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Clemson - All hat. No cattle.
Posted August 31, 2008
It's spurring a dead horse to say Tommy Bowden can't prepare his team to win big games. Someone remind me why he's getting a Chamionship-level salary again???
A friend of mine, who is an avid Tigers fan and IPTAY donor, is even wearing thin on the hype. "I won't drink the kool-aid until they've beaten Alabama...."
I bet he's glad he went to Atlanta with low expectations.
I didn't attend or graduate from Clemson so I don't get too emotionally involved in the program; I've enjoyed my share of games and have seen some doozies. But, I live here and am surrounded by orange and purple.
And, the one impression I've had as an outsider looking in time after time was reinforced again last night:
Going out and selling a program to bring in blue-chip talent doesn't win big games. Coaching, preparation and teamwork win big games.
And, this impression has been continually reinforced by a lack of understanding when it comes to "why" the coaching staff makes some of the calls they make.
Like handing the ball to a FRESHMAN running back on the first running play of the season when you've got a backfield tandem that most NFL teams would be happy with.....what was that?
As a graduate of a Big 12 school that perennially finishes dead last in it's conference, I am somewhat reticent to criticize. But, I've been wracking my brain to come up with a D-1 school that can match Clemson's as the most over-hyped football program in the nation, year...after year....after year.
All I know is Alabama looked alot more like the #9 team in the nation than Clemson did.
But not looking like a Top 10 team is a problem I'll doubt the Tigers will have to worry with again this year.
They may still recover to win the ACC, but when the rest of the ACC loses to teams like East Carolina like VaTech did, or have their butts handed to them by a legitimate top 10 team like UVA did, and get embarrassed by a very average South Carolina squad like NC State did, does winning the ACC carry all that much weight this year?
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Posted by GregWallace (anonymous) on August 31, 2008 at 6:45 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I agree with your take there, Rick. Just an FYI on why Jamie Harper got the ball on the first carry - it was a recruiting promise Tommy Bowden made to him. He did the same thing with James Davis and C.J. Spiller, and said he doesn't regret it - framing it as one of 1,000 plays Clemson will run this year.
It did lead to an Alabama field goal, but did it really matter all that much, as badly as the rest of the game went?
Posted by RickSpruill (Rick Spruill) on August 31, 2008 at 7:01 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Thanks for the info.
I respect Bowden for honoring his promise to a young recruit. I bet he'd get even more recruits if he could start promising championships instead of first carries, though.