leaving the league.

NC State’s Brandon Costner is leaving and is a solid player but he is not in the class of Henderson, Lawson, Ellington, Teague or Johnson.

The league will still be among the best in the country. CBS Sportsline released their new pre-season top 25 after the news of players like Jodie Meeks of Kentucky staying in the draft. The website has North Carolina number four, Duke number seven and Clemson at number 14. I also think Wake Forest, Georgia Tech and Florida State could be a pre-season top 225 pick.

With the news of Dominique Archie and Devin Downey returning to South Carolina, the Gamecocks have fairly high expectations for the 09-10 season. So I wondered this morning…When was the last time Clemson and South Carolina both had higher expectations in basketball instead of football or baseball?

The Brad Hughes All-State Insurance Agency

Prayer List
We have started a prayer list on the blog. Here are the guidelines:
*If you are offended by prayer or prayer lists then I apologize in advance. The blog is free and the prayer list will be on the bottom of the page so you don’t have to read it.
*If you would like to add someone to the list please e-mail me at mickeyplyler@hotmail.com
*If you want the reason for the prayer to be added to the name please specify in your e-mails.
*Please let me know when it is appropriate to take the person off of the prayer list

Those who need our prayers include:
Finn Brookover, Mrs. Kathleen Bowers, Larry in Naples, FL, RTG-Pawsitive Tiger, Mary-Louise Pawlowski (John's daughter), Jo Ann Bachman, Frank Taylor, Kenneth Bryant, Pruitt Martin, Got igers and his family, David Rowland, Leonard Gillespie and his family, Jim S, Christine Hepfer, Daniel Rosborough, Amy Murphey, Jack Huffman, Nancy Winkler, Dr. Nancy Strom Morgan, John Reeve, Eileen Woodrum, Ethel Southard, Vinnie Brock, Jean-Pierre Bailey, Kaitlyn L, William Perry, Delores Weaver, Eric Boessneck, John Bowers, Jimmy Ness.

Comments:

Cullen beat USC (twice), Proctor did not. When the season turns into a turd, beating USC is all that matters.

Harper > Proctor

Posted by otisman on June 16, 2009 at 12:25 PM EDT #

Proctor had a better supporting cast and still played like a nancy. Losing 3 out of 4 negates his hot start and WP will forever be remembered for laying down on 3&10 from the 10. Getting beat by UK was just further polish on the turd. I still laugh when I think about all the fans who said" well Charlie MIGHT be the better QB- but WP fits our offense better" Sound familiar Mickey?

Posted by CM Shack on June 16, 2009 at 02:06 PM EDT #

As much as I didn't like Procter, I thought the coaches didn't use him correctly. He should have run the ball more often by design. Also, against Va Tech that infamous Thursday nite, couldn't we have thrown a single pass deep .. I mean just one? Just for S & G's. How many three and outs before you try something else even if you have no confidence in your QB (Procter)?

Harper, on the other hand, was just dreadful. How anyone could take so many sacks? The sacks he took in the bowl game (Nebraska) just killed us. He is easily my least favorite player of all time. If we switched QBs with the Huskers, we beat them by more than 20.

Bottom line: Procter > Harper in terms of their senior seasons. Harper has more talent, but made less of it with his stupid play. Procter was simply limited as a QB. Oh, and Procter lost to USC primarily because the defense was terrible.

Posted by califtigerfan on June 16, 2009 at 03:00 PM EDT #

Wow! I never thought I'd appreciate Proctor so much. Technically Harper didn't start against GT, but he was the QB for all but 2 plays so, really, Harper is 7-6 to Proctor's 8-5. But it's a TEAM sport.

Interestingly, despite Spence’s propensity to call safe screens & swing passes, Proctor's 12.9 yards-per-completion was higher than Harper's 11.8.

Harper was harassed & sacked a lot-- and although some of that was due to his mediocre pocket presence and mobility, much of it was due to poor pass protection.

Statistically, Proctor had the better senior year. But if I HAD to pick one of those two to be QB next year, I'd take Harper.

It’s unfortunate that we’re comparing Proctor to Harper, and that a football school like Clemson hasn't had a great QB since... uhhh... maybe Woody Dantzler. (I wasn't impressed by the immobile Whitehurst.) Hopefully that'll change starting this year. Hopefully we'll throw downfield more. And hopefully the O-line will enable the QB to shine.

Posted by Razzmatazz on June 16, 2009 at 03:06 PM EDT #

Jimmy Ness,a wonderful football player in the early 70's, lost his oldest son recently. Does anyone know more details?

Posted by CLEMS75 on June 16, 2009 at 03:32 PM EDT #

Just admit it Raz-after his All American performance in the 05 spring game-You thought WP was the better QB for RS sophisticated O. Was CW too immobile to take it 26 yards for the W in his first SC game? What about when he ran through 2 NFLers at the goaline against FSU as time expired in the first half? 3rd and 9 against SC-CW picks up 10. 3rd and 9 against SC-WP loses 10(AT HOME). Remind me...which one is in the NFL? BTW- CWs first NFL TD came on a 14 yard scramble-not bad for a statue

Posted by CM Shack on June 16, 2009 at 06:02 PM EDT #

"It’s unfortunate that we’re comparing Proctor to Harper, and that a football school like Clemson hasn't had a great QB since... uhhh... maybe Woody Dantzler. (I wasn't impressed by the immobile Whitehurst.)"

What?????!?!?!? Dude was 4-0 versus the chickens, holds nearly every single passing record at Clemson and now plays in the NFL. What is wrong with you?

Posted by otisman on June 16, 2009 at 06:50 PM EDT #

CM: Me a Spence or Proctor fan? That's funny.

I'm not saying that Whitehurst was bad. He was better than Proctor or Harper. And like Harper he had some great throws and runs (including some for TDs). Whitehurst just wasn't an elite QB like Philip Rivers who, while at NC State, went 2-0 against Whitehurst-led Tigers and who is the starting QB for the San Diego Chargers while Whitehurst sits on the bench as their 3rd string option.

Dantzler doesn't have the size to be an NFL QB. Neither does Pat White. But they were effective QBs at the college level, and I would have taken either of them over Whitehurst. I could be wrong. My real point is that it's been a long time since Clemson has had an elite QB, like a Rivers or a Matt Ryan.

Posted by Razzmatazz on June 16, 2009 at 07:13 PM EDT #

Raz- We have only had TWo QBs drafted in my lifetime and neither was of the same caliber as Ryan or Rivers. My point was CW was the closest thing to an elite QB we have had in almost 30 years and people were'nt sure he should have been the starter in 05. It does'nt matter what you think about CWs ability-one of the toughest teams to make in the NFL thinks hes a keeper.

Posted by CM Shack on June 16, 2009 at 10:17 PM EDT #

Whitehurst started for 4 years so naturally he holds several CAREER QB records. Big deal. Harper broke 21 SINGLE-SEASON/SINGLE-GAME records in 2007 alone, including passer rating, passing TDs, & TD-to-INT ratio. So Harper's debut season was arguably better than any of Whitehurst's 4 seasons. Harper was also undefeated against SoCar. And Harper may still also end up warming an NFL bench. But that's a lower bar than I was talking about. BC gets the likes of Doug Flutie, Matt Hasselbeck, & Matt Ryan. Clemson gets Whitehurst.

By the way, Dantzler set 50 school records and had more yards per game than Whitehurst (or any other Clemson QB if I'm not mistaken). Dantzler was the first player in NCAA history to gain 2000 yards passing and 1000 yards rushing in a season. Had Dantzler started for 4 years, Whitehurst wouldn't hold many records. Dantzler went 21-13 (.618) whereas Whitehurst only went 30-22 (.577). I’ll take Dantzler.

Posted by Razzmatazz on June 16, 2009 at 10:23 PM EDT #

CM: That's exactly the problem that I was trying to raise. Clemson had only TWO QBs drafted in recent history and neither of them were of the caliber of Ryan or Rivers.

Whitehurst is the better QB for the NFL. But in my opinion, Dantzler was the better QB in college.

Posted by Razzmatazz on June 16, 2009 at 10:32 PM EDT #

Harper beat the cocks! Twice! I also don't mind what he said about Tommy Bowden. So I still have good memmories of Harper.

Posted by Clemson_Orange on June 17, 2009 at 02:54 AM EDT #

Whoa hold on now. The majority of Proctor's passes were bubble screens & other short passes that the WRs turned into big plays. He also played behind one of the best OL's in recent history. When WP was forced to put the game on his shoulders, he would fail miserably. Those stats are VERY mis-leading. Harper was much, MUCH more talented than Proctor. It's not even close. Unfortunately, neither earned their teammates respect at the ned of their careers. We all know about Harper dogging CTB, & WP blaming everyone else but himself for the terrible ending of his last season.

Posted by CUbuck on June 17, 2009 at 12:58 PM EDT #